MBCA addressed concerns about the proposed 196-foot communications tower in Morongo Valley in this 2022 post. The latest version of the Environmental Assessment (at 422 pages) was published late this summer. On September 13 BLM republished its earlier Press Release to include a new public comment extension to October 7. Concerned Morongo Valley residents have created guidelines showing how to comment and containing "substantive comment" language for the main concerns of the local community. 

As the California Legislative session draws to a close, MBCA has joined with 93 other organizations signing a letter opposing efforts to "gut and amend" legislation that would weaken environmental protections without public input. 

Local Joshua Tree residents alerted MBCA about receiving a notice from the County about a proposed housing project in their neighborhood. Recipients were offered the opportunity to comment on a Tentative Tract map application to subdivide about 18.5 undeveloped acres into 64 parcels of "minimal impact" homes. MBCA's comments highlight the lack of information on the project and insufficient time window for providing comments. We question any claims concerning sustainability and responsible growth and development. Also addressed is the lack of progress on encouraging affordable housing after acknowledgment by the Supervisors of the ill-effects of a surfeit of STRs in Joshua Tree. We emphasize this is a project requiring analysis under CEQA for impacts due to aesthetics, flooding, flora, traffic, and wastewater.

A new video highlighting Joshua Tree's Desert View Conservation Area has been produced by San Bernardino County, whose Special Districts department oversees the preserved acreage. This free daytime recreation area north of Joshua Tree National Park has received improvements for visitors in recent years and additional educational signage is planned.  

There are reports in various locations of the Morongo Basin of dead rabbits and hares likely dead of the hemorrhagic disease that was virulent several years ago. Read this information from the state for recognizing and handling dead animals that might carry the disease. It is important to note that this type of virus is only known to affect rabbits and hares, not other animals or humans.

MBCA is among four regional conservation non-profits recommending together in this letter that the draft of the San Bernardino County Regional Conservation Investment Strategy be edited to meet statute requirements regarding quantifiable goals and gap analysis. In addition, MBCA along with Mojave Desert Land Trust, California Desert Coalition, and The Wildlands Conservancy suggest the use of the 2012 Morongo Basin Conservation Priorities Report to enrich the evaluative data for habitat value. 

With 100 other non-profit conservation-related organizations, MBCA signed a letter to entreat Governor Newsom and 15 state legislators on the Senate and Assembly budget committees to eliminate from the budget a number of infrastructure trailer bills that should be enacted through the legislative process instead. The 8 trailer bills cited would, if enacted through the budget, eliminate public input and considered evaluation for "important and complicated policies." 

MBCA has submitted comments to the Bureau of Land Management's Las Vegas Field Office about the proposed Golden Currant Solar Project's effects on bird migration. Research shows that birds are killed near solar installations because they are attracted to reflective panels they perceive as water. This solar project plus three others nearby would create an excessive array of danger for birds. MBCA's letter includes graphic data of bird presence in the area from the eBird program of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. 

In November a Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment was published by the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center and other agencies, proposing actions to manage widespread raven problems in California desert military locations. In response, Ed LaRue of the Desert Tortoise Council sent a comment letter that approves of the raven abatement project so far as it’s necessary to protect desert tortoise, but also recommends a number of changes.

As the Brightline West High-Speed Rail Project between southern California and Las Vegas rolls toward implementation, MBCA has again joined numerous organizations to insist that the state require three wildlife crossings to protect our world-class wildlife, including mountain lions and bighorn sheep, in the fragile desert environment. The letter signed by 35 organizations is addressed to Governor Newsom with copies to California's Senators and the heads of appropriate state and federal agencies. Prior MBCA news stories on the issue were posted on September 5, 2020, and November 23, 2020, and this September 16 Los Angeles Times article focuses on the value of the wildlife crossings for bighorn sheep.