Mojave Desert Blog

A quintessential rite of passage for Mojave explorers will no longer offer the same journey into unconfined and wild desert that generations of travelers have shared if a Sweden-based company gets its way.  A document released by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) under a Freedom of Information Act request indicates that towering wind turbines of the proposed Crescent Peak Wind project would be visible from a majority of the Mojave Road in the eastern Mojave desert. The Mojave Road can be seen in the distance as it snakes its way toward Marl Spring in the Mojave National Preserve. The meandering dirt road provides a wild escape for many to the back country of the desert. But it may no longer feel that way if the Crescent Peak Wind project is approved. The Mojave Road is a historic route traversed for centuries by Native Americans, European explorers and present-day adventurers.  Much of the route crosses public lands and the natural character of the landscape provides...

Yuma Ridgway's Rail. Also known as the Yuma Clapper Rail Photo by Courtney Conway, USGS The Department of Interior abruptly changed its assessment regarding the threat posed to the endangered Yuma Ridgway's rail (also called the Yuma Clapper rail ) by industrial-scale solar projects, clearing the way for First Solar to build  the Sunshine Valley Solar project next to one of the bird's few remaining strongholds.  In 2014, Interior initially described the potential for the endangered birds to die at the Sunshine Valley Solar project as "likely."  The more recent Interior memo , obtained by Basin & Range Watch,  now describes the threat as "unquantifiably low." Interior's recent memo does not explain why it downgraded the threat even after two of the endangered birds were found dead at large-scale solar projects in the desert southwest in recent years.  Fewer Than 1,000 Birds Remaining The reclusive Yuma Ridgway's ail is known to nes...

The Bureau of Land Management is seeking public input on a Sweden-based company's plans to replace several thousand acres of public lands in southern Nevada with towering wind turbines and dozens of miles of wide access roads.  The Crescent Peak Wind project would involve as many as 220 wind turbines each standing 410 feet tall.  Public comments can be e-mailed to blm_nv_sndo_crescentpeak@blm.gov by June 13. I have hiked and camped on the wildlands that would be industrialized by this project.  The area hosts a beautiful Joshua tree woodland that is rich with wildlife.  The photos below were all taken within the proposed footprint of the Crescent Peak Wind project.   The BLM should deny the permit for this wind project, and instead protect this area for its amazing biodiversity and opportunities for primitive recreation.

Local officials in Las Vegas have are looking to expand the metropolitan area's urban sprawl much deeper into desert wildlands, encroaching on two National Conservation Areas and bolstering plans for an ill-conceived major airport south of the city that would send air traffic over the Mojave National Preserve. The Nevada Independent reported that Clark County - home of Las Vegas - wants Congress to consider legislation that would hand over nearly 62 square miles of public lands to the County for future urban development.  The effect of continued urban sprawl would span across much more than just the 62 square miles of land bulldozed for more roads, housing, strip malls and warehouses.   For one, urban encroachment would reach the doorstep - or begin to surround - prized recreation areas.  Hiking in Sloan Canyon or parts of Red Rock Canyon will be less desirable if the sights and sounds of human develop begin to intrude on areas that currently offer a natural escap...

The Trump Administration is expected to initiate an administrative process this week likely intended to undo protections for public lands in the California desert and allow more large-scale renewable energy projects and mining.  A notice of intent filed by the Department of Interior indicates that its plans to weaken the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP) are driven by unspecified "public concerns," but particularly states that Interior wants to review limitations that the DRECP places on large-scale renewable energy projects, including wind, solar and geothermal. The DRECP was finalized in 2016 after a lengthy public comment and review process that involved extensive consultation between the Department of Interior and State of California. Undermining our Desert Backcountry The DRECP was initially implemented in response to significant public concern sparked by industry proposals for renewable energy projects that would have destroyed vast swaths of des...

The Air Force this month released the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for its proposal to take control of hundreds of square miles of public lands to expand training activities at its Nellis Test and Training Range (NTTR) in Nevada, although the report does not adequately explain why alternatives that require less impacts on public lands were abandoned.  The proposal would shut down a significant portion of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge, remove protections from key wildlife habitat, and call for building 115 miles of new fence that would block wildlife movement.  The document portrays these steps as the only viable path forward to accommodate expanded training and testing scenarios, but leaves significant gaps in its review of alternatives. A golden eagle faces off with a bighorn sheep at a watering hole in the Desert National Wildlife Refuge.  Photo: USFWS Three Primary Activities: Emitters, Bombing, and Irregular Warfare To understand why the ...

President Trump this week significantly reduced Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments in Utah, a move likely intended to benefit oil, gas and coal mining companies.  If Trump's unprecedented attack is left unchallenged, it not only opens these beautiful wildlands in Utah to potential drilling and mining, it puts every single acre of America's national monuments at risk.  The Antiquities Act allows the President to establish national monuments that protect natural and historical wonders. But undoing or modifying a national monument takes an act of Congress. Valley of the Gods will no longer be protected after Trump cut Bears Ears National Monument.  Photo by Tim Peterson, LightHawk. Through his attack on Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, Trump is ignoring the law and establishing a precedent that anybody in the Oval office can erase our natural and cultural heritage and hand it to private interests.  If Trump can do this to Bears ...