The newsletter of the Desert Protective Council

Winter/Spring 2013 Number 215

Presidents Column
by Nick Ervin

hirty-five years ago I made my first journey into the California desert. At the time, I could scarcely have expected that the experiences of a winter weekend would shape my thoughts and actions in large measure for years and years to come. January 1978I had moved to California from Colorado the preceding summer in order to settle and work in the San Diego area, a place I had admired since first seeing it in 1969. Of course, it had been too hot initially for me to explore the mysterious lands east of the local mountains (where I came from they would be termed foothills). about me: genuine disorientation. Dawn. My reaction at the immediate moment of awakening is crisp and vivid even today, thirty-five years after the event. As I sleepily put on my eyeglasses I looked rather blearily around. With a growing astonishment I peered out at an eerie, otherworldly panorama of dry brown flats punctuated with strange plants I had never before encountered (mostly Ocotillo). In the distance sprouted bare skeletal hills deeply eroded into fantastic forms. A revelation! You could have plopped me down magically on the surface of planet Mars and it would not have seemed odder to me, or more compelling in some inexplicable way. It was (pure) fascination at first sight. Emerging from my bag I began to walk and gawk. It felt as if my brain was simply overloaded with novel sensory stimuli that could not be processed quickly enough. I was practically giddy with delight; but little did I know what was yet to come on that fateful weekend. Breaking our simple camp, my friend and I drove into the then hamlet of Borrego Springs and out to DiGiorgio Road where we turned off onto a smaller paved side road. Eventually, this turned into a dirt road, quite smooth and deceptively easy at
continued on page 2

For the first six months or so in San Diego I hiked and familiarized myself with the local mountain and chaparral country in my limited free time. Their landscapes, while somewhat different from alpine Colorado, were generally recognizable and known to me. Thus, I enjoyed my pastime discovering new places full of high chaparral and mixed deciduous/coniferous forest types. Then, suddenly, right after New Years 1978 a young colleague at work invited me unexpectedly for a weekend backpack trip into the desert of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park east of those familiar mountains. Since I had entered California on my move the previous summer via Utah and northern Nevada into the San Francisco Bay region, I had never seen anything quite like a Sonoran desert landscape, and did not fully appreciate that we could reach its edge in as little as an hour and half drive from central San Diego. On a near moonless Friday night, we packed my colleagues old VW Rabbit with gear and drove in complete darkness out onto a desert flat somewhere where we dutifully laid out our sleeping bags near a dirt road easily accessed from some highway pavement. In sum, I had no clue whatsoever where I was and how things might look

San Diego Off Highway Vehicle Park Stakeholder Roundtable: a coalition of conservation group reps, ORV enthusiasts and California OHV Division of State Parks

Conservation Corner
by Terry Weiner

hanks to our talented and creative communication coordinator Indy Quillen, we are delighted to announce that we now have a page on our DPC web site dedicated to Education. We encourage you to read about the development and the details of DPCs landmark education project: The Salton Basin Living Laboratory Field Trip Program, which has introduced close to a thousand Imperial Valley 4th through 6th grade students and their teachers to the unique geologic, historical, biological and cultural features of the amazing Salton Basin of California. In upcoming weeks and months, we will be adding information about other educational programs that DPC has sponsored over the decades. We also plan to post our quarterly Educational Bulletins back to their beginning in 1980. These educational essays, written by experts in their fields, contain a wealth of information
continued on page 2

P.O. Box 3635, San Diego, CA 92163-1635 (619) 342-5524 http://www.protectdeserts.org

The desert says nothing. Completely passive, acted upon but never acting,
first. Soon we crossed a stream bed filled with running water (in the desert!!) as we proceeded up what I later learned was Coyote Canyon headed toward remote Collins Valley. This dirt track soon turned much rougher as we pushed our way literally at times through the water in the arroyo alternating with rutted, rocky portions outside the streambed itself. Desert Willow and other water-loving vegetation closed around us tightly while in the watercourse followed by startlingly abrupt transitions to denuded desert patches while out of its borders. What a weird place. For many years now, happily, through the work of DPC and the local Sierra Club, among others, one can no longer traverse the creek in a motorized vehicle and the route is almost entirely through only dry desert on a defined track. We thoroughly trashed my companions VW Rabbit driving where only four wheel drive or high clearance vehicles should be used. Still, we managed somehow to reach Collins Valley in the lonely northern stretches of the Park and parked our car. Donning our packs, we headed overland amid scenes that continued to constantly amaze me: steep-sided mountains plunging upwards from bizarre desert flats. Then, of

the desert lies there like the bare skeleton of Being, spare, sparse, austere, utterly worthless, inviting not love but contemplation. In its simplicity and order it suggests the classical, except that the desert is a realm beyond the human and in the classicist view only the human is regarded as significant or even recognized as real. Edward Abbey [original italics]

all things, I spotted full-fledged trees on the desert floor in the distance. Real trees in the middle of a desert! How could this possibly be? Turned out that the outwash of spring water from nearby secluded Cougar Canyon supported a number of healthy adult sycamore trees in the open desert. Explainable in scientific terms, for sure, but nonetheless both astounding and confounding to my little brain. At that juncture, I figured nothing more could surprise me in that place. Ultimately, we labored up the steep floor of Cougar Canyon with our heavy packs, dodging gigantic boulders and thick brush until palm trees, PALM TREES, came into view. Yikes! I wondered then if I was in some sort of unending hallucinatory experience (perhaps spiked morning coffee). We progressed slowly and arrived at the First Paradise, a gushing waterfall in the heart of

a canyon precipice adjoined by deeply arid slopes peppered with all of those unusual plants and whimsically-shaped boulders as big as a small house in some cases. That was it; maybe I was nuts but I was totally enthralled by the place. And so that is the brief story of how I got hooked on deserts, became an activist, and devoted large parts of my life to conservation. It also led me eventually to membership in DPC and, later, to Board membership for many years. Along the way we passed the seminal California Desert Protection Act of 1994 and I made many dear friends in the bargain. We can discuss your unique early experience of arid lands sometime around that next bend in a proverbial unnamed canyon somewhere. Nick Ervin, President

Conservation Corner from page 1

about desert ecology, geology, the history of desert land use planning and politics, desert national parks and monuments, and the various threats to desert beauty and integrity over fifty years. Do you know that DPC will turn 60 in 2014? Pondering DPCs accomplishments in the desert education arena led me to consider other areas of DPCs influence over these past five decades and the need to share this information with our friends and colleagues. It is high time for DPC to publish a history of some of our major collaborations and funding projects. We will be posting a comprehensive list of our past and present campaigns and projects on our web site soon. Meanwhile, here is a tiny sampling of a few of our key successful involve-

ments: DPC was a key participant in the crafting of the 1976 Federal Lands Policy Management Act (FLPMA); in the 1980s DPC worked with Coachella Valley conservationists in the establishment of the Coachella Valley Preserve for protection of the Coachella Valley Fringe-toed lizard; in 1994, DPC was a key player in the introduction and passage of the California Desert Protection Act; and in the 1990s, we worked to promote the congressional protection of the Santa Rosa-San Jacinto National Monument. In 2004, DPC gave an $86,000 grant to the Imperial Valley College Desert Museum Association to finish the interior of the Ocotillo Desert Museum for education about and protection of local Native American cultural artifacts. In addition to compiling a history of DPC projects, I feel an urgent need to begin contacting and interviewing long-time DPC members, our Advisory Panel mem-

bers, and other desert elders. We want to record the stories contained in their heads and hearts. Most of our founding members and some of our charter members are no longer with us and I feel it would be tragic not to preserve the record of DPCs long involvement in desert education and desert protection. Would you like to help with outreach and research for a DPC history project? Might you know a long-time desert activist or DPC member who may be interested in sharing some history? Do you have a personal story about the DPC, such as a memory or anecdote from a DPC campaign or from an annual membership meeting? Please email or call me if you have ideas, suggestions, saved articles about the DPC or other pieces of desert history over the past sixty years. Thanks so much for your support. Terry Weiner

El Paisano, the newsletter of the Desert Protective Council

Imperial County Updates:

by Terry Weiner
In this issue, you will read about Desert Protective Councils ongoing financial support of the Anza-Borrego Foundations (ABF) and the California Department of Parks and Recreation outstanding desert education programs. The DPC thanks ABF and State Parks for successfully having introduced thousands of Imperial County elementary school students to the wonders of our California deserts. The Desert Protective Council lawsuit against the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Land Management and Ocotillo Wind Express (Pattern Energy) final hearing took place in the U.S. Southern District Court in San Diego on Friday February 22 2013 in Judge Gonzalo Paul Curiels courtroom. Judge Curiel also heard the Quechan Tribes Motion for Summary Judgment on January 18 2013. The judge listened attentively to our attorneys final arguments against the Ocotillo Wind Energy Facility; asked many questions and informed us that he will be rendering his decision on both the Quechan Tribes and DPCs lawsuit within a week. This month, DPC joined non-profit organizations Western Lands Project and Western Watersheds in filing a legal challenge against Interior Secretary Ken Salazars decision to keep millions of acres of public land available to industry for siting destructive utility-scale solar plants. Our complaint cites the governments

Campout and protest rally organized by DPCs Terry Weiner against the Imperial Solar Two project just east of Ocotillo, CA.

failure to consider alternatives that would focus solar development on degraded lands and in the already-built environment. The governments analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) ignored alternative approaches that would be less damaging to the environment, more efficient, and less costly to taxpayers and ratepayers. It may be a while before we get a hearing date in court. We will keep you posted on our web site. The BLM continues to move forward with approving remote, large-scale solar and wind projects on public lands. Here is

a link to a nifty summary of the status of all solar, wind and geothermal project applications: http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/ energy/renewable_energy/Renewable_Energy_Projects_Approved_to_Date.html. You can also simply Google the Bureau of Land Management-Renewable Energy projects. Imperial County has four largescale solar projects approved and in various phases of construction and of course, at the Ocotillo Wind Energy Facility, there are 95 turbines currently operating with 16 or so additional turbines approved at the site.

Dr. Allan Muth

ong-time Desert Protective Council member, Dr. Allan Muth, is Director of the Philip L. Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center (Deep Canyon Desert is where DPC was founded), a 6,200-acre reserve of the University of California Natural Reserve System. He has

held the position since 1982. His primary areas of interest in herpetology, population biology, conservation biology, and biopoliticsand the fact that the reserve provides a superb setting for ecological research and studiesled to a twenty-eight year collaboration with Deep Canyon staff biologist, Mark Fisher, in the study and research of the Coachella Valley Fringe-Toed Lizard, Uma inornata, a state and federally listed species, and comparative studies of a Namibian sand lizard, Meroles anchietae. They hope these studies will enable better management of the reserves, since they constitute less than 10 percent of the species original range.

Described by many asdeeply committed to environmental issues and generous of spiritDr. Muth has received a multitude of awards for his services over the years from many organizations, including the 1985 Desert Protective Council Award of Merit, in recognition for efforts to establish the Coachella Valley Preserve. His ongoing conservation and biopolitical activities include participation in the preparation of the Coachella Valley Fringetoed Lizard Habitat Conservation Plan, Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan, the Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy, and the UC Riverside Center for Conservation Biology.

http://www.protectdeserts.org

Gold and Silver in the Mojave: Images of a Last Frontier by Nicholas Clapp
San Diego: Sunbelt Publications, 2013 Illustrated. 192 pp. Sunbelt. $24.95.

Review by Larry Hogue

he history of the western U.S. is a history of booms and busts. A lode is discovered or a policy is enacted (the Homestead Act, the wind energy tax credit). Where once was pristine (lightly populated, subtly changed) nature, civilization rushes in, with all its attendant virtues and vices. Then the ore plays out, or the policy changes, or the rain fails to follow the plow. The people move on, leaving the rusting tin cans, the broken dreams, the windmills creaking idly in the wind. And they leave photographs. Stashed away in shoe boxes or on display in county historical societies, these old photos can seem quaintly picturesque. Trapped in their black-and-white world, the subjects seem more actors on a stage than real people who lived, worked, loved and died. Portraits and Voices of the Salton Sea by Christina Lange

In his excellent Gold and Silver in the Mojave, Nicholas Clapp scrapes away that quaint layer to reveal the lives behind the photos. Through vivid story-telling, insightful commentary, and carefully selected photographs, the book gets at the actual experience of the people who were part of this later, lesser-known mining boom, spanning the years 1895 to 1920. Clapp calls it a rowdy Last Act for the Old West. From Randsburg to Ballarat to Tonopah, the book presents photos both expected and unexpected: the gold-panners and the miners, the bankers and the saloon-keepers, the gamblers and the red-light districts; but also the families, the ladies clubs, the children, and the Mojave Deserts first tourists. Some of the most striking are portraits of the people of Tonopah, Nevada, taken by E.W. Smith in his studio, featuring classical backdrops and a laughing gnome for a prop. Himself an award-winning filmmaker, Clapp expertly dissects the images he presents, whether commenting on habits of dress, the expressions of men in a saloon, or the changes in photographic technology that made the images possible. Gold and Silver in the Mojave explores all the ways wealth was made and squandered here. There was the mining of ore, but also the mining of investors pocketbooks; high-grading (mine workers lining their clothing with stolen ore); the trick of selling out while a shallow claim still showed; and bucking the tiger trying to beat the house in the often-rigged game of faro. And of course there is the desert. This being the Mojave, the landscapes are dramatic. Even in their heyday, these

boomtowns were dwarfed by the desert that surrounded them, the humans, tiny figures amidst nature on a grand scale. This contrast is even more striking in the books examples of rephotography. A shot of Rhyolite taken a hundred years ago shows the town of 5,000 that sprang up in less than five years; today, a photo taken from the same vantage shows the blackbrush holding sway once more. Residents of currently booming North Dakota, take heed: this is your future. Larry Hogue was a Board member of the Desert Protective Council in the early 2000s, and served as the Communications Consultant from 2007 to 2009. In the years before being a part of the DPC, he taught writing at USD and National University. An author in his own right, Larrys stellar book, All the Wild and Lonely Places: Journeys in a Desert Landscape (Island Press, 2000), is a thoughtful and evocative portrait of AnzaBorrego and of the people who have lived there, both original inhabitants and Spanish and American newcomers. We could persist in seeing the desert as an emptiness, a place hostile to humans, a pristine wilderness, Hogue writes. But its better to see this as a place where ancient peoples tried to make their homes, and succeeded. We can learn from what they did here, and use that knowledge to reinvigorate our concept of wildness. Humans are part of nature; its still nature, even when we change it.

lthough much has been written about the Salton Sea, Christina Langes recently published Portraits and Voices of the Salton Sea, is the first book to capture the intimacy of those who live with the Sea. Their words speak to us of the glory days of the Seas past, and a longing for a more promising future. They remind us that the Salton Sea is not just the environmental disaster we read about in the paper. It is a community of families, the elderly, singles and couples, businessesand 400,000 migratory birds. Christina Lange, an accomplished photographer, is drawn to working on envi-

ronmental photo stories. She creates visual presentations of humanity within fragile environments. It is the harsh, receding, vulnerable environment, and how humans interact with this wilderness, which speaks to her. Ms. Lange now lives at the Salton Sea, a great contrast to where she lived last, which was London, England. For more information on how to participate in the project or to learn more about Portraits and Voices of the Salton Sea, please visit: www.portraitsandvoices.com To purchase a copy please visit the shop www.etsy.com/shop/SaltonSeaStories.

El Paisano, the newsletter of the Desert Protective Council

Camp Borrego

uring its ninth year, Camp Borrego (formerly known as the Anza-Borrego Fifth Grade Tent Camp) faced both triumphs and challenges as it welcomed 311 fifth-grade students. In the Spring of 2012, a total of ten classes came from National City, Imperial County, Borrego Springs, Carlsbad, and Calexico school districts. Along with supporting an inspiring overnight desert experience for youth, the Desert Protective Council $20,000 grant to Camp Borrego has also funded improvements to the camp facility. New additions this last year included four lanterns in the dining area, a refrigerator and freezer in the camp kitchen, and a 100-gallon propane tank used to power these new appliances and the existing gas grill. These upgrades save our camp staff both time and energy, allowing for greater efficiency around the facility. Mother Nature brought challenges to our six gers from Mongolia. Several windstorms, with gusts as high as 70 mph, whipped through camp last spring, destroying two gers and seriously damaging a third. Thankfully, after the last windstorm, a group of heroic volunteers helped salvage enough gers for the 40 campers scheduled to arrive the next morning. Last school year also brought financial challenges to both ABF and the school districts they serve. Compared to prior

Students get close to nature with Ranger Steve Bier. Photos by LuAnn Thompson

years, overall camp funding was down. A struggling state economy, teacher lay-offs, and diminishing school budgets made it difficult to secure funding for students to attend camp. Anza-Borrego Foundation is extremely appreciative of support from schools and families, and for the ongoing critical

financial support from the Desert Protective Council. This month ABF will again welcome 300 students, nearly one-third of which will come from Imperial County. With many of last years challenges solved, and full funding for the season, ABF looks forward to another great season of camp.

Many thanks to the 2012 staff. Left to right: Camp Director Jeff Crosswhite, Naturalist Catherine Kat Brandt, Naturalist Greg Hill, Camp Cook Anita Cookie Hernandez, and Camp Coordinator Janice Smith.

Eager-to-learn students gather at one of the gers supplied for shelter.

http://www.protectdeserts.org

The Desert Protective Council Funds a Vision that Becomes a Desert Educational Success
by LuAnn Thompson, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Interpreter

n 2004 the Anza-Borrego Desert Foundation (ABF)) came to the Desert Protective Council with a visionto join California State Parks in developing a desert PORTS (Parks Online Resources for Teachers and Students) program. The park needed funding to set up a green screen studio and a satellite vehicle with the necessary technology to deliver programs live from the park. The Desert Protective Council jumped on board with a $20,000 grant to the ABF. In 2005 California State Parks hired me to develop the classroom component. It was a dream job for a lifetime science teacher. At that time I had no idea what a powerful connection this would be with students, as I had never even participated in a videoconference. It quickly became obvious that this was an amazing venue, capable of bringing the park mission alive for students and teachers, many who had never visited a park. Since that initial pilot, in the spring of

DPC funded the satellite vehicle for broadcasting live from the desert to the classroom connecting students with park rangers. Photos by LuAnn Thompson

2005, the ABDSP PORTS distance-learning program has provided programs to more than 67,000 students. These programs are produced live from the park into individual classrooms using either green screen or satellite technology. Students are able to ask questions and use their science knowledge to make connections with the Park Ranger. This interaction is key to the programs

success. Student letters later express their new discoveries about the desert and their desire to see Anza-Borrego Desert State Park for themselves. PORTS programs are popular with teachers as they align with California Academic Content Standards and offer on-line curriculum to support the live interactive videoconferences. The ABDSP PORTS curriculum addresses geology, biology, ecology and paleontology content standards. Of course, the main goal of the ABDSP program is to connect students to the importance of California State Parks, and to share in the cultural and natural resources that are protected by our vast desert parks and wilderness areas. All programs invite students to go out and explore parks, and then impart what they have learned to their friends and families. Last season, a large private grant allowed the hiring of a second interpreter and I launched a new satellite program called Science in California State Parks. This new program emphasizes the role of California State Parks in conservation research. It is designed to demonstrate the components of the scientific process used by parks as they study habitats and organisms and develop conservation plans. The Desert Protective Council has been an integral partner in the success of the

Anza-Borrego PORTS program, as we made many connections with Imperial County teachers and classrooms. During the past seven years Imperial County represents 14 per cent of the classroom outreach from the desert, staying in the top five with Los Angeles, Riverside and San Diego. From 2009-2012 PORTS teamed up with the Salton Basin Living Laboratory programanother amazing educational opportunity provided by grants from DPC. We were thrilled to have those teachers do video conferences, in conjunction with their field trips to the park. How rewarding to meet the students in person, after our virtual meeting in their classroom! The Anza Borrego Desert State Park PORTS programs have been a huge success, filling during the first month of registration in the fall. Each year the Anza-Borrego Foundation seeks funding to continue this outreach. More information about the PORTS program can be found at www. ports.parks.ca.gov. Additional information about helping to fund the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park PORTS program can be found at www.theabf.org on its youth and family webpage. We are thankful for the yearly technology support that has been provided by the Desert Protective Council.

El Paisano, the newsletter of the Desert Protective Council

Thank you to our members and donors for your year-end 2012 donations and 2013 donations through February.
Jim Andre Janet A. Anderson Betty Ball Marie and Glenna Barrett Francis M. Boschiero Sheila K. Bowers Margie Burks- Hausman Foundation Wesley and Celeste Cater James and Kathy Dice Martha J. Dickes Daniel L. Fischer Barbara and C.R. Fowler Terry L. Frewin Michael Frome J. David Garmon, M.D. Steve and Leslie Hartman Larry E. Hendrickson Barbara Hill Vicky N. Hoover David Lagarda and Shannon Dougherty Philip Leitner Diana and Lowell Lindsay Delores Lukina Courtney and Letty Manker Lawrence Maxwell David McMullen John Anthony Megas Paul A. Mitchell Leslie Morgan Pam Nelson Michael and Sally Noack John E. Peterson Philip R. Pryde Edward J, Pushich Indy and Michael Quillen Richard W. Ryan Karen Schambach Patricia A. Scully Ralph M. Singer Brett C. Stearns Brian and Kris Tower David Voss Ima Jean Walker Stephen and Julie Webber Dave Wells Janet G. Westbrook Margaret A. Whitehead Carol Wiley Howard Wilshire George Wuerthner

Desert Protective Council New and Renewal Membership Form

Enclosed is my remittance of $_______ New Membership Gift Membership Renewal

Burrowing Owls in Imperial County Photo by Marie Barrett

Desert Protective Council Website: http://protectdeserts.org Twitter: @protectdeserts Facebook: facebook.com/ DesertProtectiveCouncil Nick Ervin, President Pauline Jimenez, Secretary Larry Klaasen, Treasurer Janet Anderson, Fifth Officer Terry Weiner Imperial Projects & Conservation terryweiner@sbcglobal.net (619) 342-5524 Indy Quillen Communications Coordinator indy@dpcinc.org

Name_________________________________________ Address_______________________________________ City, State, Zip________________________________ Phone_________________________________________ Email_________________________________________ Please make checks payable to: DPC Mail to P.O. Box 3635, San Diego, CA 92163-1635 Dues and all donations are tax-deductible. MEMBERSHIP LEVELS (please check) Life Sustaining Membership Regular Membership Joint Membership Senior/Student/Retired Additional Gift of $_________ $300.00 one time $50.00 annually $25.00 annually $35.00 annually $15.00 annually

For donations of $100.00 or more, we will send you a copy of California Desert Miracle by Frank Wheat. If you would like to receive our newsletter electronically, rather than in the mail, please send an e-mail message stating subscribe electronically to: terryweiner@sbcglobal.net.

http://www.protectdeserts.org

El Paisano #215 Winter/Spring 2013

Inside:
3 Imperial County Update

Desert Protective Council

Since 1954 protectdeserts.org

3 Member Profile 4 Book Reviews 5 Camp Borrego 6 PORTS Program

P.O. Box 3635 San Diego, CA 92163-1635

Favorite Desert Places

Need New Photo

Mojave National Preserve. Photo by James Morehouse

The newsletter of the Desert Protective Council