Mojave Desert Blog

I promised a read-out of my camping trip to the Mojave National Preserve -- I have not gotten around to summarizing the trip yet.  But I can say that the Preserve should be seeing some nice wildflower blooms this weekend or next.  When I was there the ground was green and there were fields of yellow and purple, but many of the cactus and other blooms had not peaked.  Here are shots of some of the flowers I photographed during the trip, weekend of March 26. Not sure what species are in the first picture below, but they were a brilliant, almost neon color that stand out near the lava flows in the western portion of the preserve.  Second photograph I believe is Indian Paintbrush near Cima Dome.  The third were very tiny white flowers blanketing parts of the ground near Granite Hills.  If you did not scrutinize the ground you could miss them entirely.  Fourth photo of some white flowers in a shrub.  The fifth photo was actually taken at the Ivanpah site -- to me it almost looks like the

A picture taken from the Granite Hills in the Mojave National Preserve this past weekend.  I plan to take a closer look at the Ridgecrest EIS and also update you on other solar projects in later posts this week.  Stay tuned.

If you're looking for a good day hike, try Teutonia Peak trail located in the northern portion of Mojave National Preserve.  The photo above was taken from the trail, with a portion of the Cima Dome in the distance.

One of the dynamics that will inevitably unfold over the next year--assuming Senator Feinstein is able to get her proposed California Desert Protection Act 2010 before Congress for a vote--will be opponent's attempts to frame CDPA 2010 as the product of Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) environmentalists looking to shut out economic development. Read about early signs of opposition here . The portrayal of Feinstein's legislation by opponents almost certainly will over-simplify the field of stakeholders by labeling what is actually a diverse array of opinions as stubborn NIMBY environmentalists.  Although you can count this blogger as an early supporter of the legislation's intent , I hope you never read anything on this blog that over-simplifies the arguments against CDPA 2010...if you do, call me out on it. The California Desert Protection Act of 1994 (which established Mojave National Preserve, and designated Joshua Tree and Death Valley as National Parks) provides a usef