Desert Protective Council News Archive

SUIT FILEDTO HALT OCOTILLO WIND AS COALITION HOLDS PROTESTS IN SAN DIEGO AND EL CENTRO

Posted May 16, 2012 by Indy Quillen. Categories:

May 16, 2012 (La Jolla) – At a press conference yesterday outside the gleaming corporate towers occupied by Pattern Energy in La Jolla, a coalition of environmental groups, Native American tribes and outraged citizens urged President Barack Obama to stop fast-tracking of massive energy projects on public lands and halt construction at the Ocotillo Express wind facility immediately.

Heavy equipment has begun grading the site, ripping massive ocotillo cacti out by the roots, burying burrowing owl nesting sites and breaking hearts of the many people who love this desert land.

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Call for a Moratorium on “fast-tracking” Massive Energy Projects on Public Lands

Posted May 11, 2012 by Indy Quillen. Categories:

Coyote Mountain is among several culturally important mountains where views will be destroyed, along with Sugarloaf, Signal Mountain, Sombrero Peak and others. Photo: Miriam Raftery

Native American tribes join environmental, recreation and hunting organizations to call for a moratorium on “fast-tracking” massive energy projects on public lands.

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DPC Call to Action – Help Us Protect the Desert!

Posted April 19, 2012 by Indy Quillen. Categories:

Your presence is needed at the Tuesday April 24th public hearing in El Centro 10:45AM:

The Imperial County Board of Supervisors will be deciding whether or not to approve the Planning Commission’s recommendation to build an industrial wind project with 112, 440-ft. tall turbines on12,000 acres of beautiful desert habitat, adjacent to the southern boundary of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and the rural community of Ocotillo in Western Imperial County, CA. We need a very large crowd of people who are opposed to this project to attend this public hearing!

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DPC’s Conservation Coordinator Speaks out on Behalf of the Bighorn Sheep

Posted April 1, 2012 by Indy Quillen. Categories:

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Protest Planned March 14 at Renewable Energy Conference that Excluded Advocates of Rooftop Solar

Posted March 13, 2012 by Indy Quillen. Categories:

March 12, 2012 (Holtville) – “Why are billions of our tax dollars going to fund large-scale energy development on our public lands instead of to home and business owners for developing rooftop solar?” asks Terry Weiner with the Desert Protective Council and Solar Done Right. Massive solar and wind developments are planned for San Diego and Imperial County, many on public lands, others on prime agricultural croplands.

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Student’s Art Project Depicts America’s Desert Dilemma

Posted March 5, 2012 by Indy Quillen. Categories:

Nothing is quite as uplifting as receiving inspiration from a young person. That happened for us this last week when high school student Halle Rayn Kohn posted her artwork project online.

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Connecting Children with Nature

Posted February 26, 2012 by Indy Quillen. Categories:

A Short History of DPC’s Salton Basin Living Laboratory Field Trip Program by Terry Weiner

I imagine most of us did not become desert lovers until we actually spent time there. It’s likely someone initially introduced us to a special corner of one of our southwest deserts. But, our fascination did not take hold as we drove through vast, open, arid valleys. We had to get out of our cars and put our feet on the land. Our intrigue grew as we hiked or camped or just spent a morning sitting on a rock listening to the quiet.

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Welcome to Our New Communications Coordinator

Posted February 1, 2012 by Indy Quillen. Categories: News, DPC News

The Desert Protective Council is delighted to welcome our new Communications Coordinator, Indy Quillen. Indy will be managing our web site, blog and social network pages, as well as editing our quarterly El Paisano newsletter and online E-Paisano.

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Thank you Desert Protective Council

Posted December 31, 2011 by Chris Clarke. Categories: Desert Ecology, Desert People, News, DPC News

Today marks my last day as Communications Consultant for the Desert Protective Council, as I’m moving on to other projects. It’s been a very rewarding two and a half years, and I’m grateful to the DPC for the opportunity to do some important work on issues that mean a great deal to me.

In particular, I’d like to thank a few current and former members of DPC’s Board of Directors — Nick Ervin, Larry Klaasen, Geoffrey Smith, and Mike Colm — for their generous aid and assistance; former Communications Consultant Lawrence Hogue for advice and continuing friendship, and the DPC’s amazing Conservation staff person Terry Weiner for her boundless energy and enthusiasm.

And last but most importantly, I’m grateful to you, the DPC’s members, friends and colleagues, for your unwavering support. It’s been a privilege to be part of the DPC’s now 58-year history. Look forward to great things in 2012, and please, do feel free to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

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New El Paisano now online

Posted November 27, 2011 by Chris Clarke. Categories: News, DPC News

The Fall 2011 issue of our newsletter El Paisano is now online, along with its accompanying Educational Bulletin The Mysterious Mojave River by Laura Cunningham. Check it out!

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The Most Astonishing Boring Plant in the Desert

Posted November 23, 2011 by Chris Clarke. Categories: Desert Ecology, Plants

There are a lot of dramatic and prominent plants in the California deserts—towering Joshua trees, fierce bristling chollas, even saguaros along the Colorado River—but one of the most amazing plants in the desert is one it could take you years to notice, hiding some jaw-dropping science behind a singularly unimpressive appearance.

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Native Singers Keep Culture Alive

Posted November 10, 2011 by Chris Clarke. Categories: Desert Ecology, Desert People

One of the worst habits of modern American writers is that of referring to this continent’s original inhabitants in the past tense. This is as true of the desert as anywhere in the U.S. It’s understandable, in a way: Native people dominate the history, modern and ancient, of the desert. Writing about the desert’s past without writing about Native people is just about impossible.

But there’s more to the Native people of the desert than the seemingly permanent ancient rockworks and petroglyphs. Native people are still here, shaping the desert. A few, the Agua Caliente Cahuilla in my own Palm Springs being an example, have attained a certain measure of political and economic power. Others—including some of the Agua Caliente’s close neighbors—still struggle for self-determination and respect. All of them work to defend and preserve their diverse cultures. And some aspects of that cultural diversity are far harder to preserve than a petroglyph or intaglio. Some are as ephemeral as a soft voice spoken in the desert wind.

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Main road through Joshua Tree National Park reopens

Posted November 9, 2011 by Chris Clarke. Categories:

The main road through the length of Joshua Tree National Park is open once again. As of November 1, visitors can travel the spectacular Pinto Basin Road for the first time since violent storms cut off access September 13. That storm, which dumped three inches of rain on the basin and adjacent areas, created flash floods that removed the road in several places along its length, most critically in a small canyon south of the Cottonwood Springs Visitor Center.

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DPC Comments on Algodones Dunes Fee Changes

Posted November 5, 2011 by Chris Clarke. Categories: Off-Road Vehicles, Places, Imperial Valley, News, DPC Comments

As seen in our Desert Environmental News posting for November 4, 2011, the BLM is discussing the fee structure for use of the Imperial Sand Dunes (a.k.a. Algodones Dunes), a popular off-roading destination. The DPC’s Terry weiner submitted comments to the BLM on the fee structure: those comments can be seen below the fold.

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KPBS Discusses SDG&E Rooftop Solar Rate Hike

Posted October 19, 2011 by Chris Clarke. Categories: Renewable Energy

San Diego’s public radio station KPBS covered the San Diego Gas & Electric Company’s plan to charge a “grid access” fee to property owners who’ve incurred the expense and bother of installing rooftop solar panels. The discussion, on the station’s “midday edition” program, included JC Thomas, SDG&E’s manager for government and regulatory affairs, Daniel Sullivan of Sullivan Solar Power, and rooftop solar owner Gil Fields. You can listen to the discussion here.

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Imperial County Planning Commission Approves Landfill Expansion

Posted October 12, 2011 by Chris Clarke. Categories: Landfills, Places, Imperial Valley

In a nearly unanimous vote earlier today, the Imperial County Planning Commission approved the expansion of the Burrtec Salton City landfill we reported on earlier this month. We will have a more thorough examination of the project’s future next week, but here are the details as we know them in the meantime

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