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A Conservation Alternative for Ivanpah Valley

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A Conservation Alternative for Ivanpah Valley March 2012 News of the desert from Sierra Club California/Nevada Desert Committee www.desertreport.org BY JACK PRICHETT and SCOTT SMITH 21ST CENTURY THREATS The Old Spanish Trail Tracking a historic 19th Century trade route and Management jointly administer the trails, with assistance from encountering a proposed solar power plant chartered trail associations comprised of concerned citizen volun- teers of which the Old Spanish Trail Association (OSTA) is one. An Early Pathway into California The 1829 to 1848 mule caravan trade over the OST fits neatly From high above, the Old Spanish Trail (OST) appears as a crease into the brief period between Mexico’s independence from Spain in the skin of the desert soil as it traverses Emigrant Pass east of (1821) and the end of the Mexican-American War (1848). Pack Tecopa, CA. The trace is a still vivid imprint left by Mexican pack trains of as many as 200 mules carried finished woolen goods more mule caravans that plodded the track between 1829 and 1848. It’s than 1,000 miles from Santa Fe, NM, to Los Angeles, CA. Both Fa track that the Tecopa chapter of the Old Spanish Trail Association pueblos were then remote regional capitals in Mexico’s northern has painstakingly followed and recorded as it stretches east from territory. In southern California, the woolen goods were sold. With the Pass toward Stump Spring, just across the Nevada border (Fig- the proceeds, the New Mexican traders purchased California live- ure 1, Page 16). And it’s a track that puts the Old Spanish Trail on stock, primarily horses and mules. The animals were larger than a collision course with the Hidden Hills Solar Energy Generating those available in New Mexico and sold at a high price at the end of System (HHSEG), a proposed solar plant in eastern Inyo County at the return trip to Santa Fe1. the Nevada border. The American period, which began in 1848, spurred two waves The Old Spanish National Historic Trail (Figure 2) is one of 19 of covered wagon traffic that built upon and followed the OST from U.S.-government-designated National Historic Trails. Federal agen- Utah into southern California. The first wave was a surge of Gold cies, including the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Continued on page 16 Figure 2. Old Spanish Trail linked Santa Fe and Los Angeles during the 1830s and 40s Old Spanish NHT Segment under study BY JANINE BLAELOCH RENEWABLE POWER TO THE PEOPLE Transforming The Politics Of Big Solar By now, some readers of the Desert Report are familiar with Solar Done Right, an ad hoc coalition working against the massive in- dustrialization of our deserts by Big Solar, and working for greater knowledge and support of the alternative—distributed generation In This Issue B(DG) in the built environment and on already-degraded lands. Af- ter 18 months of work, we at Solar Done Right have a pretty good The Old Spanish Trail: 21St Century Threats. 1 grasp of what drives U.S. renewable-energy policy, what keeps it entrenched, and –we hope—what we can do to change it. Transforming The Politics Of Big Solar. 2 We started at the bottom, the U.S. Congress, and are now Grazing On Public Lands: Another Perspective. 3 working our way to the top—issuing a Call to Action to our fellow citizens for a better approach to renewable energy. (See page 13.) Elden Hughes 1931–2011 The Man And His Legacy. 4 We began our outreach efforts in September 2010 with a trip to Washington, D.C. to talk with Members of Congress and staff Corralling California Poppies . 6 about the impact of Big Solar on public lands and the saner alter- Black Lave Butte & Flat Top Mesa At Risk From Wind Project. 8 native of distributed generation. Four days of meetings confirmed the hunch that had led us there in the first place: (1) staffers work- Sierra Club Supports Mandatory Wind Guidelines. 10 ing on energy issues had no inkling of the severe damage these A Conservation Alternative For Ivanpah Valley. 14 projects would bring to public lands, and (2) staffers working on public land issues had no clue that there are alternatives that can Outings. 18 spare desert ecosystems. How To Lie With Maps: A Selective Portfolio Of CA Desert Maps. 20 The Powers That Be Pine Forest Recreation Enhancement Act Introduced. 22 Democrats were generally sympathetic to concerns about the en- vironmental impacts of Big Solar, but were either resigned to the Many individuals have contributed to Desert Report during the past six supposed necessity of Big Solar in the desert or indignant that we would dare oppose any kind of renewable energy development. (To months and their support is both essential and appreciated. These Sponsors paraphrase, “Just what do you people want from us!?”) Republi- and Donors of Desert Report are: cans essentially wanted more oil and gas development and viewed distributed generation with suspicion. (“You can’t coerce people Tom Budlong Los Angeles, CA Georgette Theotig Tehachapi, CA into putting panels on their roofs!”). Shirley Cooperrider Fairfax, CA Eugene DeMine Yucaipa, CA That November, the Republicans won back the House and the Craig Deutsche Los Angeles, CA Lynn DuPratt Lancaster, CA entire the U.S. Congress settled into profound gridlock. It was clear that the divided and deeply dysfunctional state of Congress had Drew Foster Lee Vining, CA Kathleen Kalp Santa Barbara, CA made any kind of grassroots advocacy at that level unproductive. Richard Kangas Clovis, CA D.J. Masker Twentynine Palms, CA In the ensuing year, it has become downright futile. David Melton Rancho Mirage, CA Pam Nelson Warner Springs, CA To make matters worse, the Administration is incorrigibly committed to Big Solar and Big Wind on public land. President Megan Reed El Cajon, CA Dan Sullivan San Francisco, CA Obama, who seemingly has no feeling for public land, has essen- Gretchen Winfrey Mojave, CA David Jesse McChesney Joshua Tree, CA tially handed over our country’s renewable energy policy to the Interior Department--a real-estate manager not known for its envi- Susan Sorrells Shoshone, CA ronmental sensitivity, and led by the department’s worst Secretary Mojave Group, San Gorgonio Chapter/Sierra Club since James Watt. Santa Monica Mountains Task Force/Sierra Club In the meantime, while Interior hands out 30-year public land Continued on page 12 Twentynine Palms Inn Twentynine Palms, CA 2 DESERT REPORT MARCH 2012 BY ART STEINBECK ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE Grazing On Public Lands Editor’s Note: The following was written move on looking for other water. Depend- as an explanation and comment to the ing on the situation they gang up on the December 2011 article on grazing by Jim next source they find. If their numbers are Caitlin. It highlights the challenges that too great at this point they could trample the Bureau of Land Management faces in a creek or spring or break a trough. One balancing the concerns of all groups. damaged water source has created a sec- ond damaged water source and so on. My wife and I have been ranching in West Ranchers closely maintain their waters to Central California since 1982. We have held prevent all this. If a rancher can’t get to United States Fish and Wildlife Service and his waters easily and with the necessary Bureau of Land Management (BLM) grazing equipment, his only recourse is to spread Mallotments for thirty years. We ranch, but his cattle numbers thinner over the per- we realize that grazing is only one of sev- mit. Once again, the number of cattle will eral uses. That’s the difficulty for the BLM. It Continued on page 9 CRAIG DEUTSCHE must maintain an even handed approach to all the groups. None of the various groups have more or less valid concerns here. The BLM needs to speak to all the groups’ con- cerns equally. Grazing operations need continuity, consistency, and reliable access. These are at the core of survival for a livestock opera- tion. An example of this appears in a recent article in the Desert Report (p. 4, December, 2011). Mr. Catlin is concerned about under- reporting of permittee cattle numbers on grazing allotments. This is skewing the data as to what is actually happening in the study area. Hard to believe ranchers would will- ingly pay pasture on more cattle than they’re actually running. They are simply planning for uncertainty. If for any reason feed vol- ume or quality doesn’t meet BLM standards, a rancher can get a pretty short-term no- tice to move his cattle off the permitted al- lotment. Putting range cows in a pen and feeding hay is not an economic option on most range operations, and so the rancher would be foolish to put more stock on an allotment than he could support elsewhere if he should be required to move. CRAIG DEUTSCHE Top: Bitter Creek Wildlife Preserve was once private farm and grazing land. As public A similar situation can arise with stock land today, use for grazing here is regulated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. water. When water storage is lost or water Above: Eld Cattle country south of highway 166. Notice the plowed land just across is not available in an expected place, cattle the fence. Firebreaks of this sort are common as most fires start along roads. DESERT REPORT MARCH 2012 3 BY JOAN TAYLOR 1931–2011 Elden Hughes The Man And His Legacy “Elden led a huge citizen effort in 1993 to support my Desert Protection Act.
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