Last fall the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned California to list the western Joshua tree as a threatened species under California's Endangered Species Act. On April 13 the state's Department of Fish and Wildlife agreed. The Department's Commissioners are scheduled to vote on the recommendation in June. You can find thorough coverage of the story on local radio KCDZ, on the Mojave Watch blog, and in the Desert Sun and Los Angeles Times online newspapers.

MBCA has sent a letter to the California Fish and Game Commission recommending a review of the status of mountain lion populations in the Southern California and Central Coast mountain areas. There are genetic connections between those beleaguered populations and lions known to be in Joshua Tree National Park. Such a review should lead to listing those mountain lions as "threatened" under the California Endangered Species Act.

The National Environmental Policy Act has been a critical tool in defending the health and welfare of our Mojave Desert and its residents. The current Administration has proposed changes to NEPA regulations that decimate these protections. MBCA has submitted a comment letter against these changes that references local experiences with NEPA and its relationship to our mission to "advocate for the healthy desert." In addition, MBCA has signed on to a letter representing 328 organizations and tribal nations that comprehensively defines the value of NEPA and reasons for rejection of the proposed changes.

MBCA has added its voice of opposition to the Crimson Solar project in Riverside County. A detailed analysis of and comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Report by our colleagues at Basin and Range Watch and Western Watersheds Project resulted in this conclusion:

"The BLM should select the No Action Alternative for the Crimson Solar Project. The project is not complete in planning. The BLM has not chosen or decided on adequate mitigation yet. The project's storage plan is full of flaws. California is overgenerating large-scale solar energy. It is not worth the risk to special status species, and to degrade so many resources on lands considered so sacred to Native Americans - especially when the project technology is so speculative."

Read the entire comment letter for all the details. 

Riverside County Supervisors have denied the Paradise Valley project on a 5-0 vote despite the project applicant's request for the typical 90-day continuance. A number of MBCA representatives attended the November 5th meeting and were among those cheering the result. Read more details in the Desert Sun's November 6 story on the vote, and for background, read our News Update from August 21st when the Riverside County Planning Commission recommended that the Supervisors deny the project.

The Desert Sun reports that the Center for Biological Diversity recently filed a petition with the state's Fish and Game Commission for protection of the Western Joshua Tree from climate change by listing it as a threatened species under the California Endangered Species Act. The news article provides scientific and political background on the issue. The Commission has 10 days to certify the petition and send it to the Department of Fish and Wildlife, which then has 90 days to provide an initial recommendation. Here is the LA Times story on this topic.

Local resident Tom O'Key, who initiated and was critical to the success of the statewide campaign against bobcat trapping several years ago (see MBCA News Update "End of Bobcat Trapping") has been a key part of a followup effort to end all fur trapping in California. That campaign was successful and Tom is quoted several times in this LA Times article describing the Governor's signing of this first-in-America bill.

In April, MBCA submitted a letter in support of the Tubbs Canyon Desert Conservancy in their effort to convince the US Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) to seek new ways of controlling Saharan mustard. The Conservancy has alerted us of a positive response from the USDA, stating that their upcoming 5-year plan for 2020-2025 “will [emphasis added] include studies on identifying and assessing potential biocontrol agents that can be used for Sahara mustard mitigation and eradication." Here is the USDA-ARS letter for full details. (See MBCA's Invasive Plants page for more on Sahara mustard.) 

We received word from MBCA President Steve Bardwell shortly after the decision on the afternoon of August 21 that the proposed Paradise Valley housing development planned for the southern edge of Joshua Tree National Park was voted down by the Riverside County Planning Commission, in a 4-1 vote.  Read more details in this Desert Sun article. Enjoy the photos below taken at the venue. MBCA Directors and supporters, especially Steve Bardwell, Sarah Kennington, and our stalwart science guru Pat Flanagan were vigilant in keeping track of the project, attending meetings, and making comments against the ill-conceived project.

Pat Flanagan presenting her science-based and impassioned plea to deny the Paradise Valley project.







Sarah Kennington holding DENY Paradise Valley sign.






The post-vote celebration of the denial of the Paradise Valley Project.

BACKGROUND SCIENCE: 

Here are Pat’s comments for MBCA on CO2 Emissions of the Paradise Valley Project.

The following links include research documents elaborating on the science behind Pat’s comments:

1.  The 2014 National Park Service Report on Carbon Sequestration in Parksincludes data on Joshua Tree National Park.

2.  A Desert Report article “The Desert Under Our Feet”by the Morongo Basin’s own Robin Kobaly discusses how the amazing biology under our soil is critical to a healthy desert and absorption of carbon dioxide.

3.  A very technical study called “Greater ecosystem carbon in the Mojave Desert after 10 years exposure to CO2”concludes that “arid ecosystems are significant, previously unrecognized, sinks for atmospheric CO2 that must be accounted for in efforts to constrain terrestrial and global C(arbon) cycles.”

4.  A brief summary of arid lands carbon sequestration research from Washington State University, “Research: Arid areas absorb unexpected amounts of carbon”points out the importance of arid ecosystems.

 

Governor Newsom today signed SB 307, a bill that requires that any water mining projects such as the Cadiz water project undergo new additional review processes to prove it will avoid environmental harm. Many thanks are owed to the many MBCA supporters who wrote comments and called the Governor's office in support of the bill. The Governor's letter approving SB 307 outlines the reasons for his action.