The newsletter of the Desert Protective Council Summer 2014 Number 219

P.O. Box 3635, San Diego, CA 92163-1635 (619) 342-5524 http://www.protectdeserts.org

continued on page 2continued on page 2

by Terry Weiner

Summer is the season of rest, dormancy and hibernation in the desert. I relish

the exquisite stillness in the desert during June, July and August. Sitting under the afternoon shade of a palo verde or an ancient ironwood, it is enough to just breathe and wait…for the next slight breeze or the buzz of a hummingbird, or for the mountains to cast shadows. Seem-ingly nothing happens, yet everything is alive and quiet as, well, as the desert in summer!

For the past few summers however, I and other desert lovers cannot bliss-fully empty our minds in the shimmering August heat. Throughout every month of this summer the ‘powers-that-be’ sched-uled conference calls, hearings and county planning sessions on renewable energy development. As you will read in Laura

A Glimpse into DPC History

In the spring of 1965, Horace Parker, Editor of the DPC El Paisano, shared the following column. His quotes from Darwin Lambert will resonante with the many issues we face today as we continue the struggle to protect our deserts from economic exploitation.

Conservation Challenges: Then and Now

I was intrigued by a headline in the April issue of National Parks Magazine. “Let’s Out-grow the Growth Mania,” it read.

That sounds crackpot, I thought. Surely no intelligent person would suggest that the human race abandon the concept of further progress, and resign itself to the inevitable decay of a status quo existence. So I read the article.

It was written by Darwin Lambert, who for several years, edited the Daily Times in Ely, Nevada, and later the Daily Alaska Empire at Juneau, Alaska.

Darwin is no crackpot. He is a conserva-tionist who has worked diligently for many years in behalf of the proposed Great Basin National Park in Nevada. That kind of growth

he approves. He is not opposed to progress. But mere growth –the kind of material and industrial expansion which contaminates rivers, pollutes the atmosphere, conceals the beauty of the natural landscape behind ugly billboards and replaces fertile fields with slabs of concrete – these things are not true prog-ress according to his definitions. I am sure he shares the distaste you and I have for the gobble, gobble tactics of the frenzied huck-sters who dominate the market place today.

Some quotes from Lambert’s article will further clarify the case he makes against the “growth mania”. He writes:

“Despite vast adventures in space, we are seeing ever more clearly that earth is where we live and will continue to live. It should be dedicated not to an endless production drive that subordinates all to economic multipli-cation, but instead, to establishment and maintenance of the best possible home for mankind. Odds against ever finding another planet as well suited for humanity are not worth the gamble. We must take care of this one.

“… A wise civilization would hardly keep pushing toward ever more complete utilization of natural resources for mate-rial gain, eating us out of house and home, since these resources are actually part of our home—needed to keep the planet in condition for our health and enjoyment. We already are having increased difficulty ‘making ourselves at home’ in this century of frenzied industrialization during which the planet has seemed more and more alien to the sons and daughters for the earth.

“Few yet understand that economic exploitation…destroys the very promised-land to which it has brought us. A continuing battle is being fought, for example, between advocates of an extensive water and power development plan in the American Southwest and those who see how that plan threatens

Photo by James Morehouse

world renowned Grand Canyon, part of which was long ago set aside in a National Park and Monument for enjoyment by the people forever….”

“The tendency, even of those who oppose the Pacific Southwest Water Plan, is to admit the urgent water needs of the arid lands, not only for the people who live there now but for the tremendous increases in population that are being promoted, Yet if Arizona and California get what water they ‘need’ now to continue their growth, they will ‘need’ still more in a few years, and again more after that, and so on and on.”

“The major drive of civilization up to this point in history has been toward control over nature with increasingly efficient tools …But that job has been done…and continued clinging to a perpetual growth momentum after it has passed the point of usefulness will lead, not to greater security, as so many vainly hope, but, as with the now famous Kaibab deer and other creatures which have gone through population bursts, to the destruction of their habitat. Civilization must now dedi-cate itself to a new task; that of working out methods and conditions for the art of living.”

“What profit a glut of goods if we have destroyed the requisites for living serenely in freedom on a beautiful unpoisoned and unpolluted planet?”

“A civilization is built on what is required of men, not that which is provided for them.” –Saint Exupery

El Paisano, the newsletter of the Desert Protective Council2

Cunningham’s update in these pages, the large-scale renewable energy development siege against our southwest deserts contin-ues unabated.

Some of our valiant colleagues have spent weeks of their lives, these past 24 months, in windowless rooms testifying at BLM and local county public meetings. Or they attend CA Energy Commission hearings, explaining how scraping a desert playa here, bulldozing a desert valley there, will cause cumulative irreparable losses to desert soils, to air quality, plants, animals and to humans, who require the existence of wild places for their spiritual and men-tal well-being.

Rather than feeling discouraged in its 60th anniversary year, the Desert Protec-tive Council is reviewing its history and renewing its dedication to educating the public and policy makers about the unique biodiversity and importance of our des-erts. We will continue to build advocacy coalitions and to push back on the actions

Conservation Corner…

from page 1

A Glimpse into DPC History...

from page 1

Painted Hills and Smoke Tree – Badland – BLM land in Imperial County

Photo by Terry Weiner

A Note from the President

Sixty years ago, a group of desert lovers assembled to form The Desert Protec-

tive Council. Even at that time, people were beginning to recognize the desert needed protection from those who would use the spacious lands for their own profit, without consideration of the original inhabitants, or the desert animal and plant life. The found-ers focused on preserving pristine desert resources for future generations to enjoy.

Unfortunately, those good campaigns are still needed today, perhaps even more so. The threats grow larger as our needs to produce non-carbon electricity increase, and we struggle to balance those needs with adequate consideration for plant and animal requirements in our deserts.

One of the goals we have steadily addressed, and still focus on today is educating people, especially young students. Education is key to expanding our base of

supporters who will be inspired to help protect the wonder and beauty of our deserts.

We can only continue our valuable work with your support. I ask you now to please help us continue preserving our deserts by making a special 60th Anniversary Celebration contribution.

Your donations and membership sup-port mean we can keep up the good fight!

Janet Anderson – President of DPC

http://www.protectdeserts.org 3

Last year, Anza-Borrego Foundation acquired 13 parcels for the Anza-

Borrego Desert State Park, totaling 484.01 acres. One particularly important parcel, of 160.30 acres, allowed legal access to Coyote Canyon. This made it less of a burden for the Rangers who were previously trying to tend fragmented lands. Being in a posi-tion to acquire that particular parcel made me happy to be a part of helping make the Anza-Borrego Park whole again.

Things started out a bit slow this year, when it came to purchasing land, but as of July 2014 and in preparation for this article,

it appears things are looking up and we will surpass last year’s parcels, as well as total acreage, within the next month.

So far, ABF has acquired 12 parcels, con-taining a total of 558.89 acres, and we still have 5 months remaining in 2014. Current-ly, some larger parcels are going through the escrow process and I have my hopes up that we will acquire those by the end of September. My chant has always been – “it’s not over until it’s recorded”.

ABF is very fortunate because we have very generous donors who help us by

designating their donations towards the purchase of land.

All the Trustees of ABF send our heart-felt thanks to all of our donors. A non-profit cannot exist without its loyal donors.

Delores Lukina has been on the ABF Board sine 1993 and assumed the position of VP-Land Acquisitions in 1997. She welcomes hearing from those who have land to donate or sell to ABF.

–Delores Lukina, VP- Acquisitions

Anza-Borrego Foundation (760) 767-0446

of environmental organizations, which, in hopes of ameliorating climate change, deem it acceptable to compromise our wild desert areas for large-scale renewable energy development.

Although I would have preferred to strike a cheery, celebratory tone in this 60th year of the DPC, our members, donors and readers have always relied on DPC to tell the unvarnished truth and to guide them to actions that will help push back the tide of ill-advised plans for our deserts.

We live in a country with a schizo-phrenic mentality. The citizenry love their wide-open spaces, and simultaneously perceive the western desert as a vast and ‘empty’ place. A place of infinite capacity

to meet our endless desires for rare earth minerals, housing, resort developments, freeways and military training grounds. With the passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2006, our nation now looks to our deserts to supply energy for the insatiable demand for electricity, to power our aston-ishing number of technological toys.

None of the above is news for our long-term engaged members and desert-loving friends.

The point is that as DPC enters its 61st year, the desert has never more urgently needed defenders.

Thus, the DPC needs your active engagement and your financial support more than ever! Please renew your membership and consider an additional anniversary donation. We have a lot of

work to do and can only make significant strides with your support.

–Terry Weinerterryweiner@sbcglobal.net

Anza-Borrego Foundation Land Acquisition Updateby Delores Lukina

Mojave Desert Star on Caliche.

Photo by Terry Weiner

DPC congratulates Ranger Steve Bier for a superb job of coordinating

volunteers and compiling the data from the recent 2014 Bighorn Sheep Count in

Anza-Borrego, which ended July 6th. And a salute to the sixty volunteers for their dedication and hard work, making this count a success.

A total of 265 sheep were sighted, which is a few more than the 2013 count, and less than 2012 – but well above the long-term average. Overall the lamb/ewe ratio was not too bad, and the yearling /ewe was good. There is concern, however, that out of 57 sheep in Tubb Canyon, there were no lambs.

Water at Rattlesnake was good this year, compared to a water shortage last year (when sheep were observed stepping in mud and drinking out of their tracks). 70 sheep were documented, including 18 lambs. Excellent lamb survival is reported at Rattlesnake so far this summer.

Overall, some good news as well as concerns for the Bighorn Sheep population.

DPC would like to encourage you to consider being a future volunteer for this important research, sponsored by Anza-Borrego Foundation.

2014 Anza-Borrego Bighorn Sheep Count

El Paisano, the newsletter of the Desert Protective Council4

by Laura Cunningham photos by Laura Cunningham

August 1, 2014 - Blythe CA – West of the Colorado River and the farming town

of Blythe lays wide-open desert surrounded by jagged mountain ranges. The vegetation is sparse, some creosote and galleta grass in sandy washes, yet the valley is alive with loggerhead shrikes, desert iguanas, side-winders, kit foxes, and skittering Mojave fringe-toed lizards running through sand dunes. A few tortoises also wander through the alluvial plains. Places like Palen Dry Lake playa, the Desert Lily Preserve, and the California fan palm grove at Corn Springs in the rocky edges of the valley are connect-ed by ancient trails that could be a thousand years old. The surrounding mountains are protected in wilderness area status, and the highlands of Joshua Tree National Park overlook the area. But the public lands of

the Chuckwalla Valley have been opened up to energy development, specifically, large-scale solar projects, which threatens this

wide-open landscape of ecological treasures and living cultural traditions.

BrightSource Energy is seeking to build two solar power towers that would rise 750 feet high. The California Energy Commission (CEC) held a hearing at the end of July to gather evidence in order to make a decision as to whether to grant a license. BrightSource wants to build two solar power towers 750 feet tall that would superheat water into steam to turn steam turbines in power blocks. Hundreds of thousands of mirrors (heliostats) in circles around the towers would aim sunlight onto the receiver of the tower to heat the water into steam.

At the hearing however, the Palen Solar Electric Generating System project is down to one power tower in response to a CEC recommendation to integrate thermal energy storage into the project, specifically molten salt tanks that could store heat energy after sunset for a few hours. But BrightSource still wants a license for two towers, one with storage in the future. BrightSource’s design will only add 15 minutes of operation after sunset. Bright-Source said it was not economically feasible to build storage on the first phase tower.

Engineer Bill Powers gave testimony for Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) on how rooftop solar and distributed genera-tion policy has already allowed installations to outstrip expectations in California, and could easily get the megawatts necessary to move towards the 33% Renewable Portfolio Standard goal if Palen was not approved. So that is economically feasible today.

Expert witness for CBD Gordon Pratt, an entomologist, said the intense glowing light of the Palen solar power tower could attract large numbers of insects to their deaths like a huge bug-zapper. The insect diversity should be studied and monitored to see if any species were lost in the area over time. CBD expert witness Shawn Smallwood is an expert at bird mortality at wind projects, and he testified that only two months of formal surveys have been accomplished at Ivanpah and already the numbers dwarf the avian deaths at the infamous Altamount Wind Resource Area

in California’s Coast Range. A full year of surveys at Ivanpah should be carried out to better understand the bird deaths before Palen is given a license, he said.

Bird deaths at power towers has been acute at the Ivanpah solar project due to the solar flux around the towers which burns birds fly-ing into it. The CEC reported that Palen could kill 3.7 times as many birds as Ivanpah.

The tribes were there in force and dominated the hearings. They were pas-sionate about how they had the responsi-bility of being the caretakers of this land -- the Mohave, Chemehuevi, Quechan, and others. They gave public comment for hours on how they opposed the project, and explained to the CEC that they must be treated as sovereign nations and accept their way of doing things. About a dozen people made long and moving speeches during public comment, acted as expert witnesses in every topic, and the Colorado River Indian Tribes hired lawyers to officially intervene.

The California Energy Commission will make a final decision in the coming months.

Laura Cunningham is a naturalist, artist and writer. Her book A State of Change: Forgotten Landscapes of California, is a captivating and detailed look at California’s paleolandscapes and their denizens. It was published in 2010 by Heyday Books in Berkeley. With her husband, Kevin Emmerich, she founded the watchdog group Basin & Range Watch. They live in rural Nevada.

Big Solar in the Desert: the Palen Solar Electric Generating System California Energy Commission Evidentiary Hearing

The proposed development site in

Chuckwalla Valley, next to Palen Mountains

and Palen-McCoy Wilderness Area.

Desert Lily on the Palen Solar Project site.

The glare and surrounding heat (Solar Flux)

of the Ivanpah Heliostat Tower.

http://www.protectdeserts.org 5

by Terry Weiner

In May 2013, DPC’s Terry Weiner met Sally Kaplan and David Vassar of Backcountry

Pictures (www.backcountrypictures.com) for lunch in Placerville California. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the creation and production of a desert documentary, a film meant to awaken the nation’s curios-ity about the beauty and wonder of our southwest deserts, and to inspire a desire to explore them.

Knowledgeable desert activists under-stand that perhaps the major reason our deserts are always threatened by sacrifice to all sorts of development projects, is the na-tion’s lack of knowledge and experience of our deserts. The myth that “there is nothing there… nothing”, has been perpetrated by Hollywood and urbanites disconnected from nature in general, and from wild deserts in particular. Thus the need for a

beguiling TV documentary, depicting the human history, the lifestyles and fascinat-ing peculiarities of the non-human desert inhabitants and the magnificent beauty of the seasonal changes in the desert.

Between August and December 2013, the DPC inspired various organizations and individuals to contribute a total of $25,000 seed money for Backcountry Pictures’ initial research and scouting. During the spring and early summer, the filmmakers visited the deserts of California and Nevada. They assembled their academic advisors and as of early July 2014, have completed the research and develop-ment phase, and produced a manuscript. Academic advisors, Dr.Bruce Pavlik, author of The California Desert – An Ecological Rediscovery and Dr. Jim Andre, Director of the UC Riverside Granite Mountains Des-ert Research Center have reviewed and ed-ited the manuscript. The film presentation package is ready to submit to foundations, corporations, natural history museums and large donors for film production funding.

People tend to stick up for places they know and love. Our job is to lure people into learning about the desert, to visit the desert, and to be inspired to defend the desert.

Since TV continues to be the most pop-ular education and entertainment medium for the national public, what better way to bring the desert to the population than with an awe-inspiring film, by film makers

with a track record of producing award-winning nature documentaries? Perhaps you have seen Backcountry Pictures recent educational documentary: California Forever – the History and Future of California State Parks, in two episodes. http://cal4ever.com/. The documentary received excellent saturation on PBS stations throughout the U.S. It is still being aired on California PBS stations.

DPC urges our members and friends to help us with the next phase of completing production of this important educational desert documentary.

How you can help: Make a list of the people you know: think about their interests, their positions and their connec-tions. Are they working for corporations? Are they on Boards of corporations? Do they work for or know people interested in desert education? Do they work for natural history museums or foundations? It is amazing how many people each of us know and the connections we have.

Please contact Terry Weiner for additional information, to share the names of people who appreciate the need for an educational desert film and would love to contribute funding or link us with other sources of funding.

You can also contact film maker Sally Kaplan directly with questions and with potential contacts: skaplan@backcoun-trypictures.com

Desert Documentary Project Update: a Film by Backcountry Pictures

In 2014, in addition to being the 60th anniversary of the DPC, the desert

community is celebrating the 20th anniver-sary of the California Desert Protection Act (CDPA).

According to the CDPA website, “…twenty years ago this fall, the California

Desert Protection Act (CDPA) enlarged and re-designated Joshua Tree and Death Val-ley national monuments as national parks, established Mojave National Preserve, and designated 69 new Bureau of Land Manage-ment (BLM) wilderness areas totaling 3.57 million acres. In total, the CDPA dramati-cally increased the level of protection for over 8.6 million acres of the California desert. For these reasons, the CDPA is widely regarded as one of our nation’s most important place-based, public lands conser-vation laws.”

The CDPA 20th Anniversary is our opportunity to celebrate and support conservation of the California Deserts

Region. Beginning in October, there will be events and campouts all over the desert. Come celebrate the activists who devoted eight years of their lives to pass the CDPA. Check the CDPA website for events and other information: http://caldesert20.org/

Give a $50.00 donation to the Desert Protective Council this year and receive a FREE volume of California Desert Miracle: former DPC Advisory Panel member, Frank Wheat’s fascinating story of the characters, compromises and anecdotes from the 8 year-battle to protect the California Desert.

20th Anniversary of the California Desert Protection Act

Clouds looking north from Black Rock

Hotsprings. Photo by Graham Stafford

El Paisano, the newsletter of the Desert Protective Council6

Is it time to embrace the so-called “Anthro-pocene”—the age of human dominion—

and to abandon tried-and-true conservation tools such as parks and wilderness areas?

Is the future of Earth to be fully domesti-cated, an engineered global garden managed by technocrats to serve humanity?

The schism between advocates of rewilding, and those who accept and even celebrate a “post-wild” world is arguably the hottest intellectual battle in contemporary conservation.

In Keeping the Wild, a group of promi-nent scientists, writers, and conservation activists responds to the Anthropocene-boosters who claim that wild nature is no more (or in any case not much worth caring about), that human-caused extinction is acceptable, and that “novel ecosystems” are an adequate replacement for natural landscapes. With rhetorical fists swinging, the book’s contributors argue that these “new environmentalists” embody the hubris of the managerial mindset and offer a

conservation strategy that will fail to protect life in all its buzzing, blossoming diversity.

With essays from Eileen Crist, David Ehrenfeld, Dave Foreman, Lisi Krall, Harvey Locke, Curt Meine, Kathleen Dean Moore, Michael Soulé, Terry Tempest Williams, and other leading thinkers, Keeping the Wild provides an introduction to this important debate, a critique of the Anthropocene boosters’ attack on traditional conservation, and unapologetic advocacy for wild nature.

George Wuerthner has been a member of the Desert Protective Council Advisory Panel for many years. He serves as the ecological projects director for the Foundation for Deep Ecology, where he does research and writes about environmental issues. He has published thirty-five books on natural history, conservation history, ecology and environmental issues.

Edited by George Wuerthner, Eileen Crist, and Tom Butler

Mojave National Preserve invites you to celebrate Mojave Fest 2014 on

Saturday, November 1, from 9AM - 5PM, at the historic Kelso Depot.

In addition to the 20th anniversary of the park, and the California Desert Protec-tion Act (CDPA), we will also celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act with special programs and exhibits.

Activities planned include a book-signing table, Native American craft and ceremonial dancing performances, displays by our local partners, presentations by park researchers, and ranger guided walks and talks.

The semi-annual park Star Party will conclude the festivities at the Hole-in-the-Wall group campsite later that evening.

There is no entrance fee for Mojave Na-tional Preserve, and the event is also free. Food service will be available at Kelso for the event, plus there is seating if you prefer to bring a picnic lunch. The preserve has no stores, gas stations, restaurants, or hotels, but these services can be found at our gateway communities in Needles, Barstow, Nipton, and Baker, CA, and Searchlight and Primm, NV.

If you want to spend the weekend in the Preserve, there are several camping op-tions. Participants attending the November 1st Star Party may camp at the Black Can-yon Group camp and Equestrian Campsites while space is available.

For more information call 760-252-6108 or visit www.nps.gov/moja

Keeping the Wild – Against the Domestication of Earth

Mojave and California Desert Protection Act Celebration

Black Rock Desert, Nevada. Photo by Graham Stafford

http://www.protectdeserts.org 7

Desert Protective Council New and Renewal Membership Form

Enclosed is my remittance of $_______ New Membership Gift Membership Renewal

Name_________________________________________Address_______________________________________City, State, Zip________________________________Phone_________________________________________Email_________________________________________Please make checks payable to: DPCMail to P.O. Box 3635, San Diego, CA 92163-1635Dues and all donations are tax-deductible.

MEMBERSHIP LEVELS (please check) Life $300.00 one time Sustaining Membership $50.00 annually Regular Membership $25.00 annually Joint Membership $35.00 annually Senior/Student/Retired $15.00 annually Additional Gift of $_________

Desert Protective Council

Website: http://protectdeserts.org Twitter: @protectdeserts Facebook: facebook.com/ DesertProtectiveCouncilJanet Anderson, PresidentPauline Jimenez, SecretaryLarry Klaasen, TreasurerTerry Weiner

Imperial Projects & Conservation terryweiner@sbcglobal.net (619) 342-5524

Indy Quillen Communications Coordinator indy@dpcinc.org

For donations of $50.00 or more, we will send you a copy of California Desert Miracle by Frank Wheat.

by Indy Quillen

On June 10, 2014, The Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the

California Fish and Game Commission to protect the rare and vanishing flat-tailed horned lizard as an endangered species.

Habitat degradation and loss, off-road vehicles, pesticide use, as well as global warming are pushing the rare horned lizard, Phrynosoma mcallii, toward extinction.

The lizard’s primary prey, harvester ants, has also been hard-hit by competition with invasive argentine ants, habitat loss from invasive plants, and pesticides.

As the common name suggests, the flat-tailed horned lizard has a broad, flattened tail and long, sharp horns on its head. Adults can range from 2.5 to 4.3 inches long, excluding the tail. Adult lizards are active and may spend half the day moving about. They spend the nighttime hours burrowed under sand.

The voluntary Interagency Conservation Agreement, which has governed lizard man-agement since 1997, has failed to prevent a decline of the species. The agreement does not protect adequate lizard habitat, and has been ineffective in reducing key threats. A prime example is a recent decision by the Bureau of Land Management to open more than 43,000 previously protected acres of lizard habitat in the Algodones Dunes in Imperial County to destructive and intensive off-road vehicle use. Under the ICA agreement, The Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area is designated as a lizard “research area”, but has been severely degraded due to permitted and unrestricted off-road vehicle driving. Other lizard man-

agement areas have been similarly damaged by legal and illegal ORV use.

“This charming little lizard used to be fairly common in parts of the Sonoran Desert, but it’s been declining throughout its range in recent years,” said Ileene An-derson, a senior scientist with the Center. “A 1997 voluntary conservation agreement was supposed to help the lizard recover but clearly it isn’t working. State protection will give this lizard a fighting chance at survival.”

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organiza-tion with more than 775,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places. http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/

Protection Sought for Rare Desert Lizard

If you would like to receive our newsletter electronically, rather than in the mail, please send an e-mail message stat-ing “subscribe electronically” to: indy@dpcinc.org.

Photo Courtesy of Laura Cunningham

Desert Protective CouncilSince 1954protectdeserts.org

P.O. Box 3635San Diego, CA92163-1635

The newsletter of the Desert Protective Council

El Paisano #219 Summer 2014

Klondike Bluffs by Mike Painter

Favorite Desert Places