"The sun burns in a lovely, perfect sky; the day is very hot. I pause when necessary beneath pinyon pine or juniper for rest and shade and for a precious drink of water. Also, I will admit, for recreation: to admire the splendor of the landscape, the perfection of the silence."
VOLUNTEERS HELP BLM WITH DESERT MONITORING
The BLM in Ridgecrest is responsible for the protection and use monitoring of 2.5 million acres of public lands. There are 43 Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs) totaling 1.5 million acres. To cover just the boundaries of these areas, hundreds of miles of vehicle and foot patrol are required every month.
There are 21 Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs), including 15 riparian areas, along with other wildlife projects. Included are home areas to the federally-listed Desert Tortoise, the Inyo California Towhee and the Panamint Alligator Lizard. Because of the many uses which are adjudicated by the BLM for this vast area, monitoring and protection is an enormous task. The BLM has been able to increase its effectiveness in monitoring with the help of volunteers.
Our own Steve Smith, a Desert Peaker and a BLM Ranger with the Ridgecrest office, has been instrumental in increasing the monitoring of the backcountry areas. He has been leading trips to examine WSAs into the Argus Mountains and the Panamint Mountains, as well as 11 recent trips into the Inyo Mountains.
According to Lee Delaney, as quoted in the Mojave Desert News, "Working with volunteers has greatly increased our monitoring in several programs.
Volunteers join us in monitoring riparian areas and are beginning work on an Environmental Education Program with the Maturango Museum in Ridgecrest. The community has really pitched in with their time, spirit and energy."
If you'd like to help with some desert volunteer work, contact Maris Valkass, The Desert Committee, 1728 Van Home Ln, Redondo Beach, CA 90278.
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The Gold Fields Mining Company, which operates the second largest gold mine in California at Glamis in the Imperial County desert, proposes to operate an adjacent municipal solid waste landfill: the Mesquite Regional Landfill. The trash would come by rail from all over the "greater Southern California Region," 20,000 tons per day for fifty years. Gold Fields Mines would work in partnership with Western Waste Industries, which would collect the trash, operate recycling centers and compact the waste before shipping it to the Mesquite Landfill.
BLM has held scoping meetings on the process; the deadline for written scoping comments has just passed. The project would require a BLM right- of-way grant and a land exchange. Write the BLM to receive further information on the project and the preliminary draft of the BLM EIR when it appears: US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, El Centro Resource Area, 333 S. Waterman, El Centro CA 92243 (619-352-5842). For more info, write Gold Fields Mining Company, 6502 E. Highway 78, Brawley CA 92227 (619-352-6541).