About 50 people attended the High Desert Multiple Use Coalition rally
last Wednesday before attending the BLM West Mojave Management Plan (WEMO)
open house. Attendees came from Visalia, Bakersfield, Kern River Valley,
Hesperia, Lucerne Valley, Trona, Victorville, and Los Angeles area. This
is pretty amazing if you consider there was only a two day notice. The
diverse group included ranchers, miners, sportsmen, OHV enthusiasts,
rockhounds, equestrians, private property owners, and others.

According to BLM personnel attendance, at the WEMO open house was
about 500 people. This fact illustrates the tremendous interest in the
management plan and the significance of the local concern regarding the
potential loss of access to public land.

According to a report in the News Review, WEMO Project Manager Bill
Haigh indicated that the BLM has hired additional consultants to address
many of the concerns expressed by public land users and constituents on the
selection of roads and trails for closure. The News Review article also
indicated that Mr. Haigh responded to questions regarding the criteria used
to designate the status of roads by stating that the five criteria are set
forth in the BLM Desert Plan. Well that's simple enough. So why aren't
the five criteria included in the documents that accompany the maps and
information provided as to how the criteria apply to the specific routes
proposed for closure? Hopefully the BLM will share this with the public
soon.

The goodnews is that Bill Haigh has committed to hold an official
meeting in Ridgecrest to take comments regarding the WEMO plan. This
meeting will include a stenographer to officially document all of the
comments. This is pretty good for the local community because it will
allow local residents the opportunity to provide officially recorded
comments which must be considered during the development of the
environmental documents. According to Mr. Haigh, the meeting will take
place sometime around mid to late June. Hopefully, local residents will
take full advantage of this very important opportunity.

The Bakersfield Californian also ran an article about the WEMO open
house. It is located on the Internet at http://www.bakersfield.com/local/Story/434642p-426933c.html

For those who couldn't attend the rally, the text of the handout
information is provided below.
1) Background / Current Situation
2) Sample Letters
3) Internet Location for additional information


================================================== =============

CURRENT SITUATION AFFECTING
THE MANAGEMENT OF THE WEST
MOJAVE DESERT PLANNING AREA

By Ron Schiller, Chairman
High Desert Multiple Use Coalition
Wednesday, May 9, 2001


The proposals, plans, lawsuit requirements, and legislation related to
public land management in the California Desert have become so convoluted
and complicated that it has become nearly impossible for the average person
to understand, much less, participate in the government process. It is our
hope that the following information will help desert residents understand
what is happening and prepare them with adequate knowledge and information
to participate in the government process as allowed by the United States
Constitution and provided for in public law.


BACKGROUND

The West Mojave Coordinated management plan began nearly eleven years
ago. The stated purpose of the plan was to streamline the habitat
mitigation process required when local communities and individuals needed
to undertake an action that might adversely affect the habitat or result in
the incidental take of desert tortoise or mohave ground squirrel (MGS).
Such actions could include a domestic water pipeline, a utility corridor,
a road improvement, or even the construction of a private home or garage in
certain areas. The idea was develop a streamlined procedure so that a
party would only be required to deal with one agency when obtaining a
permit instead of requiring approval from the Department of Fish and Game,
Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management and/or other agencies.
Sounds simple right?
As more bureaucrats became involved, the scope of the West Mojave
Coordinated Management Plan began to expand. As the scope expanded to
include more species the more land area became involved and thus more
government agencies, business interests, utility companies, and other
entities were included. Now the West Mojave Coordinated Management Plan
includes nearly 130 species! The vast majority of these species is not
even listed under the Endangered Species Act and does not require such
protection. Well, with this much involvement and the expanded planning
area, it was decided to change the scope of the plan, now called WEMO, to
become a full blown regional Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) and thus more
government representation. That's when it really started getting ugly.
In early 2000, it was decided to further expand the scope of the plan
to incorporate route designations across the board which included massive
wholesale arbitrary road closures. This, in turn, began to raise the
concern of individual local members of the affected public.
As if this isn't were complicated enough, Congressman Lewis, who wants
to expand the Army's National Training Center at Fort Irwin, sent a rather
firmly worded letter to the WEMO planning group, now called the
"Supergroup". He asked why they hadn't included the expansion of Ft. Irwin
in the scope of the planning area! Shortly thereafter, Congressman Lewis
and Senator Feinstein introduced legislation to expand the boundaries of
Ft. Irwin, which raised the hackles of the environmental community. Now
WEMO has become 99 percent politics and 1 percent science.
When the environmental extremists realized they were no longer in
control of the situation, the very well funded Center for Biological
Diversity, the Sierra Club, and Public Employees for Environmental Ethics
filed suit against the BLM. The BLM did not even attempt to defend their
planning process and immediately entered into settlement negotiations with
the environmentalists. This is when it really became nasty. The five
resulting Stipulation Agreements essentially takes the management of the
planning area away from the BLM and forces the agency to expend precious
time and redirect tremendous resources toward piece-meal implementation of
highly questionable management actions that are purely based on the mere
whim of the wealthy environmentalists.


CURRENT SITUATION

The current circumstances have completely bastarized the public
involvement process with which the BLM, by law, must comply. The major
problem is that the public process has become so complicated that the
general population has little or no understanding of the relationship
between the three ongoing parallel public involvement processes.
The first public process obviously results from the WEMO plan itself.
The second public process has to do with the expansion of Ft. Irwin.
The Lewis/Feinstein legislation mandates that the Secretaries of the Army
and Interior jointly oversee the development of the associated
environmental impact statement which will also include public involvement
in the decision making process.
The third public process associated with the overall management of the
California Desert Conservation Area, which includes the WEMO planning area,
stems from the lawsuit against the BLM. Within the court orders, the judge
very clearly pointed out that even though the BLM signed Stipulation
Agreements committing the agency to implement certain actions, the actions
must comply with all applicable laws and regulations including the
Administrative Procedures Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.
The judge went on to say that just because the BLM agreed to implement
certain emergency road closures it does not mean that an emergency actually
exists. Therefore, the BLM must follow the normal procedure, including the
NEPA public process, to establish that an emergency does, in fact, exist or
that other stipulated management actions are required.
Now, what does this all mean? Well to start with, all members of the
public who are concerned with keeping access open to public lands in the
California desert must immediately write three letters to ensure that they
are included on the mailing list to receive future management proposals.
The letters must be addressed to WEMO Project Manager Bill Haigh,
California Desert District Manager Tim Salt, and Secretary of Interior Gale
Norton. (For convenience sample letters are attached).
Additional information about the WEMO Planning Process, the Ft. Irwin
expansion, and the environmentalist's lawsuit against the BLM is available
on the Internet. Please see the provided list of websites for the location
on the web.


Note:

This article is a very brief explanation of the current situation.
Each of the aspects mentioned warrants further discussion and
explaination. Future articles will cover these items in greater detail.

================================================== ===

SAMPLE LETTERS TO LAND MANAGERS


Mr. Tim Salt, District Manager
Bureau of Land Management
California Desert District
6221 Box Springs Blvd.
Riverside, CA 92507


Dear Mr. Salt:

This letter is to inform you that I wish to participate in the public
process related to the implementation of the Stipulations listed in the
Settlement Agreements for the lawsuit filed against the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) by the Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club,
and the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility over the
California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA). Therefore, I request to
receive all notices, reports, evaluations, biological opinions,
environmental documents, and any other information associated with the
implementation of the actions identified in the Settlement agreements.


(Your Name)
(Your address)


================================================== ===================


Secretary of Interior Gale Norton
U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C. Street N.W.
Washington, DC 20240


Dear Secretary Norton:


This is to inform you that I wish to participate in the public process
related to the expansion of the Army's National Training Center at Fort
Irwin, California. This includes all aspects of participation allowed by
the National Environmental Policy Act. Please send me copies of all future
notices, environmental documents, and other information, regarding this
important issue.


(Your Name)
(Your address)


================================================== ===


Bill Haigh, West Mojave Project Manager
Bureau of Land Management
Barstow Field Office
2601 Barstow Road
Barstow, CA 92311


Dear Mr. Haigh:

This is to inform you that I wish to participate in the public process
related to the management of the West Mojave Management Plan. This
includes all aspects of the planning activities including route
designations, scoping issues, and environmental documents. Please include
me on the mailing list to receive all documents, maps, and other future
information regarding the West Mojave Management Plan.


(Your Name)
(Your address)


================================================== ====================


Mr. Hector Villalobos, Field Office Manager
Bureau of Land Management
Ridgecrest Field Office
300 South Richmond Rd.
Ridgecrest, CA 93555


Dear Mr. Villalobos:

Please place my name and address on all mailing lists for information
regarding land management issues proposed for public lands under your
jurisdiction. This includes management plans, notices, announcements, and
other documents related to the management of public lands.


(Your Name)
(Your address)


================================================== =========

DESERT LAND MANAGEMENT INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET


West Mojave Land Management Plan http://www.ca.blm.gov/cdd/wemo.html


California Desert Conservation Area Lawsuit (including BLM news releases
and court documents) http://www.ca.blm.gov/cdd/lawsuit.html


Fort Irwin Expansion
DOI/Army Joint Press Release
http://www.doi.gov/news/archives/010112.html


Key Elements Report to Congress
http://www.ca.blm.gov/cdd/fort_irwin_links.html


Draft Northern and Eastern Mojave Environmental Impact Statement
Northern Mojave Desert OHV route network: Open house May 9.
http://www.ca.blm.gov/caso/

Sending letters & forwarding.