For Immediate Release: October 17, 2002

Contact: Palm Springs Field Office -- Jim Foote 760-251-4836

CA-610-04

Proposed Coachella Valley Plan Amendment Published

The Proposed California Desert Conservation Area Plan Amendment for the Coachella Valley (Coachella Valley Plan) and Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) have been released for initiation of the 30-day protest period. The planning area encompasses about 1.2 million acres, 94% of which is in Riverside County and 6% in San Bernardino County. The BLM administers about 337,000 acres of land in the planning area.

The Coachella Valley Plan is being developed in coordination with the Coachella Valley Association of Governments in support of their efforts to prepare a Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan. The Coachella Valley Plan includes goals, objectives, and management prescriptions for comprehensive management of desert ecosystems, including actions supporting recovery of ten species listed under the federal Endangered Species Act.

The Coachella Valley Plan will amend BLM's 1980 California Desert Conservation Area Plan, and fulfills the BLM's responsibilities under the 1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act, the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act, and the 1973 Federal Endangered Species Act. The draft Coachella Valley Plan was published June 7, 2002. The proposed plan amendment and FEIS include public comments received by BLM in writing or at public hearings, along with the BLM responses to the comments received.

Letters announcing the document's availability are being mailed to over 600 interested parties. Copies of the proposed plan and FEIS are being mailed to agencies and all who commented on the draft plan and environmental impact statement. Printed copies of the proposed plan and FEIS are available upon request, and can be viewed online at http://www.ca.blm.gov/palmsprings.

The 30-day protest period will end Monday, November 18, 2002. Protests should be submitted to the U.S. Department of the Interior, Director, Bureau of Land Management (210), Attn: Brenda Williams, P.O. Box 66538, Washing, DC 20035 (regular mail), or U.S. Department of the Interior, Director, Bureau of Land Management (210), Attn: Brenda Williams, 1620 L Street, NW, Room 1075, Washington, DC 20036 (overnight mail). Procedures for filing a protest are outlined in the front of the Coachella Valley Plan document.

For more information or to request a copy of the Proposed California Desert Conservation Area Plan Amendment for the Coachella Valley and Final Environmental Impact Statement, contact Jim Foote at (760) 251-4836 or via e-mail at mailto:jfoote@ca.blm.gov.

Related: "THE COACHELLA VALLEY MULTIPLE SPECIES HABITAT CONSERVATION PLAN (MSHCP) AND NATURAL COMMUNITIES CONSERVATION PLAN (NCCP)" (Coachella Valley Association of Governments Web site, 10/17/2002)
More information on area governments' Coachella Valley plans.
http://www.cvag.org/mshcp/index.htm

"BLM OPENS COMMENT PERIOD ON PROPOSED BIG GAME GUZZLERS INSTALLATION IN SHEEPHOLE VALLEY WILDERNESS" (BLM California news release, 10/15/2002)
The Bureau of Land Management has completed a preliminary "Finding of No Significant Impact" (FONSI) and Environmental Assessment (EA) for a proposal submitted by the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) to install two big game guzzlers in the Sheephole Valley Wilderness.
http://www.ca.blm.gov/news/2002/10/nr/CDDn...zzlers/Conv.htm

The first sentence of the THE COACHELLA VALLEY MULTIPLE SPECIES HABITAT CONSERVATION PLAN (MSHCP) AND NATURAL COMMUNITIES CONSERVATION PLAN (NCCP)" reads:

"The Coachella Valley is a world class resort and retirement destination, making protection of the natural environment vital to the local economy".

Please appreciate the 3 magic words: resort, retirement, and economy.

Just how does the man-made environments of resorts and retirement (understood as permanent development) and the economy necessary to support the first two situations make natural environment protection desired, much less be a priority or even be a possibility? Natural habitats will essentially become zoos or strict confinements to sooth the guilt and please the eye of all those new human inhabitants, who by the structure of the opening sentence, are the true priority and only real concern of the plan. Beguiling strips of unusable land, to be peripherally noticed from the confines of a speeding air-conditioned car, are redefined now as holy shrines of multiple species habitat and natural communities.

I would be a bit more comfortable if, at least, the sentence mentioned recreation. Certainly recreation uses land and can require some change, even a small amount of permanent change. But such activities, particularly desert recreation, require plenty of open space and are seasonal, therefore allowing for multiple use, simultaneous diverse habitats, and periods of recovery, when necessary. Golf courses, resorts, retirement communities, road, sewer, water, and power infrastructures and the significant and complex support economies manifest impact many times that of any form of recreation. Not to mention the permanent impact comparison, which is no contest. Of course desert recreation has it's own economy, but not possible in any proximity to the actual practice. In its own way, such activity is the only true balance possible as suggested by this altruistic plan. Sustainable human and natural population, and taxable activities to delight the politicians. Recreation works, but not mentioned. Why? Read on.

The second sentence introduces the "visionaries" of this plan: " In order to balance economic development with environmental protection,
local governments under the leadership of the Coachella Valley Association of Governments are developing the Coachella Valley
Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP)".

Note: local governments. Specifically elected officials of these governments. These ambitious officials, for the sake of their survival, must be appealing to their constituents, the same individuals who will fill the resorts, the retirement developments, and the local economies that service, provide goods, and care for this crowd. Success in these jobs depends on a growing tax base and a happy local population who enjoy all the amenities of the crowded cities they fled. Last time I did the math, the total tax contribution of the prospective inhabitants of the considered natural communities was zero. Since the people pay the piper, guess who's tune gets played?

Just like the Native American reservations, the least developable and thus desirable land will be defined as the natural communities. Swaths intersected by the inevitable roads and utility corridors festooned with those silly signs advising the speeding octogenarians, who can barely see over their dashboards, that they just squashed another tortoise, lizard, or coyote and trashed the alignment on the Buick. Thank God the local economy is teeming with car repair shops!

Even die hard preservationists must see the choice here, as distasteful to them as it may be. A priority on recreation is the only true way to provide for, and sustain, natural environments.