ENVIRONMENT - Feinstein bill will boost economy, supporters say

• Desert Conservation and Recreation Act shifts little from 1994 bill
  
  
  From The Victor Valley Daily PressBy Shea JohnsonStaff WriterPosted Apr. 29, 2015 at 5:13 PM 
  
  

  Supporters of desert protections legislation introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said this week that the bill will bolster San Bernardino County’s economy and represents little shift from Feinstein’s historic 1994 California Desert Protection Act.

  Monica Argandona, the Southern California conservation director for the California Wilderness Coalition, an organization focused on the state’s wildlands, said she had been working on the California Desert Conservation and Recreation Act of 2015 with Feinstein for eight years.

  “There’s always going to be opposition, there’s always going to be people ideologically opposed to it,” Argandona said, “but this will be a great economic benefit to San Bernardino County.”

  She said the bill essentially preserves lands that each year attract millions of visitors and generate large sums of revenue to the county and local cities.

  In 2005, The Wilderness Society analyzed the financial impact to four counties, including San Bernardino, which were part of Feinstein’s 1994 bill. The group found that wildlands in the desert generated $1.3 billion per year and nearly 3,700 jobs between the counties, and $557 million in this county alone.

  According to Campaign for the California Desert — a coalition of conservationists and community and business leaders — visitors to Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Parks and the Mojave National Preserve contributed $165 million to the region’s economy in 2013, also supporting nearly 2,000 jobs.

  Introduced in February, Feinstein’s bill would create the Mojave Trails National Monument, designating protections to roughly 941,000 acres between Needles and Barstow. It is also expected to increase protections for approximately 1.6 million acres of desert landscape, and also create a second new national monument, while expanding Joshua Tree and Death Valley National Parks and the Mojave National Preserve.

  But Feinstein’s legislation also has prompted questions from regional leaders, most recently county 1st District Supervisor Robert Lovingood, who said while portions of the bill had merit, the bill was destined to harm the local economy.

  He said last week some lands would become off limits to development, mining, off-roading, grazing and military training, and the bill would hinder the multiple-use approach to public lands.

  Argandona, however, called the bill “a balanced approach” that reflected the diversity of wildlands’ stakeholders, including off-road enthusiasts, conservationists and the military. She said it would not impact major mining corporations.

  Last week, a miners organization announced it was considering an economic boycott of Apple Valley after the Town Council showed support for the bill.

  Rep. Paul Cook, R-Apple Valley, sent a federal land survey to constituents in March for feedback, weighing two sides in his letter: The bill's ability to protect the desert and its potential to curtail economic activities.

  While Argandona said she expected Cook to be a “champion” for the cause, Lovingood said he looked forward to working with the 8th District Congressman on “alternatives that won’t hamstring our economy and will promote the multiple-use approach to our desert.”

  Randy Banis, editor of DeathValley.com and member of the Bureau of Land Management Desert Advisory Council, said the bill, ultimately, “is not really a whole lot of change.”

  “I would say this bill is a status quo bill in that it preserves the recreational opportunities that currently exist in these lands and the economic benefits there of,” Banis said. “It preserves the current mining claims and protects their economic value and it protects viewsheds and undeveloped lands for public uses for generations to come.”

  Meanwhile, Latino faith leaders and youth in the Victor Valley plan to hike Big Morongo Canyon Preserve on Saturday. The hike is meant to allow participants to “explore the need to protect the California desert and how the Latino community can help lead the charge for its conservation,” the group Por La Creacion: Faith-based Alliance said in a statement.

  Feinstein’s bill is expected to be discussed during the hike.

  Shea Johnson may be reached at 760-955-5368 or SJohnson@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DP_Shea.