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Mark Your Calendar: Mojave Desert Land Trust Restoration Event

The Mojave Desert Land Trust and the National Park Service are hosting an event on Saturday, 13 November to restore desert habitat in the Joshua Tree National Park. The efforts will help improve the ecosystem around the Nolina Peak, and will be a good opportunity to learn more about our desert resources while giving back. You can learn more about volunteer opportunities on the Land Trust's website , or email Miz Seita at mizseita@gmail.com. Here is the information for the restoration event: Date: November 13th (Saturday)   Time: 8:00am - 3:00pm Location: Meet approximately 1.5 miles from the corner of La Contenta Road and Covington Flat Road along Covington Flat Road. (Please RSVP and I will email a map and directions).   Please bring water, lunch, gloves, sunglasses (eye protection), long sleeve shirt, long pants, sunscreen, wide brim hat, and hiking boots. PLEASE RSVP - contact Miz Seita at 760-366-0542 or email mizseita@gmail.com

CEC Approves Calico Solar Power Project Despite Strong Objections

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The California Energy Commission (CEC) gave final approval for Tessera Solar LLC's 663 megawatt Calico Solar power project.  Dirty solar at its finest, the facility will be built on 7 square miles of pristine desert on public land, home to endangered desert tortoise, Mojave fringe-toed lizard and a rare plant called white-margined beardtongue.  You can read more about the ecological significance of the site on a previous post covering the testimony of desert expert Mr. Jim Andre. The public land that will soon be destroyed for Tessera Solar's project The Sierra Club issued strong testimony on the CEC's approval of the Calico Solar power project, according to transcripts from the 22 October CEC hearing, noting that the approval process violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the Warren-Alquist Act.  The Sierra Club claimed that the CEC's approval would be susceptible to "judicial review and reversal."  So far, no national environment

Just the Beginning: We Are About to Lose 5.6 Square Miles of Pristine Desert

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A massive bulldozer arrives in the Mojave's Ivanpah Valley.  Photo from Basin and Range Watch VIPs depart after an ironic celebration of BrightSource Energy's project groundbreaking. Photo from Basin and Range Watch Today's groundbreaking ceremony for BrightSource Energy's Ivanpah Solar Energy Generating System is over.  The bulldozers are on site, and the company will begin clearing 5.6 square miles of pristine desert for the massive solar project.   It is still early in the construction, but already biologists have had to remove 27 tortoises that were found while clearing the access road.   Imagine how many more tortoises we will lose when they begin clearing the rest of the site. The desert tortoise will capture the spotlight, but it's really just a symbol for a much deeper loss.  The Parish club cholla, Rusby's desert mallow, Mojave milkweed, burrowing owls, and ancient creosote bushes.  The Ivanpah site is a vibrant place, and it is the heart of a v

Calico and Ivanpah Solar Hearings This Week

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The California Energy Commission (CEC) is expected to hear any final opposition to the Calico Solar power project on Thursday, 28 October.  Tessera Solar LLC's Calico Solar power project is proposed for over 7 square miles of public land just east of Barstow, California.  The project is eligible for American Reinvestment and Recovery Act grants and loan guarantees.  The CEC already issued the Presiding Member's Proposed Decision in favor of the project last month, but has to finalize the decision following the end of a 30-day public comment period.  Separately, the Ivanpah Solar Energy Generating System is already under initial construction on 5.6 square miles of public land in the Mojave Desert, but Basin and Range Watch petitioned the CEC to reconsider its approval of the project.  The CEC will hold a hearing on the petition on Tuesday, 26 October.  Basin and Range Watch noted that the CEC dismissed biological evidence regarding the genetic significance of the tortoise popu

BLM approves Calico Solar Power project; CEC Decision Pending

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approved the 7.2 square mile Calico Solar power project, which will kill or displace at least 22 desert tortoises, and jeopardize the future of a rare desert wildflower called the white margined beardtongue.  The California Energy Commission is expected to issue its approval for the project later this month.  In other news, construction workers at the Ivanpah Solar Energy Generating System in the northeastern Mojave Desert have found 17 desert tortoises so far.  Most of the tortoises will likely lose their homes (burrows) as the crews continue to bulldoze the desert habitat for facility, which will be operated by BrightSource Energy.

Sign the Petition to Save the Tortoise from Big Energy

There is a way to cut greenhouse gases and protect the environment, but as many Mojave Desert Blog readers are well aware, utility-scale solar is just another destructive attempt by big energy to earn a profit.  Each proposed solar site in California's desert is at least 5 to 6 square miles, and many would be built on pristine desert habitat.  The California Energy Commission and Bureau of Land Management are prioritizing these massive and destructive projects without directing them to less ecologically sensitive sites or investing more in rooftop solar. Tell your State and Federal decision makers that you want them to develop a more responsible renewable energy strategy that preserves our public lands and wildlife for future generations.  Sign the " Save the Desert Tortoise from Big Energy " petition.

BLM Discards Land Donated for Conservation

The Bureau of Land Management decided that land donated to the Federal Government for conservation purposes by The Wildlands Conservancy could be bulldozed for the Calico Solar power project.  The Wildlands Conservancy vocally opposed the proposal to build an energy project on land that it purchased and donated to the American public.  The BLM's decision disregards this opposition, and promises from State and Federal leaders--including President Clinton, the Vice President, and the Department of the Interior--that the goodwill of the donation would be honored and the lands preserved for future generations, according to a submission by the Conservancy to the California Energy Commission. The Calico Solar power project will destroy nearly 6.5 square miles of desert habitat, displace at least 22 endangered desert tortoises, and potentially drive a rare desert wildflower to extinction. The current project layout still includes some land donated by The Wildlands Conservancy.  The BLM&

How Many Desert Tortoises at Ivanpah?

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At least a dozen tortoises have been discovered at the Ivanpah Solar Energy Generating System site already, and the project has only broken ground on an access road.  The project, proposed by BrightSource Energy and recently approved by the Bureau of Land Management, will destroy 5.6 square miles of desert habitat for a 370 MW facility. The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) initially estimated that 32 desert tortoises live on the site and would require translocation from the site.  If the construction crews have already encountered nearly half that number when a substantial portion of the project site has not even been touched, the initial USFWS estimates are likely inaccurate.  Therefore, the impact of the Ivanpah Solar project may have been improperly assessed in the BLM's and California Energy Commission's environmental reviews.  As mentioned in a previous post , the impact of the project on the long-term viability of the endangered species has likely been downplayed