Can Better Planning Limit the Damage? By Lisa Belenky On December 8, 2022, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced it is revising the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for the BLM's utility scale solar energy planning that was first adopted in 2012. (87 Fed. Reg. 75284) The BLM may expand the scope from six … Continue reading Desert Triage: Large Scale Solar on Public Lands
Disadvantaged Communities in Imperial Valley
Neglect is Not an Option by Maria Nava-Froelich Center of Our Universe Growing up in the Northend of the Imperial Valley in California, in a townsite called Niland, my family along with fourteen other families lived in railroad section homes. My father worked for Southern Pacific, and my mother was a homemaker and worked part … Continue reading Disadvantaged Communities in Imperial Valley
The Settler Sea: California’s Salton Sea and the Consequences of Colonialism
By Tracy Brynne Voyles, University of Nebraska Press, 2022 Review by Ruth Nolan Feb 14, 2023 Salton Sea Rally banner, Oct 12, 2022. Photo: Ruth Nolan In an important and aesthetically intoxicating book, The Settler Sea: California's Salton Sea and the Consequences of Colonialism, author Tracy Brynne Voyles wastes no time digging into the major … Continue reading The Settler Sea: California’s Salton Sea and the Consequences of Colonialism
A New Model for Public Lands
Tribal Collaborative Management at Bears Ears National Monument by Ruben Pacheco The Bears Ears National Monument (BENM) remains one of the most cherished landscapes in North America. The entire Bears Ears region contains spectacular paleontological remnants, palatial geological formations, biodiverse and breathtaking plant and animal life, world-class recreation opportunities, and archeological evidence of tens of … Continue reading A New Model for Public Lands
Life Beyond the Alarms
How I found My Place in an Era of Climate Chaos by Mason Voehl There's a little sound I hear whenever I open my door. It sings from the security keypad next to the doorframe, It is a two-note chime. Ba-dah, it says. Someone is entering or exiting. Be aware, it says. This could be … Continue reading Life Beyond the Alarms
The Desert Tortoise in California
A General Conservation Plan by Ray Bransfield The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) listed the Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (Act) in 1990 due to habitat loss and fragmentation, excessive predation, and disease. Since then, the Service has been working to protect desert tortoises and their habitat and to recovering the … Continue reading The Desert Tortoise in California
An Opportunity for Action
The California State 30x30 Initiative by Moises Cisneros I was recently invited to a potluck by my neighborhood association. I was provided with an existing list of items people had already committed to bringing; there was a wish list of items people hoped others would bring; and there was space for me to add what … Continue reading An Opportunity for Action
Can the Jacumba Wilderness Be Saved?
Conflicting Priorities on the Mexican Border by Craig Deutsche On February 8, 2019, environmental laws, regulations, and other legal requirements were waived in order to construct barriers and roads to "secure" the Mexican border.1 Approximately a year later (March, 2020 construction of the border wall was initiated in Southern California's Jacumba Wilderness. The environmental damage … Continue reading Can the Jacumba Wilderness Be Saved?
An Activist Responds
Where Do You Find Motivation to Be an Activist? by Patrick Donnelly Editor's note: This letter was one of the responses to the questions posed in the article by Birgitta Jansen. Because of its length, it is being printed separately. Thanks for writing and thinking of me. And I'm grateful for your continued dedication to … Continue reading An Activist Responds
The Small Tract Act 1938-1976
Shaping the San Bernardio's High Desert by Pat Flanagan How a federal response to veterans' needs for affordable land with clean air set a pattern for development that helps protect plant and animal biodiversity and carbon sequestration in the Mojave Desert. Winter has arrived and it's time to drive into the desert for some hiking, … Continue reading The Small Tract Act 1938-1976