The Mojave Desert Land Trust • 6393 Sunset Road •
Joshua Tree, CA 92277 • (760)366-5440 • Summer 2008

A Note from the President Claudia Sall

The Mojave Desert Land Trust Strategic Plan recognizes goals and objectives, defines actions relating to land acquisition and stewardship, provides for education and community outreach, specifies collaboration, and guides funding and organizational development. All of these areas must be active for the Land Trust to attract substantial philanthropy propelling us toward our 2030 vision.

With the Mojave Desert becoming the center of a national interest in solar energy and mandated renewable power generation, your Land Trust has been propelled into a leadership position, protecting the desert on a scale beyond that which our current programs can address.

Two new eff orts are integral in our addressing these developing challenges: The Morongo Basin Open Space Group and the California Desert Coalition. The Open Space Group (OSG) works on the premise of improving quality of life in the Morongo Basin by creating an accepted, basin-wide plan of conservation
and open space protection.

The California Desert Coalition (CDC) has mobilized the Morongo Basin around opposing LADWP’s Green Path North project and also speaks and participates to the larger issue forming around the industrialization of the Mojave Desert in the name of renewable energy. We need to get this right because we can't grow another Mojave Desert. Both projects suggest sweeping changes in our desert.

This growing leadership role is sustained and effective with support from the public. While the CDC has benefited from wide community support and donations, the OSG works quietly and without fanfare to address its equally critical objectives.

Your Land Trust is involved in many issues which are critical to its mission and to our community values. Responding to these growing challenges we continue to need your passionate involvement and support.

Best wishes,

President, Mojave Desert Land Trust

The Mojave Desert Land Trust
Stewardship Program

The Land Trust acquires privately owned lands within the desert national parks and donates them to the National Park Service under agreements which must be permanently monitored.

It is said, in the land conservation business, that the only real way to protect and conserve land is to own it. But owning these lands carries with it enormous responsibilities. Among those is the requirement to understand the land: its geology and ecology, its ability to support wildlife, its hydrology, its regional role and watershed contributions, and ... on and on.

In our threatened desert environments this knowledge is incomplete, making the art of being a stewards a sobering responsibility. Our job is to monitor these desert lands in perpetuity. That’s forever, and a daunting commitment. The Land Trust takes this role very seriously.

Land Stewards line up to begin a "sweep” of a property in The Pinto Basin of JTNP.

We are currently developing the necessary experience and infrastructure to be the best stewards that we can be.

To address this goal we manage The Mojave Desert Land Trust Volunteer Stewardship Program.

Our main job is to monitor: we walk the perimeter of a property and locate each corner and the designated photo points. While there, we note weather conditions, watch for illegal intrusion or dumping and log wildlife or wildlife signs. We photograph and describe any differences since the last visit. Simple? Many properties are, but some are not so easy. For the more adventurous of the Land Stewards, the challenge begins with simply finding the property line. Some of our holdings are so remote that a several-mile hike is necessary just to reach the property. Some are in very rugged, rocky, mountainous areas.

Many properties are easy - open creosote scrub, Joshua tree woodland, desert wash or high plains - and can be monitored by anyone simply by driving in, parking, and taking a pleasant walk. Whether the challenge is for the hearty or for those of us who enjoy a pleasant weekend in the "California Out-Back", there is a Land Stewardship monitoring opportunity for everyone.

Last May, we completed our first full season of training and monitoring. We had a core group of about 10 people who simply could not get enough. And an additional seven to 10 people who brought friends who caught our infectious love for this beautiful unspoiled land saying, "you must let me know every time you do one of these!" So you may rest assured, we will keep all the Land Stewards and friends informed and busy as the program grows and develops.

This next season, September/October 2008 through May/June of 2009, we are planning some new group events. Some will wrap-up a day of monitoring with an evening of grub, song and stories.

The Stewardship Program is in its early stages of development and already has over 40 trained land stewards. They have restored several properties and monitored over 30. But most importantly, people have discovered the captivating magic of the Mojave and the Land Trust has begun to learn exactly how to be an exemplary steward of our magnificent Mojave Desert.

If you would like to volunteer for this program, contact Dave Miller at the Land Trust offices 760-366-5440 or e-mail Dave at:
dave@mojavedesertlandtrust.org

The View from the Desert Floor:
an interview with an active Land Steward.

Land Trust: How did you hear about The Mojave Desert Land Trust Stewardship Program?

Rob: I got an e-mail from the Morongo Basin Conservation Association asking for volunteers to participate in the Mojave Desert Land Trust’s new Stewardship Program. I was interested so I went to the Land Trust web site and saw the proposed agenda for the Land Stewardship training. Wow! Two full days covering GPS use, parcel locating, topo map reading, compass usage, day packs and what to bring, rules and regulations for private and park lands, hiking safety, desert weather, cultural artifacts recognition, animals native to our desert, situational awareness - even how to act when encountering both people and animals in remote areas. I couldn’t believe it. I was interested in it all.

Land Trust: It sounds like you enjoyed yourself. What was it that you personally got out of the training and stewardship program this last season?

Rob: I got a lot from the great team delivering the training, but there were also speakers from the Joshua Tree National Park staff covering many special topics. We never sat longer than an hour without some sort of hands-on training or demonstration ... the time flew by then it was time to test our skills on a practice parcel right next to the class. We actually got to get out into the desert mountains.

The people I met during the class are all interested in desert conservation and want to help. It was a great mix, some younger, some older, but all sharing a love for our desert.

The most exciting for me was to meet and work with several professionals that are so knowledgeable about our desert. I had always wondered about how the land was divided up years ago, some left with the government, some going to private owners via the Homestead Act ... and why was there private land in the middle of a National Park? I got those answers.

Other people in the Land Trust are experts on local plants and animals. How about getting trained to find tortoise burrows by someone that did Tortoise Studies professionally for years? Neat huh? You couldn’t buy that training if you wanted to pay for it. I got access to individuals that have seen, explored, and studied our local desert as part of their careers. I got to ask questions of people that really knew the answers. And they’re great folks, friendly and fun to be around.

2008 Outstanding Service Award recipient Rob Stone confirms some GPS readings with Shelton Douthit, Program Consultant, as their Land Steward Team finishes monitoring a property in JTNP

I think they really want to share that knowledge with you so you’ll appreciate these lands and fall in love with them like they have ... like I have.

I think they really want you to understand why it’s so worth saving and protecting the desert.

I always feel great after a Land Steward outing, tired sometimes, but great, knowing I'm helping get things done.

Land Trust: What would you say to people who are considering volunteering or contributing to the Land Trust?

Rob: First and foremost, if you want to make a difference, if you want to lessen your footprint upon our desert environment, if you want to contribute to saving our local animals and our views, this is the way.

Amazing things happen when regular everyday folks put their hearts and heads together to make a difference. I've gotten to visit wild and remote places while helping the Land Trust keep them that way. And the friends you make while doing it are very special.

With a small group of other stewards you can safely go out and spend time in some beautiful and remote areas, something most of us are reluctant to do by ourselves. I think its part of the human condition to need a little push to get out and take in what a beautiful place we live in.

I always feel like I get far more out of the program than I put in.

So, what would you say to people who are considering volunteering? I would tell anyone interested, ‘Come join us and make a difference ... but don't be surprised if you see a difference in yourself too.

Rob Stone was the recipient of the first OUTSTANDING SERVICE AWARD presented at the Land Steward’s Season-end party in May of 2008. He, like several of our volunteers travel from as far as Orange County and Barstow to participate. We thank Rob and all the active Land Stewards for a remarkable 1st season for this new and evolving program. With volunteers like Rob we are confident that The Land Steward Program will do more than protect and monitor precious desert, it will introduce others to the magic and inspiration to be experienced deep in the magnificent Mojave.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

SATURDAY, JULY 19, 2008
LADWP held the first of what they indicated would be several public meetings to discuss their Green Path North Project with local citizens and residents. Yucca Valley High School General Purpose Room
(see below) Update at http://www.cadesertco.org

FRIDAY, AUGUST 19, 2008 ~ 1:00 to 3:00 pm
The next general meeting of The Morongo Basin Open Space Group
Yucca Valley Community Center in the Yucca Room.
(see below)

FRIDAY/SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER ~ time and date to be announced
New Season launch and training for Land Stewardship Program
Black Rock Campground, Fire Station
(see above)

Land Acquisitions Program Update
(Inholdings)

The Mojave Desert Land Trust is acquiring private land holdings within Joshua Tree National Park, Death Valley National Park, and Mojave National Preserve. A conservation foundation is supplying grant funds for the acquisitions. Since receiving the initial grant in late 2006, the Land Trust has closed 160 acquisitions of land totaling over 8,000 acres. More acquisitions are currently in escrow. The acquired lands are ultimately conveyed to the National Park Service for the permanent protection of their natural and cultural assets.

The Land Trust Welcomes
New Board Member

"A changing of the guard." Danny Sall, one of the founding board members, has completed his term and resigned. The opening left by his retirement is being filled by:

Mr. Curtis L. (Curt) Sauer
Superintendent, Joshua Tree National Park

Curt Sauer has been a part of the DNA of The Mojave Desert Land Trust from its very beginning. One of the most outspoken and supportive volunteers; Curt has been present at most of the early meetings as the organization and its role were being defined. First to participate, first to volunteer, first to support, we are so proud and pleased to welcome Curt Sauer to our Board of Directors.

Curt began his permanent National Park Service (NPS) career in 1979. From 1972 through 1979, he worked seasonally for the NPS at Rocky Mountain and Grand Canyon National Parks, as well as the U.S. Forest Service and BLM. He completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Park Management at Colorado State University in 1974.

At Grand Canyon National Park he served as a park dispatcher, permit coordinator, and then River Unit Ranger. In 1984 he transferred to Unit Manager for Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, part of North Cascades National Park Service Complex.

While managing the routine maintenance, interpretive, protection and administrative functions of the Unit he was directly involved in the writing and completion of the General Management Plan for North Cascades. He received the Regional Director’s Award for Excellence in the management of human resources in 1984.

In 1988, he began a 16 year assignment at Olympic National Park in Ranger Operations, where he was responsible for leadership and management of 80 staff in the Division of Resource Protection and Visitor Use Management. Curt served on the National Ranger Activities Council from 1997 to 2001, coordinating the creation of "Rangers of the 21st Century" project, assisted in implementing a national Resource Stewardship and protection Curriculum, and served on task groups involved with law enforcement and wildland fire policy.

Following successful completion of the USDA Grad School’s Executive Potential Program Curt was assigned to Joshua Tree in 2003 and has been active in creating partnerships, fundraising, community building and addressing external threats to the park.

The Land Trust mission states: "The Mojave Desert Land Trust protects the Mojave Desert ecosystem and its scenic and cultural resource values." An important strategic component of the Land Trust’s activities is its education, outreach, communications and collaboration objectives.

As part of addressing those objectives, the Land Trust helped create and supports the California Desert Coalition (CDC) to foster broad collaboration among desert stakeholders and all levels of government in the interest of creating a shared vision for a sustainable desert ecosystem. Members of the Land Trust board sit on the Executive Committee of the CDC. The CDC mission is to "Stop Green Path North."

CDC HOOTS it up for the Mojave.

If you read the Scientific American article "Sunny Outlook: Can Sunshine Provide All U.S. Electricity?" (September 19, 2007) and watched NOVA’s recently aired program "Saved by the Sun", you can't help but think all eyes are on the Mojave Desert as the country’s energy savior. More than 100 applications for solar and wind projects on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land in prime areas of the Mojave Desert make it undeniable that the rush for green energy is on in the deserts of the West.

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s (LADWP) Green Path North Project requested right of way across BLM land for a 500kV power line. This transmission line potentially represents the beginning of acres and acres of utility-size renewable energy production plants along its 85 mile path from the Coachella Valley to Hesperia. Now is the time to pause and ask, "Should distant renewable energy production be the first priority or the last in meeting California’s and the nation’s goals of reducing our carbon foot-print?"

The California Desert Coalition (CDC) believes that through grass-roots efforts and a unified public voice, decision makers can be persuaded to make the right decision and not allow the creation of a new transmission corridor for LADWP’s Green Path North Project. The costs to the globe and to the Mojave Desert’s citizens and visitors cannot be assessed in the present. Only when it is too late for the Mojave to recover will we know the true costs of bad decisions. The CDC is engaging individuals, communities, environmental organizations, and regional, state, and federal legislators to join them in dialogue that will lead to responsible policy that guarantees that the Mojave remains unspoiled.

Actions spoke loud and clear at the recent Hootenanny that brought over 100 folks together at Pappy and Harriet’s in Pioneertown to raise funds for CDC’s near-term goal of stopping Green Path North. Attending, was: State Assemblyman Paul Cook, San Bernardino County Supervisor, Dennis Hansberger, Wildlands Preserve Manager and CDC Executive Committee Cochair, April Sall.

Please add your voice in support of CDC’s efforts by checking the web site www.cadesertco.org frequently and helping when you can.

Ruth Rieman
Cochair, Executive Committee,
The California Desert Coalition

EVENT REPORT

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power held the first of what they indicated would be several public meetings to discuss their Green Path North Project with local citizens and residents. July 19th at the Yucca Valley High School General Purpose Room. For a report on the proceedings, visit:
http://www.cadesertco.org

The Mojave Desert Land Trust
Our Mission:
To protect the Mojave Desert ecosystem and its scenic and cultural resource values.
The Mojave Desert Land Trust is a 501(c)(3) public charity.

Morongo Basin Open Space Group

By Stephanie J. Weigel Regional Land Use Planner

The Land Trust has been a member of the Morongo Basin Open Space Group (OSG) since its beginning. We feel this opportunity for basin-wide community planning will help us to realize certain conservation goals of the California Desert Vision (see http://www.mojavedesertlandtrust.org/vision.html).

We take this opportunity to introduce Stephanie Weigel, the professional planner hired by the Sonoran Institute to assist the OSG with their work.

In January of 2008, I was invited to attend the Morongo Basin Open Space Group’s Strategic Planning workshop, as part of the interview process for a Regional Land Use Planner position I had applied for with the Sonoran Institute. The Open Space Group, which has been meeting in the Basin since 2006, had asked the Sonoran Institute for technical and program support for their ongoing regional open space planning efforts. The Open space Group’s collaborative approach to protecting natural landscapes and open spaces in the Basin is well aligned with Sonoran Institute’s vision for enabling communities to make decisions and implement policies that respect the lands and people who live and work in landscapes like the Morongo Basin, where ancient plants and unique wildlife co-exist with humans in a fragile Mojave Desert ecosystem. That vision of the Sonoran Institute was one that attracted me to the organization, and allowed me to take the big leap of exploring what was for me the previously unknown landscape of the Mojave Desert. And, yes, I did get the job I came to interview for, during what was for me some surprisingly cold and windy days in January, as the Open Space Group developed its 2008 Action Plan.

Working in the general boundaries defined by the Morongo Unified School District, the Open Space Group’s area of interest includes the shared landscapes surrounding the communities of Morongo Valley, Yucca Valley, Landers, Flamingo Heights, Joshua Tree, Twentynine Palms, and Wonder Valley, as well as Joshua Tree National Park and the Marine Base. Representatives of agencies and organizations with interests in these places created an Operating Agreement in August of 2007, and currently 21 members are participating in conservation and open space planning for land use across the Morongo Basin region. Implementation of the Action Plan involves the work of several subcommittees: Communications and Outreach, Regional Trails, Community Buffers and Separators, and Conservation Mapping.

As a planner coming in from outside the basin, it is critically important to me to work with the knowledge and understanding that exists in the communities, to come to an understanding of the special places and natural treasures that the people who live here value. I feel blessed to have been welcomed by many who have provided me with education and background that supports our work, and I continue to work toward an understanding that will allow the community to prioritize specific action to protect resources, while keeping communities prosperous and encouraging growth that benefits all in our communities. Some of the "tools" we may use in this work include: the development of
open space/conservation plans that direct where lands are best protected and developed; Habitat Conservation Plans, under which mitigation for endangered species takings may be directed to occur locally; and land use planning at the local level, where jurisdictions may choose to cooperate on codes, ordinances, best practices and development agreements that encourage conservation and stewardship while respecting common goals.

Photo - Stephanie J. Weigel

I look forward to my continued work with the Open Space Group, and our ongoing collaboration with MDLT, as I continue to get to know these amazing desert landscapes and the people who work to protect them.

EVENT ALERT

The Land Trust was involved from the early days in the formation and planning for the Open Space Group. Today staff and board members sit on the Steering Committee, the Communication and Outreach subcommittee and the Conservation Mapping subcommittee.

General meetings are on alternate months and are open to the public. The next general meeting is August 19 from 1-3 at the Yucca Valley Community Center in the Yucca Room.

Making Our Voice Heard to
Make a Difference

The Land Trust’s mission to protect the Mojave Desert ecosystem and its cultural and scenic resource values prompts us to respond to certain development activities in the Morongo Basin and the wider desert region.

Some issues included in these writings and filings are:

For the most part we choose to offer comments rather than to be for or against an activity. If you are interested in the issues we have commented on recently, the letters are posted on our web site under "Comments". Any feedback is appreciated. Contact Pat Flanagan at pat@mojavedesertlandtrust.org.

Download/view the newsletter:
Summer 2008 (pdf)
Winter 2007-08 (html)(pdf)
Spring 2007 (html)(pdf)
Winter 2006-07 (html)(pdf)
Fall 2006 (pdf)