Continued Arizona Strip access urged by Board

Kingman Daily Miner

KINGMAN - The Mohave County Board of Supervisors met Thursday afternoon and approved a resolution urging the 111th Congress to reject House Resolution 644 and continue to allow access to uranium and other mineral reserves in the Arizona Strip.

The strip is an area of land in the northwestern section of Mohave County between the Grand Canyon and the Utah border. The area has been known to have a rich reserve of minerals, including uranium.

HR 644 would close 1,068,908 acres of federal land in the area of Kanab Creek and House Rock Valley from all forms of entry, appropriation, and disposal by the federal government. It would also prevent the location, entry and operating of any new mines in the area.

Supporters of HR 644 say it will protect important natural resources and the groundwater for generations to come.

The Board and the National Association of Counties argue that the uranium reserves in the Arizona Strip area could provide a significant source of alternative domestic energy for the country and important jobs for the county.

According to the resolution the Board sent to Congress, the U.S. Geological Survey estimates 375 million pounds of uranium oxide may exist within the Arizona Strip area, nearly 40 percent of the nation's uranium reserves.

The Board and the NAC state in the resolution that threats to the watershed are unfounded. The Colorado River already contains trace amounts of uranium at levels far below safe drinking water standards and the deepest mine ever drilled in the Arizona Strip area was 1,000 feet.

Public input sought on relocating desert tortoises for military training center project

An analysis says coyotes caused most of the deaths of desert tortoises during a relocation effort. Frank Bellino / The Press-Enterprise

By DAVID DANELSKI
The Press-Enterprise

The federal government is asking for the public's help in deciding how best to relocate desert tortoises to make way for expansion of Fort Irwin Army training center near Barstow.

The effort to move the tortoises to new territory was suspended last fall when at least 90 of the 556 tortoises died after they were relocated. Most of those were killed by coyotes. Of those that survived, some returned to their home range on military property.

Now the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and Fort Irwin National Training Center have announced a "scoping period" ending Feb. 18 to hear the public's suggestions on what issues should be addressed before tortoises are again moved from Fort Irwin expansion areas.

A new relocation plan is expected to be done by spring, an ideal time to relocate tortoises, according to a BLM news release.

A recent analysis by Nevada-based biologists for the U.S. Geological Survey found that coyotes were killing tortoises at several locations in California and Nevada because drought had left little other prey available, said Roy C. Averill-Murray, desert tortoise recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The tortoise deaths last year near Fort Irwin "absolutely had nothing to do with the relocation," Averill-Murray said in a telephone interview from his office in Reno.

The U.S. Geological Survey analysis of tortoise deaths is expected to be presented at a symposium in Nevada later this month. The researchers who did the study could not be reached Thursday.

Ileene Anderson, a Los Angeles-based biologist for the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental organization, said she wants to learn more about the U.S. Geological Survey analysis but added that relocated tortoises were easy targets for coyotes.

Tortoises have natural homing instincts, she said, and many tried to head back to the military property after they were moved. As they traveled, the tortoises had no burrows in which to find refuge from coyotes, she said.

Another concern is disease. The Center for Biological Diversity and Desert Survivors, another environmental group, sued the BLM and the Army last year, saying relocated tortoises were exposed to diseased animals and placed in inferior habitat.

Nearly 2,000 tortoises have been targeted for removal from land that Fort Irwin is taking over for military exercises. The species is listed as threatened with extinction.

An environmental analysis, expected to be published early next month, is being developed by the U.S. Geological Survey with input from the California Department of Fish and Game, BLM, U.S. Army and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Moving Tortoises

What: Public comments and suggestions are being sought on plans to relocate desert tortoises from military property to public land in the desert.

How: Send written comments to BLM Barstow Field Office, Attention: Mickey Quillman, 2601 Barstow Road, Barstow, CA 92311. Comments also can be faxed to 760-252-6099 or e-mailed to mquillma@ca.blm.gov.

Exhibit showcases first black settlers' influence on Indio

Indio resident Leah Jordan points to a picture of her sons riding horses while discussing her family's history in Indio. Jordan's family moved to Indio in 1928. Her uncle, John Nobles, was the founder of Nobles Ranch in Indio. (Crystal Chatham The Desert Sun)

Aldrich M. Tan
The Desert Sun

As a young black girl in Indio in the early 1940s, R. Gene Wilson spent summers waking up at 5 a.m. to pick onions, grapes and chop cotton under the blazing sun.

It was her family's way of surviving life in the desert at a time when the only jobs available to blacks were farmers and housekeepers.

Wilson, now 75, reflects on those times decades later as she puts together her family's history poster for the upcoming “Black Pioneer Showcase” at the Coachella Valley Museum and Cultural Center.

The monthlong exhibit opens Saturday and highlights the historical contributions of the local black community. It features about 75 items of significance to Indio's black history, including family photos and heirlooms dating back to the early settlement of Indio.

“We wanted to show that the black people of the Coachella Valley didn't just sit down,” said exhibit committee president George Thomas of Indio. “We helped develop this town.”

An opening-day celebration with speakers and performers is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday at the center, 82-616 Miles Ave., Indio.

With wrinkled dark hands from years of agricultural labor and service to the school district, Wilson glued the last picture to the poster at her Indio home recently.

“It means the world to me,” Wilson said of the showcase.

“We can get out and show our kids and grandchildren what our forefathers have done here in the valley, and how we have poured out their lives here.”

A committee began work on the exhibit seven months ago to debut for Black History Month, which has been held in February since it was established in 1976. The historic inauguration of a black president has given the committee more drive to show their history.

Jesse Siess, executive director of the Coachella Valley Museum and Cultural Center, said it's difficult to tell exactly how many black people were in Indio when the city was incorporated in 1930 because, at the time, racial minorities were often not accounted for by the census.

The first stop for many black residents starting their lives in Indio was Nobles Ranch, Siess said. John Nobles came to Indio from Oklahoma as the first black farmer to own land here in 1922.

Facing housing discrimination, many black settlers turned to Nobles, who divided his land and sold it to the earliest pioneers so that they could support themselves, Siess said.

Leah Woods Jordan, Nobles' niece, remembered her uncle as a kind and helpful man. Her family came to Indio in the 1930s.

Many newcomers to Nobles Ranch, Jordan said, lived in tents until they could raise money to build their own homes.

With time and hard work, black people settled down in Indio. They bought property from Nobles and built churches, such as the African Methodist Episcopal church in April 1930, and homes where they could raise their families.

By the 1990s, there were 87 homes, a public housing project and three churches in the Nobles Ranch area, said Victoria Bailey, author of “Indio Reflections and Visions.”

City takes control

While their grandparents and parents toiled on the fields, the young black children in the 1940s went to integrated schools.

Cora Mayfield, now 58, became Indio High School's first black cheerleader at a time when segregation was seen elsewhere. She said her cousins in Texas were surprised she could attend an integrated school.

“My cousins were shocked that I had gone to school with white people,” she said.

Black residents faced ongoing occupational and housing discrimination, Siess said. Blacks who sought work in the 1960s were referred to blue-collar jobs like janitors and gas station attendants.

Indio's black community faced a setback in 1986 when the city took over the communities established on Nobles Ranch under eminent domain for a proposed expansion of the Indio Fashion Mall next to their neighborhood.

Black people from all over the Coachella Valley protested the city's action for at least three weeks in front of the mall.

“We were infuriated because they were traumatically moving residents who were largely black,” Beaver said. “It was an atrocity.”

Despite the setbacks, the black residents of Indio who remained in the area continued to strive for success.

Mayfield said she feels like her experience in Indio gave her “a good start in life.”

“I was exposed to a lot of opportunities that I probably would not have had living in a segregated state,” she said.

Black residents of Indio started making presentations for Black History Month in the mid-1990s, Siess said.

“A museum should focus on where a community comes from, and we want to show the history of the valley through the people who have helped form the valley,” she said.

The presentations usually consist of speakers and performances, Siess said. What makes this year's showcase unique is the establishment of an exhibit at the museum led by city residents.

Thomas said he feels the right group of people came together at the right time to make this type of project work.

On display through February, the exhibit traces the journey of the settlement of the first black residents of Indio as farmers of the desert and the lives of their descendents.

Johnson brought rusting silvery cups called “water cups” to use in the exhibit. Farmworkers used the cups to drink water when they were working in the fields, she said.

“These are artifacts that show where we come from,” she said, “so we can appreciate what we have now.”

If the project is successful, the group plans to expand the exhibit to include black pioneers and families who live in other parts of the Coachella Valley, Thomas said.

Salazar cancels Bush-era energy leases in Utah

The Interior secretary voids the December sale of 77 environmentally sensitive parcels to oil and gas companies






By Nicholas Riccardi and Jim Tankersley
Los Angeles Times






Reporting from Washington and Denver — The Obama administration Wednesday canceled 77 leases its predecessor sold to oil and gas companies that wanted to explore beneath the red rock country of Utah, the first of several expected steps to reverse the Bush administration's Western legacy.

"We need to responsibly develop oil and gas supply to protect us from our dependence on foreign oil," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said, "but we need to do so in a thoughtful and respectful way."

The December auction of more than 100,000 acres of federal land was one of a number of last-minute environmental changes made by the Bush administration that Salazar and the Obama administration are expected to wrestle with over the coming months.

Salazar has said he wants to revisit Bush-era regulations that open much of the West to oil shale development, the delisting of the gray wolf as an endangered species, and a rule that allows federal agencies to avoid consulting scientists on whether the Endangered Species Act applies to certain projects.

"Many of those decisions were rushed," Salazar said in an afternoon conference call with reporters.

Environmental groups said the new administration has its work cut out for it.

"There's so much to be done with the Bush administration legacy," said Robin Cooley, an attorney with Earthjustice, "that we're going to be dealing with it not for months but for years."

"When we take public lands and
put them off-limits, we're denying
ourselves a resource we need."

Energy industry groups said the decision to void the lease sales was a bad start for the Obama administration.

"When we take public lands and put them off-limits to national gas development, we're denying ourselves a resource we need," said Kathleen Sgamma of the Independent Petroleum Assn. of Mountain States.

On election day, the Bush administration announced that it was selling leases to hundreds of thousands of acres in Utah, saying it was the culmination of a seven-year process to change the way federal lands are administered in that state. Some of the parcels adjoined national parks, including Arches and Canyonlands. Contrary to normal procedure, the National Park Service was not consulted in the sale.

The administration removed some parcels from the list before its Dec. 19 auction, but environmentalists sued, arguing that most of the remaining leases were in lands that required greater review. Last month, a federal judge barred the government from cashing checks from the auction, saying the matter deserved a greater hearing in court.

Salazar let stand 39 leases in areas that were less environmentally sensitive but said the 77 he was reversing were too close to "American iconic treasures that we need to make sure are protected."

He said that the parcels would be reevaluated and that some could find their way back to auction.

During his conference call, Salazar declined to say whether he would reverse the resource management plans that enabled the Bureau of Land Management to sell the leases.

He also declined to state his position on an investigation by the U.S. attorney in Salt Lake City into an environmental activist who posed as a bidder and won the rights to 12 parcels.

Why Aren't More Geothermal Projects Moving Forward in California?

Drilling rig under contract at the Truckhaven geothermal project in northwestern
Imperial County. (photo: David Baker, San Francisco Chronicle)

by Karl Gawell
Geothermal Energy Association
Geothermal energy produces more power in California than wind and solar combined, comprising almost 5% of the state's electricity. As the state moves forward, it will need significant new production from geothermal and other renewable technologies to meet the aggressive climate change goals set by the governor and the legislature. While there is a lot of pressure to accelerate production and a host of federal and state initiatives proposing to help, we need to make sure they are addressing all of the critical hurdles.

When I asked the question at a recent industry meeting, "Why aren't more projects moving forward in California?" the response was rather quick and direct. While I could have expected a discussion of investment problems, the slow economy, or the need to develop new technology, what I was told was: leases and permits are simply not being issued.

Here's one example I was given: a lease that won with a very substantial bid from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) almost two years ago was still waiting for a drilling permit to be issued. This particular lease is not in a pristine area, but to the contrary, it is almost totally within an existing geothermal field.

Another example was the continued delays in decision-making at one geothermal site due to off-road vehicle users. Despite completion of a full EIS, development at one new site in Southern California, known as Truckhaven, is not proceeding because leases have yet to be issued, let alone subsequent permits approved. The problem is opposition to the project from recreational off-road vehicle users who like to drive their four-wheel-drive vehicles around the area. The project is delayed while the BLM seeks to assuage their concerns.

While these two examples might just seem to be the kind of problems endemic to working on public lands, they are just the tip of the iceberg. In a state where federal and state lands play a significant role, most of the public lands have effectively been off limits for decades because the land-use plans of federal agencies simply didn't consider geothermal energy when they were prepared.

Before a lease can be issued on public lands the land-use plan for the area has to have adequately considered geothermal leasing and made a decision that the lands could be open to leasing. Also, the land-use plan has to have an adequate and up-to-date environmental analysis (EA or EIS) supporting it. Because BLM (and the FS) simply have not done their homework in the land-use plans prepared over the past 25 years, most areas in California have been de facto closed to geothermal leasing and development.

That is why in 2007 and 2008 the BLM and Forest Service prepared a Programmatic Geothermal EIS (PGEIS) to address this history of neglect. Now, as part of their Record of Decision (ROD) on this document, the Department of the Interior is amending plans in California and other western states to either allow leasing or close lands to leasing on the basis of the results of their analysis. For California, the ROD proposes to amend land-use plans in 11 California BLM planning areas to open 10 million acres to possible geothermal leasing. At the same time, the ROD will close 5 million acres in these 11 BLM planning areas to geothermal leasing.

If someone cannot obtain a lease to develop a geothermal project, there is simply no incentive to explore for or develop new resources. Now, the BLM has in place the plans and environmental documents necessary to make a decision if someone nominates BLM lands for competitive leasing. But for the past two decades, 10 million acres of public land in California with geothermal potential were off-limits due to bureaucratic oversight.

This is a lot of land and the PGEIS analysis indicated that a lot of it does have geothermal potential. Today, there are only about 50,000 acres of federal geothermal leases in production nationwide which support about 1200 MW of power capacity. So, how much geothermal potential might there be on these 10 million acres?

Let's do a quick back-of-the-envelope calculation; if ten percent of the land now open to leasing is eventually developed at the same proportion to existing leased acreage, geothermal production would increase 2000%. This is just from the lands in California — the PGEIS also made decisions for 11 other western states. And, while that sounds like a lot of land to develop, geothermal power has one of the smallest footprints of any energy technology. Only a small fraction of each lease is actually utilized for power production.

Let's get back to the question we started with: why aren't more geothermal projects moving forward in California and what needs to be done about it?

Congress and the new administration have set some high goals for expanding renewable energy production, including geothermal energy. Don't get me wrong, I think making an investment in new technology is vitally important. We need that investment. It's also exciting to see the emphasis on providing effective incentives for doubling or tripling renewable power production over the next three years. The rollercoaster of federal and state policies supporting renewable energy has unquestionably been part of the problem.

But we also need to address the bureaucratic hurdles that could stand in the way of achieving this goal. Timely decisions regarding leasing and permitting must not be ignored — they are fundamental to achieving expanded geothermal energy production in California and the West. Sometimes when I am asked what the hurdles are to moving geothermal and other renewable production forward, I feel like invoking the wisdom of the comic strip character, Pogo, who would often remark: "We have met the enemy, and them is us."

Residents plead: "Please fo east"

Marines present expansion proposal: Residents fill the community center at MAC meeting

Lucerne Valley Leader

LUCERNE VALLEY - Nearly a year after the Marine Corps announced its intention to expand the base at Twentynine Palms the Municipal Advisory Council hosted project representatives Colonel Wes Weston and Joe Ross, BLM Project Manager at their most recent meeting.

Lucerne Valley residents, off-roaders, miners and other stakeholders filled the Lucerne Valley Community Center to hear about the proposed Twentynine Palms Marine Base Expansion and to express their concerns.

Back in April 2008 the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Marine Corps officials confirmed that permits had been issued to look into expanding the facility at Twentynine Palms possibly by as much as 100,000 acres into Johnson Valley. Since that time the Marine Base has proposed a total of six expansion alternatives.

The Johnson Valley alternative is the one that has the residents of Johnson Valley, Lucerne Valley and Yucca Valley the most concerned. More than 30 of those in attendance stood to express their views.

“I moved here because I am an off-roader,” said Robert Kleber, who currently lives on the boarder of the existing Marine Base. “I want my children to enjoy the desert as I have. If (the base) moves closer, we won’t be able to live here.”

Many residents who are not off-roaders noted that without the weekly influx of off-road dollars the town would be in serious economic trouble.

“Each weekend our economy gets a little boost,” said Bill Lembright of Lucerne Valley Market. “If that gets shut off, we’re done. Please go east.”

During a 30-minute PowerPoint presentation, Ross explained the government’s Title 10 requirement that Marines be trained to operate a combined arms force in three dimensions: land, air and sea. This training will require an area that would hold an entire Expeditionary Brigade of anywhere from 3,000 to 20,000 personnel and equipment. This training would take place for 48 to 72 hours of sustained offensive operations, twice a year.

“That is less than a week twice a year,” said MAC Chairman Tony Malone. “That doesn’t seem like very good use of our natural resources.”

Of those presenting views, most were very positive toward the Marine Base objective to provide soldiers with the best training possible, but asked that the expansion planners please consider the impacts that coming west into Johnson Valley will have on the Lucerne Valley way of life, as well as many others who use or will that area for recreation, mining, filming and possible future alternative energy sources.

“I respect what you are doing, but I choose to live here instead of Los Angeles so that my children do not have to listen to gun fire,” said a controlled, but emotional Robin Lopez. “If you expand toward Lucerne Valley, we will have to leave.”

Several young men in their late teens and early twenties spoke on the positive impact that Johnson Valley has had on their lives.

“Since I was just a little guy, I was in one of those motor-homes driving through Lucerne Valley every weekend. Spending quality time with my family riding motorcycles out here kept me from getting involved with drugs and gangs,” said Jensen Kime of Pasadena.

“I represent several mining interests,” said Doug Shumway of TerraMins Inc., Apple Valley. “There are many valuable mineral sites in that area that will be completely blocked off if the Johnson Valley area is closed. “This will cause negative economical impacts with San Bernardino County.”

The group “Partnership for Johnson Valley” also had representatives at the meeting from Encino.

Out of the 32 people who made comments only two were disruptive: one who wouldn’t stop when his time was up, and one who wheeled, under wraps, an old rusty World War II practice bomb up to the front of the room and dramatically whipped away the cover in front of the Colonel Weston to demonstrate her fear that her “children” might stumble upon whatever the Marines might leave behind.

She then began to verbally assault the Colonel, calling him a liar for telling the group that there would be no live ammunition used. The MAC board reminded her that in the PowerPoint presentation, Ross had stated specifically that the Marines would use live fire. As she started to get aggressive again, several people in the audience told her to stop and she eventually relented.

“I am very proud of Lucerne Valley!” stated MAC Chairman Tony Malone after the close of public comments. “And I am very proud of all of you for treating these people with respect, and for treating yourselves with respect.”

The meeting was then adjourned and those in attendance had the opportunity to speak with the Marine Base representatives and to view the maps of the six expansion alternatives.

A win for wilderness

EDITORIAL

The Senate has passed a public lands bill that will benefit California, among other states. Although the legislation contains a few troublesome projects, it deserves House passage too.

Opinion
Los Angeles Times

An omnibus public lands bill that would, among other things, designate more than 700,000 acres of California land as wilderness has finally received approval from the Senate and will now go to the House for a vote. Though it contains a few questionable proposals, the legislation would protect badly needed wildlife habitat and recreational space, and the House should pass it.

The bill, S. 22, a holdover from last year, consists of about 160 separate proposals and would grant the highest level of federal protection to more than 2 million acres across nine states from California to West Virginia. Among the California land designated as wilderness would be about 190,000 acres in Riverside County, about 450,000 acres in the Eastern Sierra and the San Gabriel Mountains, and about 90,000 acres in Sequoia-Kings Canyon national parks. The overall packagecarries a $4-billion price tag over five years.

Perhaps the most important bonus for California, though, is $88 million for the long-overdue revival of the 330-mile-long San Joaquin River, after decades of being drained to supply Central Valley farms. The legislation would restore water flows next year below Friant Dam -- located on the uppermost part of the river, northeast of Fresno -- and attempt to restore salmon runs to their historic levels by 2014.

For all its good intentions, the bill funds or allows a few troublesome projects, most notably a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska for use by residents of a nearby village in case of medical emergencies, even though the government has already bought them a $9-million hovercraft for that purpose. But a revised version of the bill at least grants the Interior secretary the authority to veto the road's construction. Then there's the downright silly allocation of $3.5 million to celebrate the 450th birthday of St. Augustine, Fla., in 2015. St. Augustine is ancient by U.S. standards, the oldest European-established city in the nation, but the expenditure for a minor anniversary of a town of 12,000 is excessive by any measure.

Despite such concerns, on balance the bill is heavy on benefit and light on waste. Wilderness areas enjoy a higher level of protection than any other public lands, shielding them from drilling, logging and residential development. Rather than piling on more pork, or even killing it outright, the House should swiftly approve the bill.

Bill to help fund road fight with Feds advances

Patty Henetz
The Salt Lake Tribune

A bill that would help Utah counties pay for a continuing fight with the federal government over road claims cleared a House committee Tuesday.

Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, is sponsoring HB278, which would allow county commissions to divert 30 percent of some road-maintenance funds to help cover court costs as they seek control over roads that pass through public lands. Federal judges have ruled that each of these so-called RS2477 claims must be litigated on its own merits.

The road-maintenance funds come from the statewide gas tax. In 2009, for example, Kane County got about $722,000 from that tax, according to Utah Department of Transportation records. Had Noel's bill already been in place, Kane County commissioners could have dedicated about $216,000 to federal court battles.

The bill now goes to the full House.

Mojave Max Still Hiding

Winter To Continue In Las Vegas Valley



KVVU News and Richard Lake
Las Vegas Review-Journal



Mojave Max, a desert tortoise estimated to be 19 years old, sleeps in his temporary den -- a plastic pipe at the Desert Tortoise Conservation Center. Photo by Gary Thompson.

LAS VEGAS -- Punxsutawney Phil has confirmed it on the East Coast, and the lack of Mojave Max's appearance has confirmed it on the West Coast -- winter will continue.

Max, the famous desert tortoise who serves as a Clark County mascot of sorts, lives in the ground from about Halloween each year until spring. He's staying at the conservation center, near Mountain's Edge in the far southwest valley, because his regular home at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is being renovated.

To help the county determine when Max will appear, they will hold the Mojave Max Emergence Contest. Students are encouraged to study the behavior of desert tortoises and guess when Mojave Max will first exit his burrow each year.

When he comes out depends on a few things. An internal clock. Flowers, maybe. Temperature and sunlight.

Which is where the Groundhog Day connection comes in.

Ten years ago, Clark County officials started pushing Max as an alternative to the eastern groundhog. He is better, they contended, at alerting us busy humans to the onset of spring.

There is no shadow involved. No silliness. Just some scientists and a hole.

When Max comes out, it's springtime. Before that, it is winter. This usually happens in March or April.

This publicity stunt -- and everybody knows that's what it is -- has an educational element. Schoolchildren have been recruited to guess when Max will come out. The student with the closest guess wins a prize.

This contest allows conservation officials to push their message, namely that Max, part of a threatened species, matters in the whole scheme of things.

The contest and educational campaign has been such a success, said Christina Gibson with the county, that it's been replicated in California with that state's own version of Max.

Some astute readers might be saying to themselves, "Hey. Didn't Mojave Max die last year?" In fact, he did. The old Max died of what is thought to be natural causes at the estimated age of 65.

A new, younger, handsomer Max with an inspiring backstory took his place. The new Max carries on the tradition of his predecessor in indicating the start of spring.

So anyway, it is one scientist's job to drive his 4x4 out to Max's habitat every day. He peeks into the hole where Max lives to make sure he's still living there.

When Max emerges, the scientist will record the event for the schoolchildren's contest.

Which could be any day now. Today, for example. Or Wednesday. Maybe Thursday. Friday. Saturday. Sunday. Monday ...

The scientist will repeat this routine, every day, for as long as necessary.

Two Utah counties lose again in monument grazing fight

Grand Staircase » Federal appeals court upholds purchase by conservation groups

By Patty Henetz
The Salt Lake Tribune

Two southern Utah counties have lost another round in their fight to reverse the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's decision to allow conservation groups to buy grazing allotments on the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

The Denver-based 10th U.S. District Court of Appeals on Monday upheld a federal administrative law judge's 2006 ruling that the BLM had acted properly when it issued grazing permits to the Grand Canyon Trust and Canyonlands Grazing Corp. after the groups cut deals with ranchers to acquire their allotments and cattle.

The appeals court also affirmed an administrative law judge's decision to deny grazing permits to other individuals and upheld a federal district court's ruling that the counties didn't have standing to join with those individuals in their case.

Calls to county commissioners for comment were not immediately returned Monday.

In 2006, Kane and Garfield counties lost a federal lawsuit that claimed economic harm from the BLM's sale of the permits to the Grand Canyon Trust. In that ruling, the federal judge also found the counties lacked standing to continue pressing their case against the agency.

The Grand Canyon Trust -- based in Flagstaff, Ariz., and Moab -- spent $1.5 million to buy about 350,000 acres worth of monument grazing permits from 1999 to 2001 in what were deemed environmentally sensitive areas. The group originally intended to retire the permits, but instead bought and grazed a few cattle, including strays left on one of the allotments it acquired.

Last year, a Utah judge ordered Kane and Garfield counties to stop using a state defense fund to cover their federal court costs. At that time, the counties had spent more than $174,000 on the cases.

Mojave land trust achieves acquisition milestone

Joshua Tree charity donates 10,000th acre to Park Service

Hi-Desert Star

JOSHUA TREE — The Mojave Desert Land Trust, a Joshua Tree public charity, announced the acquisition of its 10,000th acre of land to be donated to the National Park Service this week.

The land trust has given land to Joshua Tree National Park, the Mojave National Preserve and Death Valley National Park through 183 transactions at a cost of $5 million dollars.

Mindy Kaufman, the land trust’s president, said she was extremely proud of the achievement: “We are only 3 years old as a land trust and these acquisitions speak to the grit and determination of the board, our funders, small staff, great volunteers and the community in its desire to preserve land in the Mojave Desert.”

Founded in 2005, the Mojave Desert Land Trust uses a fund in the Preserving Wild California Program to acquire privately held parcels inside the boundaries of desert national parks.

Most national parks contain private lands that are holdovers from the homesteading, ranching and mining days.

The Mojave Land Trust believes these lands can become the staging grounds for incompatible development, such as commercial real estate or homes, putting wildlife, natural and cultural treasures and the experiences of park visitors at risk.

According to the land trust, the National Park Service lists 1.8 million acres of private land it hopes will be acquired and donated to the government at an estimated price tag of $1.9 billion.

Inholdings that require restoration from dumping, illegal roads or other uses are restored by the Mojave Desert Land Trust before they are donated to the National Park Service.

To date, using professional contractors and the volunteer time of trained land stewards, over 70 acres have been restored — recycling more than 15 tons of debris, 36 vehicles and four travel trailers.

This year, Nolina Peak, which the land trust acquired in 2007, was incorporated into Joshua Tree National Park.

The 640-acre Nolina Peak parcel protects the Quail Mountain watershed originating in Joshua Tree National Park.

“In only three years, the MDLT has acquired over 3,500 acres in Joshua Tree, a rate of acquisition that far exceeds what the park was able to accomplish,” said Curt Sauer, superintendent of Joshua Tree National Park.

“While these lands are all critical to the management of resources within the park, the acquisition of Nolina Peak is a giant step forward in our ability to preserve the northwest end of Quail Mountain, with its resident populations of bighorn sheep, bobcat, mountain lion and desert tortoise.”

Sauer said he considers the land trust an important partner for conservation in the Mojave Desert.

Another recent acquisition of 320 acres is located in the Mojave National Preserve. A wildlife corridor, this land links the pinyon juniper highlands of the New York Mountains with the Watson Wash drainage.

The site also includes habitat for plants and animals and is the location of a historic homestead.

Preserve superintendent Dennis Schramm said the land trust’s help has been especially critical in the past several years, when federal money to buy land was mostly unavailable.

“Wilderness, desert tortoise critical habitat, springs and other biologically diverse properties are now permanently protected due to the efforts of MDLT,” said Schramm.

Amargosa River bill will only affect California

By MARK WAITE
Pahrump Valley Times


During very wet periods, the Amargosa River can flow at the surface, as it did in Death Valley during the wet winter of 2005.

The passage in the U.S. Senate of the Omnibus Public Lands Bill of 2009, including the designation of wild and scenic river status for the Amargosa River in California, was like a dream come true for the newly-formed Amargosa Conservancy.

Across the state line, however, Nevada District 36 Assemblyman Ed Goedhart, R-Amargosa Valley, who has seen the influence of environmental designations like Death Valley National Park and Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge on water rights applications in Amargosa Valley, sees a possible nightmare.

Goedhart said a "wild and scenic river" conjures up images of people rafting through white water rapids in scenic national parks. The segment of the Amargosa River under wild and scenic river protection extends from four miles north of the Tecopa Hot Springs road, south to just past the Dumont Dunes access road crossing.

"Any time you want to make wilderness, national monuments, wildlife refuges, wild and scenic rivers, it's like dropping a pebble on a pond. These ripples go a long ways," Goedhart said. "It's an expansion of locking people out of not only public lands but also being able to utilize their own property and water rights, such as people in Amargosa Valley."

The legislation reminded him of the Death Valley regional groundwater flow model, which places limits on application for water rights. Goedhart said the area affected by that flow model would measure 20,000 square miles.

Amargosa Valley is being eyed up for solar power projects by companies like Solar Millenium and Ausra NV.

"When Death Valley was changed from a national monument to a national park, that now gives the National Park Service a buffer area where they can protest things being done outside the park borders up to 50 miles away. These types of things, they get increasingly difficult for people to utilize their land and water rights to attract capital, create wealth, produce payroll and pay taxes," Goedhart said.

Brian Brown, a founding member of the Amargosa Conservancy, which was formed as a nonprofit organization in September 2005, thinks those fears are overblown. Brown doesn't see any impact of the legislation across the state line. Instead, he sees benefits to the economy in the Tecopa-Shoshone area.

"Those small businesses that are surviving are doing it on tourism, and what we have to offer is the desert itself. It's a unique area. There's a lot of endemic plants and animals, and this will go a long way toward protecting their water source in that river," Brown said.

The lands bill is expected to be introduced in the House within the next couple weeks. The wild and scenic river designation was one of 160 bills in the Omnibus Public Lands Act introduced by U.S. Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif.

Brown said he met with the California delegation during a trip to Washington, D.C., in September, along with other residents of Inyo County.

"It's difficult to examine the scenario where this wild and scenic section might affect something 90 miles away in Beatty. It seems like a stretch," Brown said. "States control their water. That's their job. So this is in California, it's not in Nevada. The people in our area are looking forward to it. We look on it as an asset that will bring more tourism and travel to our area."

Brown said the conservancy is working with the state of California to cut a recreational trail down to the Amargosa Canyon from the China Ranch Date Farm he owns. A 17-mile hiking trail from Shoshone, Calif., to Dumont Dunes, part of it using the rail bed from the old Tonopah and Tidewater railroad, has also been discussed over the last several years, with kiosks, watch towers and other facilities.

"This legislation only affects federal land. It does not affect any private landowners' rights to their land," Brown said. "There aren't a lot of places in the lower 48 where you can get the vistas and quiet solitude like we have here. That has value. The truth is there are other values than an economic one, and those have to weigh into decisions on public land."

Brown said the public lands bill is an attempt to wrap up conflicts over wilderness study areas, enacted by the Desert Protection Act of 1994, which designated the Mojave National Preserve in a wide swath of desert from Interstate 15 to Interstate 40.

McKeon's legislation includes designating 11,000 acres in the Sierra Nevadas as a snowmobile area as well as wild and scenic river designation for places like Cottonwood Creek, just south of Lone Pine, Calif.

Brown said the legislation is written so there are seven different locations where off-highway vehicles can cross the Amargosa River.

The bill will also allow the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to measure the stream flow to prevent large diversions upstream that would lessen the flow through the wild and scenic section.

But Brown said that shouldn't affect users upstream since the Amargosa River doesn't have a lot of water.

Bob Haueter, deputy chief of staff for Rep. McKeon, said the water flow isn't sufficient on the Amargosa River to affect potential users in either California or Nevada.

"It has no impact in Nevada. It doesn't reach Nevada," Haueter said. "There can be no impact outside the area affected."

County Files Action to Preserve Public's Access to Camp Rock Road

By David Zook
Submitted by Dan Wilson
Best Syndication News

SAN BERNARDINO CA - Nearly six years after San Bernardino County first sought to establish its authority over a critical High Desert road that crosses federal land, the Board of Supervisors Tuesday authorized a court order seeking to compel the federal government to process the County's application.

"We made a good faith effort under existing laws and regulations to establish that Camp Rock Road is a vital route across federal land and that it should be permanently under County control," said First District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt, who represents the High Desert. "We regret having to take this action to force the government to comply with its own rules and honor our rights under the Administrative Procedures Act."

On April 29, 2003, the County filed an application with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for a recordable disclaimer granting the County's right of way on Camp Rock Road, which stretches about 42 miles between Lucerne Valley and Daggett. A recordable disclaimer is similar to a quitclaim deed, which would give the County a legal record of its ownership of the road.

The recordable disclaimer process was established to allow rights of way to be formally recognized and recorded. There was previously no regulatory provision for recording rights of way under federal rules.

The application was filed under Revised Statute 2477, part of an 1866 mining law that allowed rights of way over public lands as part of the effort to settle the West. R.S. 2477 was repealed in 1976 with the adoption of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, but existing rights of way were preserved. The County submitted substantial evidence that Camp Rock Road was a well-established and maintained route long before 1976.

"We are merely seeking to protect the interests of our economy and our citizens who rely on this route to travel across federal land," Supervisor Mitzelfelt said. "There is no reason for this application to have languished for nearly six years, and we look forward to working with the federal government to resolve this issue."

The County's request for a writ of mandamus will be heard in U.S. District Court, Central District, in Riverside.

Grim water outlook for Nevada and California

By MARTIN GRIFFITH
Associated Press

RENO, Nev. (AP) - Experts have offered a grim water outlook for Nevada and California, saying farmers can again expect to receive less water than normal this year because of a drought.

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation officials, meeting with water users at a conference last week in Reno, said the snowpack water content is again averaging below normal so far this winter in both states.

In Nevada, it's currently running 71 percent in the Lake Tahoe basin, 68 percent in both the Truckee River and Carson River watersheds, 62 percent in the Walker River basin and 78 percent in the Humboldt River watershed, said Kenneth Parr, the agency's Lahontan Basin Area Office manager in Carson City.

Parr said that in addition to his fear for farmers, he also is concerned about the impact of a skimpy snowpack on smaller ski resorts around Lake Tahoe.

"The corporate ski resorts are facing no problem," he said. "I'm worried about the smaller ski resorts up there."

Ron Milligan, the bureau's Central Valley operations manager in Sacramento, Calif., said his office's initial water allocations will be "relatively low" this year because of the drought.

His office, which oversees farmers in California's Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, plans to wait until Feb. 20 to announce specific figures to gain a better idea of the Sierra snowpack.

"Clearly, this is going to be a tight year," Milligan said. "The amount of water in storage is very low and the run-off projections at this point are very low. It's going to be very challenging to meet the various needs."

As of Jan. 22, the snowpack water content was 49 percent of average for the date in Northern California, 57 percent in Central California and 64 percent in Southern California, according to Milligan.

Bill Diedrich, an almond grower in Fresno County, said he's facing the prospect of losing some of his orchards because of the drought.

"Quarter sections of almonds may be dead by the end of the year. It's one of the grimmest water situations we've ever faced," said Diedrich, a member of a fourth-generation California farm family.

As many as 40 other farmers in his San Luis Water District are not planting annual row crops because of speculation they could get zero surface water, Diedrich said.

"You can't plant an annual crop when you're facing such an uncertain water situation," Diedrich said. "We need for everyone to understand it's an absolute emergency and anything to get water flowing quickly is needed.

"The real story here is food security. I believe it's a national issue," Diedrich added, noting California grows fruits and vegetables that are consumed nationwide.

As of Jan. 1, electronic sensor readings taken throughout the Sierra showed the overall water content of the snowpack at 76 percent of normal, compared to 60 percent last year.

"This doesn't bode well," Milligan said. "We'll have to see how the dynamics of the Pacific play out the rest of the season... and whether we get any major storms. It could go either way."

S.B. County suing federal government to get road

By DAVID DANELSKI
The Press-Enterprise


San Bernardino County officials this week agreed to sue the federal government to gain control of a 42-mile stretch of mostly dirt road that cuts through undeveloped public land between Barstow and the San Bernardino Mountains.

The county's 6-year-old effort to wrest legal rights to Camp Rock Road from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management has raised concerns among some environmentalists, who say they fear county control could put wildlife at risk.

Camp Rock Road, a public-access route to a large section of open desert southeast of Barstow, crosses territory that is designated as critical habitat for the desert tortoise, a species threatened with extinction. It also skirts two wilderness areas in the Newberry and Rodman mountains south of Interstate 40.

"If the county were to pave the road or increase traffic on the road, it would be a detriment to desert wildlife, including the desert tortoise," said Ileene Anderson, a biologist with the Center for Biological Diversity, a wildlife advocacy group.

San Bernardino County Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt said the county has no plans to pave or otherwise improve the road, which he said is used principally by recreationists and miners. The county already maintains it.

"We just seek to keep it open for the various uses, as it has been many years," Mitzelfelt said. "We have an obligation as a county to keep it as a county road."

He added that the county is also in court to fight road closures on public land in the Mojave National Preserve.

San Bernardino County submitted an application to the BLM in 2003 to take over Camp Rock Road, but the bureau has not acted, according to a county petition filed in U.S. District Court.The suit asks the court to order the BLM to process the county's application.

Alan Stein, a BLM deputy district manager, said the agency has not acted because of unresolved disputes about a statute that allows counties to take over federal rights-of-way.

Heidi McIntosh, an attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, said environmental groups are concerned because counties are not obligated to protect wildlife while the BLM must adhere to the Endangered Species Act and other laws.

Mitzelfelt said the road could not be improved without extensive environmental reviews.

County sues to ensure Camp Rock Road access

By ABBY SEWELL, staff writer
Desert Dispatch

San Bernardino County is suing the federal government in hopes of establishing its right of way on a road crossing federal land between Lucerne Valley and Daggett.

The county is seeking to officially establish its ownership of Camp Rock Road, a county-maintained road that covers about 42 miles between Lucerne Valley and Daggett and crosses federal land, according to press release from county First District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt’s office.

“The road supports numerous industries, such as ranching, mining, filming and recreation, and it’s a road a lot of people use to get back and forth between Lucerne and Johnson Valley and the greater Barstow area,” Mitzelfelt said Wednesday. “... Our position is that in order to maintain our roads and keep them open, we need to be able to show we have the right of way for a variety of reasons.”

In April 2003 the county filed an application with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for a “recordable disclaimer,” which would establish its right of way on the road and give the county a legal record of its ownership. The application was never processed, and the county is now asking for a court order that would force the BLM to process it in a timely manner, Mitzelfelt said Wednesday.

“Either issue the disclaimer or don’t issue the disclaimer, and tell us why,” he said.

The county’s application showed that it has been maintaining the road since before 1976, allowing the county to claim right of way under an 1866 mining law, Mitzelfelt said. The law was repealed in 1976, but existing right of ways were allowed to stand, according to the county release.

Alan Stein, deputy district manager of resources for the BLM’s California Desert District, said the BLM had been waiting to see how court cases involving right of ways established under the old mining law played out in other states before taking up San Bernardino County’s application.

In the meantime, he said, the county continues to use and maintain the road, and in the BLM’s maps, the road shows up as being owned by the county.

“It’s not that we tried to close Camp Rock Road — we didn’t, and we didn’t try to change the use on Camp Rock Road,” Stein said. “It’s a legal issue, and the county is interested in, and has been interested in, maintaining access.”

The county filed its motion asking for a court order in the United States District Court in Riverside on Jan. 14 under the authority of board Chairman Gary Ovitt, and the board ratified the action at its regular meeting Tuesday, Mitzelfelt said.

Park official says science on canyon was ignored

Washington Post

Washington -- Interior Department officials ignored key scientific findings when they limited water flows in the Grand Canyon to optimize generation of electric power there, risking damage to the ecology of the spectacular landmark, according to documents obtained by the Washington Post.

A Jan. 15 memo written by Grand Canyon National Park Supt. Steve Martin suggests that the department produced a flawed environmental assessment to defend its actions against environmentalists.

The Grand Canyon Trust, an advocacy group, has sued Interior for reducing the flow of water from Glen Canyon Dam at night, when consumer demand for electricity is low, on the grounds that the policy hurts imperiled fish species and erodes the canyon's beaches.

"The government's brief as presented continues to misinterpret key scientific findings related to the humpback chub, status of downstream resources in Grand Canyon, and the need for the secretary to acknowledge [National Park Service] authorities and responsibilities to protect resources under [National Park Service] administration," Martin wrote in a memo that the Post obtained from the group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.

Mike Snyder, the park service's intermountain regional director, said Tuesday that he concurred with the superintendent's analysis and had tried to petition Interior's top officials to reexamine the Colorado water experiment.

The issue highlights what Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will face as he evaluates Bush administration rules.

Judge refuses to halt huge Nevada gold mine

Written by SCOTT SONNER
Native American Times






Cortez Hills plant, pit and exploration in northeast Nevada.


RENO, Nev. (AP) – A federal judge ruled Monday a massive gold mine project could proceed in northeast Nevada despite a bid by a Western tribe and conservationists to block it on religious and environmental grounds.

U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks ruled there’s not enough evidence to force Barrick Gold Corp. to postpone digging a 2,000-foot deep open pit at the Cortez Hills mine on Mount Tenabo 250 miles east of Reno until a trial is held on the merits of the project.

The Great Basin Resource Watch and the Western Shoshone claimed the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s review of the Toronto-based company’s proposed mine ignores some of the environmental effects and disregards tribal leaders’ concerns it will destroy a sacred landmark.

Hicks, who took more than a half hour to explain his ruling from the bench, said a preliminary injunction like the one the plaintiffs wanted is an “extraordinary remedy” taken only when there is a likelihood they will prevail at trial.

He said that while he might change his mind, so far mine opponents had failed to prove construction of the mine would violate the tribe’s religious freedoms or that the BLM violated any federal environmental laws in approving the mine under the Mining Act of 1872.

“The effect of the proposed mining project is on the plaintiffs’ subjective, emotional experience. It is offensive to their sensibilities and in the mind of some will desecrate a sacred mountain,” Hicks said.

“Nevertheless, the diminishment of that spirituality – as serious as it may be – under the Supreme Court’s holdings it is not a substantial burden on religious freedom,” he said.

Hicks said he also disagreed with the opponents’ claims that the BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act and Federal Land Management Policy Act by failing to adequately consider effects on groundwater and scenic values of the area.

He said an environmental study was very thorough.

“It is very clear it represents thousands and thousands of work hours by BLM,” Hicks said.

“The court is satisfied they met the laws that require the BLM to take a hard look at all of the issues that pertain to a project such as this one,” he said.

Louis Schack, manager of communications and community affairs for Barrick Gold of North America, said the company was glad Hicks agreed the project was “thoroughly reviewed and responsibly approved” by the BLM.

“This is the most studied and scrutiinized mining project in Nevada. It is also very important to the economic stability of rural Nevada,” Schack said.

Roger Flynn, a lawyer with the Western Mining Action Project representing the tribe and the Great Basin Resource Watch, said before the ruling was issued that the plaintiffs would consider appealing to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. He did not immediately return a telephone call or e-mail seeking comment after the ruling.

Lawyers for Barrick – the largest gold mining company in the world – said any delay in digging the mine would have caused an undue financial hardship on the company and its workers during tough economic times.

The company is prepared to spend $640,000 a day for the next 15 months, said Francis Wikstrom, a lawyer for Barrick. He said a lot of that money would remain in Nevada, a state that produces more gold than any other – trailing only South Africa, Australia and China internationally.

Thirty workers already have been laid off and 250 to 300 more would be out of work and unlikely to find other jobs if the project had been halted, he said.

“This is basically the only game in town in northern Nevada,” Wikstrom said. “People need to feed their families.”

Hicks said the case has “tremendous significance” to the tribe, the mining company and its workers.

“And it certainly has huge implications to the public at a time of severe economic difficulties throughout the nation, not just in Nevada,” he said.

Hicks said that while there was no question Mount Tenabo was a very important mountain to the Western Shoshone, mining has been prevalent on the mountain since the 1860s – even before Nevada was a state.

Southern California utilities eye Inland desert as energy goldmine

By LESLIE BERKMAN
The Press-Enterprise




Inland Southern California's desert backyard is ground zero in the state's efforts to cut back on polluting fossil-fuel-burning power plants and lead the nation's conversion to renewable energy.

For decades the region has been recognized for its rich renewable resources, from wind in the Coachella Valley and Tehachapi Mountains to the Salton Sea's underground reservoir of geothermal power to some of the most intense desert sunshine in the world.

Spurred by a state-imposed renewable energy requirement, now all of the major utilities in California -- Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas and Electric and San Diego Gas and Electric -- are scrambling to sign contracts to purchase electricity from new projects planned in the Imperial Valley and Mojave Desert.

"Because the California desert, particularly the Mojave Desert, is such a great place to develop solar and because of the proximity of large urban areas, there is probably more solar development going on in Southern California than anywhere else in the world," said Terry O'Brien, the California Energy Commission's deputy director of siting, transmission and environmental protection.

The task of transforming the state's energy structure to accommodate renewable power is huge and can't be done quickly. "We are transforming the electricity system in a way that hasn't been done before," said O'Brien.

Renewable energy provides about 12 percent of California's energy needs. State officials do not expect that investor-owned utilities will meet a legislated mandate to supply 20 percent of their customers' power needs with renewable energy by 2010.

"We should get close in 2012," said Dave Hawkins, lead renewable power engineer for the Independent Systems Operator, the agency responsible for maintaining the reliability of the state's energy grid.

Still, the push to renewable energy is intensifying with a state and national campaign to fight global warming and forge energy independence from foreign oil producers.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued an executive order calling for 33 percent renewable energy in California by 2020 and said he will sponsor legislation to make that target a legal requirement for public and private utilities.

Currently, municipal utilities are exempt from the state renewable energy portfolio mandate and have set their own goals.

Andy Horne, Imperial County's deputy chief executive for natural resources development, hopes jobs generated by a burst of renewable energy development will trim that county's 23 percent unemployment.

Horne said in the past he has seen corporate interest in renewable energy investment track with oil prices. Rising oil prices kindled interest in renewable energy that quickly dimmed when oil prices fell, making renewables less competitive with conventional coal and gas generation.

But this time as oil prices fall, the interest in renewable generation is holding strong because utilities must continue buying to comply with the law. "I think this is a different ball game," Horne said.

Economic Constraints

Meeting a 33 percent renewable goal by 2020 will require adding 20,000 megawatts of renewable power to the state grid -- enough to supply about 15 million homes.

That calls for the construction of $60 billion in generation facilities and $6 billion in new transmission, more than half of that in Southern California, said Dave Olsen, coordinator of the Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative

Olsen said that task force of stakeholders, including state regulatory agencies, the energy industry and the Sierra Club, is determining the most effective and least environmentally destructive places to locate renewable energy-generation projects and the transmission lines to serve them.

Environmental concerns about protecting the desert are making it difficult to get these projects built. Also a freeze in the financial markets already has prevented at least one geothermal company from obtaining capital to start construction on an approved project in the Imperial Valley.

"The economy is working against what we are trying to do," said Robert M. Doyel, lands branch chief with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

Many Applicants

California is fielding a deluge of renewable-energy proposals. The federal Bureau of Land Management has 154 applications from prospective solar, wind and geothermal power developers requesting access to almost 1.5 million acres in its California Desert District that includes parts of San Bernardino, Riverside, Imperial, San Diego and Kern counties.

Not all the applications will become operating power plants. Greg Miller, the bureau's renewable-energy program manager for that district, said many wind companies want only to test the resource.

Miller said besides, the process of getting approval is so daunting that it is likely some applicants will give up. Part of the delay, he said, stems from the bureau's inexperience with vetting solar projects planned for federal lands.

"Because solar energy development on BLM land is so new, there are many issues cropping up that we have to address on the fly," he said. The myriad of issues, he said, range from the impact on desert tortoises to potential desert erosion. Also, he said the bureau is not staffed to deal with the flood of applications.

In an effort to weed out speculators, the Independent System Operator late last year required a hefty deposit from applicants waiting for transmission connection -- with the result that about half the projects dropped out.

Simplifying Steps

The governor and state legislators are trying to speed the development of renewable-energy projects by consolidating the approval process, which is now fragmented among numerous state, federal and local government agencies.

"Simply setting a goal isn't sufficient unless we aggressively remove barriers to siting and transmission and actively encourage the industry here in California," said State Assemblyman Paul Krekorian, D-Burbank.

Krekorian is co-sponsor of Assembly Bill 64, which would, among other things, establish a single state agency in charge of approving renewable-energy generation and transmission projects.

Schwarzenegger in November ordered state agencies to work together in reviewing renewable-energy projects. He also signed a memorandum of agreement with the federal Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for state and federal agencies to jointly streamline the approval process for such projects in the Mojave and Colorado deserts.

Transmission arguably remains the biggest obstacle to the development of renewable energy because of the need to carry electricity many miles from remote areas where it is produced to population centers.

Larry Grogan, a former Imperial County supervisor and longtime energy industry consultant, said "the first ones (renewable projects) with resources and financing will get onto the transmission lines and the rest will have to wait."

O'Brien of the California Energy Commission said clearly more lines will have to be built for all the new generation planned by 2020.

Sunrise PowerLink, a $1.9 billion, 120-mile transmission line designed to bring wind, geothermal and solar power from the Imperial Valley to San Diego won approval last month from the Public Utilities Commission after a three-year struggle by the developer, San Diego Gas & Electric.

That transmission line was approved after it was rerouted around a state park. It is expected to go into operation in 2012.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power also faces opposition to its plans to route transmission from the Imperial Valley to Los Angeles.

Geothermal Gem

"In my opinion, Imperial County will be the renewable capital of the country," said Vince Signorotti, vice president of land management for Terra-Gen, a renewable-energy development company looking for solar and geothermal sites in the area.

The Imperial Valley's most valuable resource, the experts say, is a rich underground reservoir of hot water near the Salton Sea. Steam extracted from briny water is pushed through turbines to produce electricity.

Currently about 400 megawatts of geothermal electricity is produced in the Imperial Valley and an estimated 2,000 megawatts of additional power remains to be tapped.

Mark T. Gran, vice president of Cal Energy, the largest geothermal plant operator in the Imperial Valley, said in anticipation of the new transmission the company plans to double its current geothermal energy production at the Salton Sea, building an additional 50-megawatt plant each year for the next dozen years.

Southern California Edison is a major customer of geothermal energy produced at the Salton Sea. The company is also building a $2 billion transmission project, with anticipated completion in 2013, to spur development of up to 4,500 megawatts of wind power in the Tehachapi region.

Southern California Edison Vice President Stu Hemphill said the company is relying on a provision in the state mandate that allows utilities that can't deliver 20 percent renewable energy to its customers next year to make up the shortfall by contracting to buy power from projects still on the drawing board.

"The question is how many of them will actually deliver and when," Hemphill said.

Mapping California deserts for projects, protection

JAKE HENSHAW
Desert Sun

State officials are mapping the California desert to identify what to designate for renewable energy projects and what to protect.

At the direction of the governor, energy and wildlife experts are trying to get ahead of potential solar, geothermal and wind projects that could lead to acres of solar panels and miles of transmission lines.

Protected areas such as those in the Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan are in the review area, but state staff members expect them to benefit from the state effort.

‘‘We think this can help local entities reach their conservation goals sooner,'' said Kevin Hunting, who oversees the work for the state Department of Fish and Game.

He added: ‘‘I think there is a nice fit with the Coachella Valley plan and the (state) desert plan.''

The work on the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan generally is welcomed in the local area, where it's seen as a way to avoid haphazard development that could undermine the desert quality of life.

‘‘It's going to happen,'' Riverside County Supervisor Roy Wilson said of renewable development. ‘‘We want it to be well-planned.''

He, Supervisor Marion Ashley and local Sierra Club representative Joan Taylor agreed that habitat planning is important before major new generating plants or transmission lines are built.

Initial assessments indicate potential renewable sites for 6,748 gigawatt hours per year in the region that includes Palm Springs, Twentynine Palms and eastern Riverside County, and there are dozens of applications for renewable projects on U.S. Bureau of Land Management land in the desert.

‘‘Basically, if they are put in the wrong places, it could be a disaster for the desert ecosystem,'' said Taylor, who lives in Palm Springs.

But Ashley added that he also is looking at ways to tap energy projects to help finance the rescue of the Salton Sea, where wildlife and the sea are threatened by increased salinity and diversion plans for some water now flowing into the sea.

‘‘There should be a fee for restoration of the Salton Sea,'' Ashley said.

The goal is to speed up the development of renewable energy to help the state reduce greenhouse gas and switch to cleaner fuel by predetermining the best sites for renewable energy development.

Developers wouldn't have use these sites, but those that do would save time by capitalizing on environmental reviews done for those spots.

‘‘It dramatically reduces the time it takes for an applicant on a renewable energy project to get from drawing board to generating electricity,'' Hunting said.

The review, which covers the Colorado and Mojave desert regions, was ordered by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in a Nov. 17 executive order that called for a third of the state's electricity to be produced by renewable power by 2020.

Now it's about 12 percent.

In his proposed 2009-10 budget, the governor recommended spending $5.6 million on this effort by the two agencies.

While the budget has yet to be approved, work has already begun on the desert plan with existing funds.

It is being coordinated with an older state project, the Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative, that is primarily focused on ensuring adequate transmission for renewable energy projects needed to meet state targets.

The desert plan is meant to provide environmental reviews of the best sites for renewable projects based on such issues as their value for energy production and access to transmission lines, while designating environmentally sensitive sites for long-term protection.

The executive order calls for the draft plan to be done by the end of 2010 and the final plan by June 1, 2012. The goal is to cut the processing time of permits for projects in designated areas by at least 50 percent.

With 80 percent of proposed solar development on federal land, the desert planning project also includes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management.

All together, Hunting said 24 local, six federal and a dozen state agencies have some say in energy development.