MBCA Comments on Regional Advanced Mitigation Policy Draft
MBCA has supported the Southern California Council of Governments (SCAG) draft Regional Advanced Mitigation Policy (RAMP) draft plan. It is proposed "to allow state and federal agencies to consider the environmental impacts and mitigation needs of multiple planned infrastructure projects and urban development all at once, and satisfy those mitigation requirements early in the project planning and environmental review process." Benefits would include cost savings and climate change considerations. This comprehensive presentation about RAMP provides more background and details.
MBCA Joins Request for Public Health State of Emergency in Inland Empire
MBCA joined over 60 organizations in an appeal to Governor Newsom to declare a public health state of emergency in the Inland Empire due to "the unchecked escalation of warehouse growth and an accompanying health crisis within Inland communities." The case is made not only for environmental harm that affects health, but the unbalanced effect on low income and communities of color, creating an environmental justice issue as well.
Response from Flamingo 640 Campground Developer
As reported on local radio station KCDZ, the RoBott Land Company replied in writing to questions asked at a recent Homestead Valley Community meeting with a 17-page document. Their detailed replies are to a great extent based on the acceptance and approval of San Bernardino County in their application process and their belief that the growth in visitors to Joshua Tree National Park supports their project.
MBCA Comments on Sienna Solar 2 in Lucerne Valley
Changes to the proposed Sienna Solar project in Lucerne Valley triggered a new scoping comment letter from MBCA about Sienna Solar 2. The proposed site has expanded and poses a wide range of potential harms to quality of life and the desert ecosystem. In a community designated as Severely Disadvantaged, Lucerne Valley residents will be subjected to dust, degraded views, and excessive lighting. Environmental problems likely to arise include degraded air quality, water issues, and harm to wildlife including threatened species. MBCA Directors Pat Flanagan and Brian Hammer have outlined the problems and created detailed maps illustrating the issues in MBCA's Scoping Comments to San Bernardino County’s Land Use Services Department.
Eblast September 22, 2022
- Short Term Rentals and Housing Element Update
- Workshop and Webinar: Joshua Trees and Climate Change
- Sienna Solar 2
Coalition Letter on Program 4 in County Housing Element
As part of the County's amended Housing Element (required report to the state), Program 4 is a study to determine the impact of short-term rentals on the housing supply of unincorporated desert and mountain communities. In this September 19 letter to San Bernardino County's Planning Director, MBCA and the Center for Biological Diversity along with Mojave Desert Land Trust, Tahquitz Group of the Sierra Club, and Unincorporated San Bernardino Together, ask the County to show that they are taking their responsibility to their communities seriously. The letter recommends formation of two Advisory Committees – one for the Mountain Region, and one for the Desert Region. The letter also recommends setting an interim cap during the study period, plus a timeline and goals for the study. The introductory paragraphs of the letter summarize past concerns and the intent of the recommendations. For more background information, read MBCA's News posts from May 15, June 9 (MBCA letter), June 9 (letter with CBD), June 15, and July 5, 2022.
Google Earth Maps
MBCA is happy to provide a new tool to the public --Google Earth Pro maps related to the Mojave Desert and California. These maps include light pollution, terrestrial corridors (wildlife corridors) and local groundwater basins, among other topics. Below you'll find instructions on how to use these maps.
Instructions for Use
1.To use the map files, you must first install Google Earth Pro on your computer.
It is a free program that will work both on MAC and PC computers.
You may download the program here: https://www.google.com/earth/versions/#earth-pro
Please follow the prompts to install. After downloading the program, proceed to Step 2.
2. To use the files MBCA created, you must store (download) them on your computer.
1. Go to our online folder to locate the map files.
2. Download a map from the folder by right-clicking (control-click for Macs)on it, and selecting Download from the options.
3. To view the downloaded files, launch Google Earth Pro.
1. From Google Earth Pro, select FILE>OPEN.
2. Navigate to the downloaded files in your folder and click OPEN.
3. This can be repeated for each file.
4. To save the files in your version of Google Earth Pro, select YES when closing the application.
If you're wondering about the source files for these maps, here is an Excel/Google Sheets file with source information for each map. When locating geospatial data most of the time it comes in a professional GIS data format. These files have been converted and optimized for Google Earth Pro viewing.
Here are image samples of many of the maps.
Eblast July 20, 2022
- Desert Wise Virtual Landscape videos released
- Planning Commission to vote on Housing Element
- Industrial Scale Renewable Energy Threats to the Desert
