The Mojave Watch news site reports that the Riverside County Planning Commission has postponed discussion of Paradise Valley, a brand-new community proposed for development on the southern edge of Joshua Tree National Park. The development will next appear on their agenda May 15, 2019. Read the January 30 Mojave Watch news post(no longer exists) for more details on the danger to Park ecology posed by such a development, along with information from National Parks Conservation Association representative Chris Clarke. Additional background can be found in this earlier post about the project at Mojave Watch (no longer exists).

In an interview on local radio station KCDZ FM on Friday, January 18, Third District Supervisor Dawn Rowe announced that the County Supervisors will hold a special meeting to vote on the RECE 4.10 with full Board attendance on Thursday, February 28, 2019. She also stated she will vote for the version recommended by the Planning Commission, which is the version MBCA supports. For the most recent recap of the issue, please read our January 15 EBlast

Join us Saturday, January 26, 2019 for the MBCA Annual Meeting and Energy Summit!

In a letter to Cadiz CEO Scott Slater, California's Department of Fish and Wildlife expressed concerns about the possible effects of the Cadiz Water Conservation, Recovery and Storage Project on the ecological health of the Bonanza Springs area north of the proposed project. Concerns center on the environmental and hydrologic studies completed for the existing Environmental Impact Report. For more details read recent online articles in The Desert Sun and Mojave Watch(organization no longer exists) and on local radio station KCDZ. 

MBCA has submitted a letter to Congressman Cook asking him to support reauthorization of the recently-expired but critical and long-standing Land and Water Conservation Fund. Support for public lands conservation and recreation across California including areas of the Mojave Desert have benefited from the fund since its inception in 1965.  

On November 16 MBCA filed a comment letter with San Bernardino County in response to the Draft Environmental Impact Report on the proposed Ord Mountain Solar and Energy Project near Lucerne Valley. Director Pat Flanagan once again researched and wrote a detailed analysis of the Ord Mountain DEIR, with technical input and data from a GIS analyst and others. A number of maps, charts, and aerial photos provide extensive documentation to explain the many potential negative impacts of such a project.