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Make sure your voice is heard on DRECP, industrial scale power projects, and other desert issues


Desert residents have a limited time to ensure their concerns are heard by the federal government on an executive order signed by President Trump to reopen millions of acres of lands set aside for preservation and recreation under the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan. The DRECP went through a lengthy public process and was finalized in 2016. Reopening the plan for revision has taken that process and made it irrelevant, opting for a new 45-day public process to supercede all previous public input.

Public comment on the move ends on March 22, 2018, and public scoping meetings are slated at various locations through early March.

The Sun Runner has partnered with a newly formed loose affiliation of organizations and desert stakeholders operating under the name Mojave Watch, to help generate public awareness on this issue, to ensure desert residents have the opportunity to make their voices heard to the Bureau of Land Management and San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors.

While the move by the Trump administration could likely result in additional industrial scale solar and wind power projects being sited across the California deserts on lands previously set aside for conservation by the DRECP, there are other potential implications that could impact these lands through off-road vehicle use, mining, and grazing.

In a related move, Mojave Watch is reaching out to desert residents across San Bernardino County on an issue related to the Renewable Energy and Conservation Element, asking for the original language of RE Policy 4.10 to be retained and adapted. The language, which prohibits renewable energy development "on sites that would create adverse impacts on the quality of life or economic development opportunities in existing unincorporated communities," was set to be included in the RECE plan, but county staff has delayed bringing the language back to the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors for approval. The language ensures existing community plans are respected, including those for Bloomington, Muscoy, Bear Valley, Crest Forest, Hilltop, Lake Arrowhead, Lytle Creek, Oak Glen, Homestead Valley, Joshua Tree, Lucerne Valley, Morongo Valley, Oak Hills, and Phelan/Pinon Hills.

The Sun Runner and Mojave Watch strongly encourage desert residents to attend one or more of the BLM's scheduled scoping meetings listed below, and to file written comment with the BLM prior to the March 22 deadline. We also encourage San Bernardino County residents to communicate with their county supervisor in support of inclusion of the RE Policy 4.10 language in the RECE, and to request the Board of Supervisors submit a formal position to the BLM requesting there be no changes made to the DRECP. Desert residents concerned with issues such as the health and quality of life issues caused by blowing sand and dust (PM-10) from industrial scale solar power sites should voice their concerns as more than 5,000 acres each of solar development is planned for both the Lucerne Valley and Newberry Springs/Daggett areas.

The Bureau of Land Management will host eight public scoping meetings in the process to consider amending three land use plans that underlie the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan. The BLM invites members of the public to attend meetings at the following dates and locations:

Monday, February 26, 2018 5pm – 7pm Lone Pine Film History Museum 701 S Main St, Lone Pine, CA 93545

Tuesday, February 27, 2018 5pm – 7pm Kerr-McGee Community Center 100 W. California Ave, Ridgecrest, CA 93555

Wednesday, February 28, 2018 5pm – 7pm Courtyard Marriott 9619 Mariposa Rd. Hesperia, CA 92345

Thursday, March 1, 2018 6pm – 8pm Joshua Tree Community Center 6171 Sunburst Ave, Joshua Tree, CA 92252

Friday, March 2, 2018 3pm – 5pm Fairfield Inn & Suites 503 E Danenberg Dr, El Centro, CA 92243

Monday, March 5, 2018 1pm – 3pm DoubleTree Hotel 2001 Point West Way, Sacramento, CA 95815

Tuesday, March 6, 2018 5pm – 7pm Bakersfield Field Office 3801 Pegasus Drive, Bakersfield, CA 93308

Wednesday, March 7, 2018 5pm – 7pm UC Riverside, Palm Desert Center, Auditorium 75080 Frank Sinatra Dr., Palm Desert, CA 92211

While the public can obtain information through the public scoping meetings, oral comments will not be taken on the record. Written comments must be submitted prior to March 22.

The public scoping meetings provide the public an opportunity to talk to resource specialists and submit written comments in person. Comments may also be submitted until March 22, 2018, to the BLM-California State Director, 2800 Cottage Way, Rm W-1623, Sacramento, CA 95825, or electronically to BLM_CA_DRECP@blm.gov.

Submit DRECP comments HERE.

Read our previous story on this topic HERE.

Get more information from the Morongo Basin Conservation Association and a sample letter for San Bernardino County residents to send to their county supervisor HERE.

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