Park jigsaw puzzle
Don't carve up Mojave National Park

If the Senate has its way, the nation's newest national park would have its heart cut out. At stake is a 290,000-acre rectangle that could be excised from a hauntingly beautiful park in California's high desert.
Under the Senate version of the California Desert Protection Act, the 1.2 million-acre Mojave National Park would be missing a huge parcel that includes granite mountain ranges, extinct volcanoes, flat-topped mesas, Native American petroglyphs and habitat for bighorn sheep, mountain lions and desert tortoises.
The Lanfair Valley Deletion Area was proposed in an amendment by Sen. Malcolm Wallop, R-Wyo., who justified it in the name of protecting private property. But there are only about 30,000 acres of private property within the huge parcel.
The way private property in national parks is usually handled is that the federal government buys out the landowners over time. That's what should be done in Mojave National Park. Unfortunately, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the leading proponent of the Desert Protection Act, was unable to get rid of the Wallop amendment before the bill passed on a 69-29 vote.
Now, the House must revise its bill and the two versions then go to a House-Senate conference committee. The House version needs to restore the Lanfair Valley area to Mojave National Park.
Leading the charge in the House will be Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, who is the powerful head of the Natural Resources Committee, where the House version of the desert bill will be written.
Miller is expected to insist that all of Mojave National Park be included in the House bill.
He certainly should. Not only is Mojave National Park a place of rare beauty that's rich in plants and animals, but it also is the most accessible of the three proposed desert national parks contained in the bill.
Mojave would be located between two freeways. Along its northern border is Interstate 15, the freeway that links Los Angeles to Las Vegas. The park could become a big attraction for Southern California.
The National Park Service estimates that Mojave National Park would draw more than 1 million visitors a year. A park service study showed that the park could create 1,100 to 2,000 jobs, annual tax benefits ranging from $2.7 million to $16.5 million, and visitor sales ranging from $55 million to $99 million.
Restoring Mojave National Park in the Desert Protection Act is an economic as well as an environmental issue for Southern California. It would protect the delicate land and produce more economic benefits for Californians than the region does today.
When the California Desert Protection Act lands on President Clinton's desk later this year, it must include the entire Mojave National Park.
 
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