After learning of an operating motocross park on Sunfair Road in Joshua Tree, MBCA sent the County a letter opposing approval of any permit for the park/raceway and asking that operation cease until review and permitting can be accomplished. Such a commercial usage is not permitted in a rural living zone without approved permits. According to a report by Z107.7 local radio, the owner Neil Rauschenberg "says that Sunfair 42 operates 'transparently and in full cooperation with San Bernardino County officials, following current OHV regulations while our minor use permit moves through the review process.'" 

MBCA President Steve Bardwell sent an email to County Supervisor Dawn Rowe and Yucca Valley Town Manager Curtis Yakimow about the County Planning Commission’s October 9 agenda item “AB 98 Transportation and Mobility Study Session." President Bardwell repeated concerns MBCA expressed in January 2025, and annotated the Staff Report  to highlight major concerns. He further noted that two major new transportation hubs, Barstow International Gateway (BIG) and the Amazon warehouse in Desert Hot Springs, will inevitably affect traffic in Morongo Basin. The recording of the Planning Commission meeting including the presentation of the Staff report can be accessed here. The Planning Commission recommendations to the Supervisors are anticipated to be adopted at the October 23, 2025 meeting, then adopted by the Supervisors on December 16.

The proposed Cactus Club Hotel is a complex of structures with a total of 20 hotel rooms in the Panorama Heights area of Joshua Tree. The project description also lists other structures for "accessory uses" that seem to indicate a resort rather than just a hotel. A Mitigated Negative Declaration is recommended by County staff. MBCA's letter registers concern about the relatively large scale of the project compared to the rural residential living community around it. Additional topics that MBCA recommends for review, clarification, or explanation through an amended environmental analysis include native plant destruction, parking, traffic safety, and wastewater. The Center for Biological Diversity also filed a comment letter. 

A notice issued on August 29, 2025, by the Forest Service, an agency of the Department of Agriculture, announced the intent to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. The intent of the Rule is "to provide lasting protection for inventoried roadless areas within the National Forest System in the context of multiple-use management." MBCA's opposition letter describes the likely negative consequences of rolling back this rule, including environmental harm to wildlife, watersheds, and water quality, plus increased fire danger (not less). Recent polling concludes that there is also widespread public support for maintaining designated roadless areas. 

MBCA submitted a letter to California's Wildlife Conservation Board in support of grant funding to plan two wildlife crossing overpasses on Highway 62. Mojave Desert Land Trust is spearheading the effort. Learn more about the proposal from MDLT's August Press Release and this story from local radio station Z107.7. In MBCA's Wildlife Corridors map below, notice the bright pink area in the lower left, representing an area of "Irreplaceable and Essential Corridors" between Morongo Valley and Yucca Valley, the targeted area. Additional detailed maps can be found in MDLT's Press Release.

A revised plan for the Soda Mountain Solar Project in the Mojave Desert near Zzyxx is being reviewed by the California Energy Commission. In MBCA's short comment letter (which includes links to background research and data), MBCA focuses on two critical issues. One is the question of whether additional such projects are even needed in California, as questioned in Melody Peterson's LA Times article "California has so much solar power that increasingly it goes to waste." The second major concern is the inevitable damage to desert ecosystems. If left undisturbed, this land could provide significant carbon sequestration, as described in the report The California Desert's Role in 30x30: Carbon Sequestration and Biodiversity.

With a focus on the lack of environmental review as required by the California Environmental Quality Act, the Center for Biological Diversity and local group Indian Cove Neighbors filed a lawsuit against the City of Twentynine Palms for its approval of the OfLand resort development. The lawsuit maintains that a full environmental review is required rather than the weaker Mitigated Negative Declaration that was accepted by the City Council. Read more in this press release from CBD and from the local news outlet The Desert Trumpet. 

A National Public Radio story notes the potentially negative effects of federal agency changes on California's endangered desert tortoise. The efforts of Mojave Desert Land Trust on the animal's behalf are noted, as well as research by respected desert research scientists including Cameron Barrows and Ed LaRue. Listen to or read the story here.

California began to address the observed and predicted decline of the Western Joshua tree initially through passage of the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act in 2023, as an alternative to granting threatened/endangered species status. To enforce the Act, the California Fish and Game Commission was tasked to develop a Conservation Plan. After two years of administrative planning and public input, the Commission approved the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Plan on August 13. Public input included not only pleas for stronger conservation but also opposition to regulations perceived to be too restrictive and expensive. An overview of the issues and ongoing concerns are explored in this Los Angeles Times article, and comments about the expected effects in the Morongo Basin can found in this story at radio station Z107.7's website.