The newsletter of the Desert Protective Council Winter 2011 Number 210

President’s Letter Conservation

by Nick Ervin Corner

I have only rarely spoken in this column about specific places I truly love as icons of my
30+ years of experience as a hiker and wanderer in America’s deserts. Concentrating on
by Terry Weiner

southern California’s arid lands seems most appropriate given DPC’s primary mission.
Sadly, historically it is the southernmost desert of California, the Sonoran portion, which
has too often been most neglected by the conservation movement at large (aside from the
W elcome to 2011. For defenders of
deserts and western public lands in
general, the year was off to a depressing
controversial Algodones/Imperial Sand Dunes). start with the Department of the Interior’s
Nearly everyone in this region has heard The seldom-visited Fish Creek Moun- approval of nine huge industrial solar
of the justly famous Anza-Borrego Desert tains Wilderness contains bighorn sheep development projects on tens of thousands
State Park. But how many have heard of the and the finest, most complex dry water of acres of intact habitat in the Mojave and
five BLM-administered wilderness areas chute (waterfall formation) that I have seen Sonoran deserts. Other mega-solar and
adjacent to the State Park which were cre- anywhere in the world, just an hour’s walk wind projects are in the review process,
ated by the 1994 California Desert Protec- from car access to the edge of the wilder- including a 15,000-acre industrial wind
tion Act? Can you name them? ness. I once came across a nearly intact farm proposal north and west of Ocotillo
The Jacumba Mountains Wilderness Indian olla (ceramic water jar) broken in in western Imperial County.
area sits hard against the international place on a bajada emptying out of a canyon The approval of the 100-plus-mile
border in far western Imperial County. issuing from this desert mountain range. Sunrise Powerlink transmission line across
It ranges from over 4000 feet in eleva- Wow! Imperial Valley through the Cleveland
tion down to just a few hundred, making The Sawtooth Mountains Wilderness National Forest and San Diego County
it astoundingly diverse in landform and sits on the state park’s southwestern flank back country was another blow to those
habitat. Stair-step valleys with weird boul- and extends all the way from the desert who support renewable solar energy
der piles characterize this place. There are floor at Earthquake Valley up the slopes development in the built environment
hidden springs and palm oases plus lots of of the Coast Range to the border of a pine where the power is needed. At the end of
paleoIndian artifacts to be discovered here forest. Rugged peaks, natural springs and 2010, Congress renewed stimulus funds
if you know where to look. It also holds a the densest concentration of Indian pot- for industrial solar and wind development
rare US stand of crucifixion thorn trees in sherds I have ever encountered are located on public lands. Then came the release of
the middle of isolated Skull Valley only a in this special place. And if you like plenti- the 11,000-page Draft Solar Programmatic
few hundred yards from Mexico. Fabulous. ful desert plant life, then the open space of Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS)
The Coyote Mountains Wilderness, Inner Pasture is for you. A number of years which expands even further the number
along the State Park’s eastern boundary, is ago I stumbled across a perfect rattlesnake of acres of southwest desert proposed for
most famous for its sculptured sandstone skin that had been shed in a canyon bot- development of mega-solar projects. Once
wind cave and stark badland formations tom where I was hiking. I have observed again, it feels like a free-for-all. Many desert
mixed with incredibly rich marine fossil rare desert bighorn sheep here on occasion, activists felt worn out by the stream of bad
deposits four to six million years old. If you as well. news before the first month of the year was
are really lucky, you will find a small and The Carrizo Gorge Wilderness sits over.
perfectly formed natural bridge in a remote between historic McCain Valley and the ex- I thought about what my dear departed
canyon here. Gypsum crystals literally treme southern boundary of the State Park. mentor Harriet Allen would advise us to
make entire hillsides glisten in the sun. You It provides panoramic views of the western do: get out the calendar; fill in the dates of
gotta see it to believe it. continued on page  continued on page 

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

Letter from the President…
from page 
edge of the Great American Desert below
from a plateau with eerie rock formations.
It also has a huge desert palm oasis in one
of its steep canyons. From a vantage point
in this wilderness you can see across Carrizo
Gorge to the famous trestles in Goat Canyon
of the defunct San Diego & Arizona Eastern
Railway. When built 100 years ago it was the
largest wooden train trestle in the world.
These are all gems too little visited by
the public, except the Wind Caves area of
the Coyote Mountains. They are not noted
destination points like Joshua Tree and
Death Valley national parks, the Mojave
National Preserve, or even the nearby State
Park. Nonetheless, they hold beauty and
habitat value to match much better-known Wildflowers in the Fish Creek Mountains Wilderness. Photo by Stephen Peel, BLM
desert places.
Your DPC fights every day for unique
places like these, along with the more
visible projects we are always involved in, “There is something infectious about the magic of the Southwest. Some are immune to it,
some of which are described elsewhere but there are others who have no resistance to the subtle virus and who must spend the rest
in this newsletter. But we can always talk
of their lives dreaming of the incredible sweep of the desert, of great golden mesas with
about your favorite desert haunts when we
meet each other around that next bend in a purple shadows, and tremendous stars appearing at dusk from a turquoise sky. Once infected
desert canyon somewhere. there is nothing one can do but strive to return again and again.” — H. M. Wormington
— Nick Ervin, President

Conservation Corner…
from page 
all the upcoming public hearings, project
scoping meetings and comment deadlines;
work with colleagues to divvy up the at-
tendance at meetings and comment-letter
writing, so there would be a voice for the
desert at every possible venue and at least a
couple of letters submitted on all the major
project proposals.
Action is indeed the antidote to despair.
I am glad to report that there have been a
number of positive actions so far this new
year, which may help slow down the solar
juggernaut to some degree:
 In December the Quechan Tribe filed
a lawsuit against the Imperial Valley Solar
Two project in Ocotillo, and was granted
an injunction based on imminent harm to
significant cultural resources.
 Tessera, the owner of the Imperial
Valley Solar Two project, sold the project
without breaking ground.
 In January, La Cuña de Aztlan Sacred
Sites Protection Circle, a Native American
 El Paisano, the newsletter of the Desert Protective Council
cultural protection group, filed suit in US
District Court challenging BLM permit-
ting of the Ivanpah, Blythe, Imperial Valley,
Lucerne Valley, Calico and Genesis projects.
 Also in January, the Protect Our
Communities Foundation and Backcoun-
try Against Dumps filed a NEPA lawsuit
against Imperial Solar Two. DPC contrib-
uted $20,000 toward this lawsuit.
 The Ninth Circuit Court in San Fran-
cisco reversed and set aside DoE approval
of the Southwest and Mid-Atlantic Nation-
al Interest Electric Transmission Corridors.
See more on this on page three in the Alerts
section. The DPC is proud to have been an
intervening plaintiff on this litigation.
 Over the past two years we have kept
you informed about the Wind Zero project,
the massive proposed law enforcement
training facility and Grand-Prix-style
racing resort community slated for the
western Imperial Valley. In January, the
DPC and the Sierra Club sued the Imperial
County Board of Supervisors and Wind
Zero over the project. You can read more
on the facing page. The Quechan Tribe
filed a separate lawsuit on Wind Zero this
month on the basis of impacts to cultural
resources on the site.
 Meanwhile, DPC’s Chris Clarke and
our distributed generation expert Bill Pow-
ers met in January with Steve Black, coun-
sel to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar,
as well as Department of Energy staff, and
were able to share information about the
alternatives to remote desert solar projects
on public lands.
 We are seeing more and more media
coverage of rooftop solar. Our Solar Done
Right web site (solardoneright.org) is at-
tracting increasing interest and inquiries
and incoming California Governor Brown
has a plan to aggressively pursue rooftop
solar and local distributed generation.
So there’s lots of reason for optimism.
We can’t do it without you, though. Why
not get in touch and see how you can help
out?
 Alerts and Events
Activist receives President’s
Volunteer Service Award
The Center for Community Action and
Environmental Justice (CCAEJ), which
serves communities in Riverside and San
Bernardino counties, honored Donna
Charpied at a Volunteer Recognition
Dinner on February 3. Donna received
Gold Service Level of The President’s
Volunteer Service Awards in recognition of
donating more than 840 hours of volun-
teer time helping to make her community
better. Donna, who has served on CCAEJ’s
The site of the proposed Wind Zero Law Enforcement Training Project in the Yuha Desert Board of Directors, conducted a successful
near Ocotillo. Photo by Chazz Layne. 20-year battle against a massive proposed
landfill for LA’s garbage on the edge of
DPC Sues to Block Wind Zero Joshua Tree National Park wilderness. She
is now organizing opposition to a massive

T he Desert Protective Council (DPC) and the Sierra Club filed suit in California
Superior Court in Imperial County on January 26 against the Imperial County Board
of Supervisors and Wind Zero, developers of a proposed law enforcement training facility
solar plant in the same region.
“I am honored and humbled,” said Don-
na. “I never expected recognition from the
and Grand-Prix-style racing resort community slated for the western Imperial Valley. President of the United States. The irony of
this award is that the President’s misguided
The groups contend that the Board of strip, 56 aircraft hangars, and both indoor energy policy has created an exponential
Supervisors acted unlawfully when they and outdoor shooting ranges, all of which increase in the need for volunteer activities.
approved the project on December 21, as would be sited immediately adjacent to We are up to the challenge.”
they and the developer failed to address the both the residential community of Nomi-
project’s full impact on the local federally rage and the BLM Yuha Basin Area of Criti- Court Setback for Transmission
protected, sole-source aquifer that pro- cal Environmental Concern. The project Industry
vides the Ocotillo/Nomirage area with its would include a gated community with 32 A three-judge panel from the Ninth U.S.
drinking water. The groups charge that the luxury townhouses, a 150-unit RV park Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2 to 1
defendants did not adequately analyze the and 100-room hotel, restaurants, and sup- February 1 that the US Department of
high noise levels Wind Zero would create. port and maintenance facilities. Energy did not adequately consult affected
The suit asks that all permits and plans for The completed development could use states or conduct environmental reviews
development of the site be rescinded. as much as 89 acre-feet of groundwater when it designated huge new fast-tracked
“The Imperial County Board of Super- each year, pumping it from an aquifer that transmission corridors across 100 million
visors made a mistake in giving this project is already in decline. acres in the Mid-Atlantic and Western US.
the green light,” said Terry Weiner, Imperial “The Wind Zero project is blatantly in- Such corridors in California would have
County Coordinator of the DPC. “The Su- consistent with the established community included much of Death Valley and Joshua
pervisors ignored overwhelming evidence plan of Ocotillo/Nomirage” said Catherine Tree national parks and Mojave National
provided by People Against Wind Zero Nicklen of PAWZ. “It would alter the rural Preserve, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
(PAWZ) that Wind Zero would shatter character of the community and, more and seven national forests.
their desert silence and dry up their wells. “ importantly, it would put the community’s The Natural Resources Defense Coun-
“The proposed training facility and race only source of water at risk.” cil, California Wilderness Coalition, and
course are not in the best interests of the “The Ocotillo area is a jewel with its Wilderness Society were lead plaintiffs in
community or Imperial County,” said Edie mountain views and rich desert vegeta- the case. DPC and eight other groups and
Harmon, an Ocotillo resident and PAWZ tion,” said Susan Massey, of PAWZ. “My individuals joined as intervenors.
member. No community and no county retired friends who live there love the place The study at issue identified areas in
should be considered a sacrifice area for for the beauty and the peace. Many of us which electrical transmission capacity was
private profit, or the dumping ground for a who live and work in the cities of the valley deemed insufficient to meet growing en-
project that is unwelcome in more affluent love going out there to hike, take pictures ergy demand, especially in an era in which
communities or counties.” of the wildflowers, and enjoy the quiet. It’s federal policy stresses widespread remote
Wind Zero would include a six-mile not a place to put shooting ranges and a utility-scale wind and solar generation. The
race track, two helipads and a landing racetrack.” continued on page 

http://www.protectdeserts.org 
The Solar PEIS: A Too-Fast Take theoretically vulnerable to development
under this alternative.
by Chris Clarke Nowhere in the PEIS is the cumula-
tive effect of other energy development

I n 2010, desert defenders quailed as they watched one massive fast-tracked public lands
solar project after another sail through the approval process with what seemed haphaz-
ard and cursory review. Sympathetic staff in regulatory agencies suggested that the long-
considered, a staggering deficiency given
that much western public land not physi-
cally suitable for solar development is being
awaited Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Solar Energy Development considered for wind projects.
in Six Southwestern States, aka the Solar PEIS, offered a sane way forward: a systematic, Nowhere are market forces considered;
coordinated way of managing what had been a chaotic review process. Finally someone the solar power market is evolving rapidly
would be in control of the runaway freight train. as urban photovoltaic becomes more and
more competitive, and many of the six
In December, the Department of Energy Slating more than 677,000 acres of pub- states plan to export renewable energy to
and the BLM jointly released the draft Solar lic lands for industrial solar development the other five.
PEIS. At 11,000 pages, describing in excess is only one alternative in the Solar PEIS. The PEIS nowhere considers a distrib-
of 677,000 acres of “Solar Energy Zones” The agencies’ Preferred Alternative, called uted generation alternative, or the potential
(SEZs) across six states, and with a short the “Solar Energy Development Program true “No Action” alternative of aggressive
three-month period for public comment, Alternative,” would merely make develop- energy conservation, which is within the
the PEIS on the face of it seemed like a ment of the SEZs a priority, while still purview of at least one of the agencies
brick weighing that runaway freight train’s encouraging development of more than 20 involved.
throttle down to “full speed ahead.” million additional acres of public land in The document is fatally flawed.
The reality was even worse. Under the southwest. It may be that the PEIS will survive
federal law, an EIS must describe a range While one might reasonably expect such with minor changes, with the 677,000-acre
of alternatives to the proposed action or a document’s “No Action Alternative” to alternative chosen and maybe one or two
policy, with the environmental effects of describe the baseline effect of not develop- of the more problematic SEZs shrunk or
each compared. Generally, these alterna- ing any public lands for industrial solar, eliminated. Such an outcome would seem
tives include a Preferred Alternative – the “No Action” in this document is construed a reasonable compromise according to
strategy the planners really want to put for- to mean “no new regulation of develop- the rules of the game, but it would still
ward – and a No Action Alternative to offer ment.” The agencies have identified about constitute an unprecedented assault on our
a baseline level of impact against which the 70 million additional acres of public land desert. We can do better.
other alternatives might be measured.

An Ill Wind for Ocotillo transmission line, the cumulative destruc-

tion would cause long-term and tragic
by Terry Weiner devastation to hundreds of thousands of
acres of viable desert habitat in California

I n 2010, Pattern Wind submitted an application to the BLM to build a 15,000-acre wind
farm in Imperial County. “Ocotillo Wind,” between the Jacumba and Coyote Wilderness
areas and abutting the southern end of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, would surround
and Mexico. Other proposed utility-scale
renewable energy projects throughout
adjacent southwestern states threaten to
the town of Ocotillo on three sides. The BLM’s draft Environmental Impact Statement will wreak widespread loss of desert on an
likely be available for public comment this spring with a final document issued this fall. unprecedented scale.
The company wants to begin construc- area and the permanent loss of the rural DPC is working to promote the alterna-
tion by the end of 2011. “Ocotillo Wind” residential character of Ocotillo. Critical tives to these remote desert solar and wind
would, at build-out, produce 550 mega- habitat corridors for the Peninsular big- projects. We plan to carry our message of
watts of electricity with 193 wind turbines horn sheep and the flat-tailed horned lizard energy conservation, efficiency and local
400 feet tall. Pattern Wind claims that the will be fragmented. Federally protected rooftop solar and distributed generation
project’s final permanent footprint will be golden eagles have been observed in the to key congressional committee members,
only 142 acres. That is a laughable claim, area, and would be seriously threatened Governor Brown’s staff and to local deci-
considering the fact that 36-foot-wide by hundreds of moving blades. With other sion makers. We must slow the progress of
roads to each turbine will be scraped of nearby proposals for industrial energy these industrial desert proposals, and per-
all desert plants and soil, and considering projects in the area, and with the destruc- suade the Obama administration to shift
the destruction to the desert viewshed for tion of a 100 plus mile swath of desert incentives for renewable energy develop-
many miles around, the obliteration of the and national forest and conservation areas ment to local jurisdictions, and home and
wild desert character and dark skies of the for the boondoggle Sunrise Powerlink business owners.

 El Paisano, the newsletter of the Desert Protective Council

Member Profile
Tom Budlong
by Chris Clarke
T hough he grew up fascinated by his
father’s travels to China Lake as a
defense contractor during World War II,
Tom Budlong didn’t plan to become a
desert conservation activist when he moved
to Van Nuys in the late 1950s. A mechanical
engineer in his early 20s, he’d moved from
Illinois to work for a San Fernando Valley
missile contractor. Once he got to know the
desert a little, though, it didn’t take a rocket
scientist to figure out he was a desert rat.
“The desert became a continual attrac-
tion,” he says. “Several of us had a habit
of driving out what is now Highway 14 to
shoot at rabbits. Notice I said ‘shoot at,’ not
‘shoot.’ The rabbits spooked early and ran
fast so we called it Rabbit Aversion Train-
ing. It didn’t take too long to realize it was
a lot more interesting to watch the rabbits
and other things than bother them. I’ve
been hooked since.”
A half century later Tom is still hooked,
and that stretch of the western Mojave near
Highway 14 still holds a special place in his
affections. In recent years Tom has worked
to keep off-road vehicles out of Surprise
Canyon in Death Valley NP and mining
companies off of Conglomerate Mesa.
He’s helped rediscover the historic 40-
mile Lonesome Miner Trail in the Inyo
Mountains, abandoned since 1941. He
hiked the trail end to end at least twice
in the 1990s. (His usual hiking pace can
leave people two decades his junior in
the dust, a fact to which this writer can
personally attest.)
Tom’s also worked to prevent solar
developers from blading the desert,
including some of the last Mojave
ground squirrel habitat near Ridgecrest,
submitting testimony to the BLM and
California Energy Commission (CEC).
Desert solar is the issue that concerns
him most these days, Tom says, with
off-road vehicle abuse running a modest
second place. “There’s huge potential for
huge destruction,” he says. Accordingly,
Tom has spent a considerable amount of
time intervening in the CEC’s approval
process for several large solar projects,
http://www.protectdeserts.org
including the ill-fated Imperial Solar Two
project, recently sold by the floundering
Tessera corporation to an East Coast firm.
Tom’s background in mechanical engi-
neering helped him ask some devastating
questions about the real-world reliability of
Tessera’s unwieldy SunCatcher technology.
On Tom’s mind of late is Inyo County’s
general plan, being rewritten to promote
development of “renewable” energy from
Sandy Valley to Centennial Flat. “It appears
Inyo County feels anything flat or unde-
veloped or outside designated wilderness
should be used for solar or wind,” he says.
A member of just about every organi-
zation that works in the desert, from the
Sierra Club and California Wilderness Co-
alition to the Center for Biological Diver-
sity, Tom says he joined the DPC “because
the DPC works to spread the word that the
desert is worth something.
“People just don’t get that there’s value
here,” he says; “scenic value, biological
value, cultural value. Policy gets made by
a bunch of people in New York and DC
who’ve never slept on the ground out here.
They think it’s a barren wasteland because
they don’t know what’s here. For more than
50 years the DPC’s been working to show
people what’s out here, to get them to love
it. That’s why I’m a life member.” use plans. The manual directs BLM State
Tom Budlong. Terry Weiner photo
Alerts and Events…
from page 
court directed the department to start its
so-called congestion study again.
The DoE had argued that its decision
would not result in environmental impacts
because it merely identified broad cor-
ridors and did not issue permits to license
specific routes. The panel did not find the
argument persuasive.
Wilderness Study Areas
back on table
In December the Obama administra-
tion rescinded a Bush-era Department of
Interior rule barring the creation of new
Wilderness Study Areas. Desert lovers again
have an opportunity to work with their
local BLM offices to propose for study and
protection areas of the desert with wilder-
ness qualities. If the BLM determines that
an area has wilderness qualities, the agency
will once again be able to manage the area
for protection in anticipation of possible
future wilderness designation.
A further positive development is a new
Interior Department draft manual instruct-
ing the BLM to consider and protect lands
with wilderness characteristics in its land
Directors to help field offices ensure that
lands with wilderness characteristics are
adequately considered and wildlands are
appropriately designated in land use plans.
San Diego Supervisors Approve
Eurus Solar in Borrego Springs
The San Diego County Board of Supervi-
sors unanimously approved permits for a
35-megawatt solar energy project on 341
acres of intact desert habitat along Palm
Canyon Drive in Borrego Springs, CA in
January.
It was an unpopular decision. “The
folks in Borrego feel [the project] is a good
idea in the wrong place,” Borrego Springs
resident Mark Jorgensen, former superin-
tendent of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park,
told the San Diego Union Tribune after the
decision. Jorgensen pointed out that fallow
farmland more suited to the project lies
just north of town.
continued on page 

Salton Basin Living Laboratory Update feathers in the facial disc, parting them to
see the naked channel along which sound
by Pat Flanagan travels to the ears. They held the owl and
marveled at its weight, so light for its size.

S ince 1954 the DPC has worked to educate the public about our magnificent western
deserts. Today, “education” generally refers to formal schooling. But for DPC’s found-
ing member biologist Edmund Jaeger it meant camping under the stars, tramping, sitting,
They inspected the soft fluffy edges of the
flight feathers and began to understand
silence. The class was able to take advantage
watching, and recording the desert’s show of life. For 33 years as Professor of Zoology at of an unexpected mortality and will carry a
Riverside City College he brought his students to the desert. Jaeger said; living memory with them.
“[T]he most important thing I could do to ensure all materials are relevant to the We’re told that students are jaded by
for my students was to get them to supple- Refuge mission. media and have to be continuously stimu-
ment their indoor classroom and laboratory As a participant in SBLL, my best and lated. As it turns out, “gleaning knowledge
experiences with direct contact with Nature most inspiring times come with the stu- from the natural world” offers them con-
in the out-of-doors. I wanted them to go into dents. The fifth graders in the photo have tinual opportunities for stimulation. Our
the deserts and mountains where they could just completed an owl-pellet dissection job is developing materials and providing
learn firsthand the delights of primitive living lab, the follow up activity to the previous opportunities that support this gleaning.
and playing while gleaning knowledge of the day’s visit to the Salton Sea NWR. They are Your contributions to SBLL via the DPC
natural world.” posing with a barn owl found alongside will help us keep this program going.
That same thinking underlies DPC’s a field earlier that day. Their mugging for Watch this space and the DPC’s website
Salton Basin Living Laboratory Program the camera doesn’t hide their respect for at protectdeserts.org and we will keep you
(SBLL). Since 2008 we have worked to this bird, gently held and touched. Mo- informed on how we’re doing.
develop and refine the program’s curricu- ments earlier they had blown on the short
lum and teacher training, which has relied
on field trips to Anza Borrego Desert State
Park and the paleontological laboratory
at the Stout Research Center in Borrego
Springs. This year, through a mutually
supportive partnership with the Imperial
Valley Regional Occupational Program
(IVROP) we are able to add field trips to
the New River Wetlands Project and the
Sonny Bono National Wildlife Refuge. Ivan
Soto, the coordinator for the IVROP En-
vironmental Program, is doing wonderful
work with us both on site with the students
and collaborating in the development of
student field materials. We are also working Fifth graders from Phil D. Swing Elementary School in Brawley learn about owls. Photo by
with the professional staff at the Refuge Ivan Soto.

Alerts and Events …
from page 
Federal Judge Orders BLM to
Control ORV Abuse
A federal judge held in February that the
BLM violated both federal law and its own
guidelines when it designated 5,098 miles
of off-road vehicle (ORV) routes as part
of the Western Mojave (WEMO) Plan. US
District Court for Northern California Judge
Susan Illston also ruled that the BLM had
not informed ORV users about the limits
of legal riding areas, monitored ORV abuse
sufficiently, maintained accurate maps of the
areas under their jurisdiction, or adequately
“ground-truthed” route locations.
The ruling mandates that the BLM com-
plete a new designation of ORV routes by
2014 and reconsider off-roading’s destruc-
tive environmental impacts on public lands
in the Western Mojave Region. Other parts
of the ruling require the BLM to increase
law enforcement to prevent illegal activ-
ity; provide signage on designated routes;
install informational kiosks; better inform
the public on ORV restrictions; and imple-
ment immediate measures to monitor ORV
abuse on public lands.
The ruling was prompted by a suit in
federal court brought by Community
ORV Watch, The Alliance for Responsible
Recreation, The Wilderness Society, Friends
of Juniper Flats, Western San Bernardino
Landowners Association, California Native
Plant Society, the Sierra Club, Public Em-
ployees for Environmental Responsibility,
and Desert Survivors.
The judge determined that the BLM
had favored ORV use over the protection
of natural resources, water quality, en-
dangered species and archeological sites.
The judge ruled that the BLM must place
notices on open routes, erect informational
kiosks and actively prosecute riders found
on closed routes and in areas off limits to
ORVs.

 El Paisano, the newsletter of the Desert Protective Council

Books
Jules: Desert Adventure and Found
Treasure
by Paul Wertlake
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Publisher: CreateSpace (September 24,
2010)
Jules, a Viszla
(Hungarian hunting
dog), visits Anza-
Borrego Desert State
Park and the paleon-
tological sculptures
nearby. Colorful
photos of the sculp-
tures and wildflow-
ers, along with
fanciful accompanying text written
from Jules’ perspective, make this a
diverting read for young dog fans discov-
ering an interest in the desert. You can
purchase this book, as well as the author’s
other work, by visiting vistasbypaul.com.
Last Chance To Sea? The Evitable
Decline of the Salton Sea
by Christina Lange
78 pp
Publisher: Blurb.com
A portrait of the Salton Sea featuring
images of wetlands, residents and visitors.
The book documents wetlands that were
created to help clean up the rivers that
flow into the sea, the people of the Salton
Sea area, and images of the beautiful and
fascinating lands nearby. Purchase at http://
www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1387890.
Desert Protective Council
Nick Ervin, President
Geoffrey Smith, Vice President/­
Secretary
Larry Klaasen, Treasurer
Terry Weiner, Imperial Projects &
Conservation Coordinator
Chris Clarke, Communications
Consultant
http://www.protectdeserts.org
First Ever! DPC T-shirts Now Available
With the DPC logo on the front, and
Laura Cunningham’s fine “Save the
Imperial Valley” graphic – shown
here – on the reverse side.
$10.00
Email terryweiner@sbcglobal.net
or call (619) 342-5524 to order.
Available in sizes small, medium and large.
Proceeds benefit the Desert Protective
!
Council’s work to protect the
deserts.
Desert Protective Council
New and Renewal Membership Form
Enclosed is my remittance of $_______
New Membership Gift Membership Renewal
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 $300.00 one time
Sustaining Membership $50.00 annually
Regular Membership $25.00 annually
Joint Membership $35.00 annually
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 El Paisano #210 Winter 2011

Inside:

3 DPC Sues Over

Desert Protective Wind Zero

Council 4 Ocotillo Wind,
Since 1954
protectdeserts.org Solar PEIS
P.O. Box 3635 5 Member
San Diego, CA
92163-1635 Profile:
Tom Budlong

6 Salton Basin
Living Laboratory
Update

7 Books & ­­T-

Shirts

Bullard Wash, AZ: This lush stand of creosote with both Joshua trees and saguaros is one of 24 Solar Energy Zones
which the Interior Department’s Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement designates
as suitable for industrial energy development. Photo by Chris Clarke.

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