Senator introduces bill to create Mojave Trails National Monument

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Cal.) introduced a bill today that would in part create the Mojave Trails National Monument, which would encompass and protect much of the Route 66 corridor in California’s Mojave Desert.

The bill is called the California Desert Protection Act of 2011, according to a news release from Feinstein’s office. The Mojave Trails portion would be 941,000 acres.

“Conservation and renewable energy development can exist hand in hand, and that’s what my legislation will do,” Senator Feinstein said. “With this bill, I believe we’ve found the right balance between interests that were previously set against each other.

We know that we must do more to advance renewable energy, but we must also be careful where we decide to permit these projects. I strongly believe that we should not permit the development of land that was donated to the federal government or acquired with taxpayer funds for conservation.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee prefers to move energy-related legislation separately from land conservation legislation. Therefore, I plan to work with senators from Western states on a bill to improve the renewable energy permitting process to allow quicker development of renewable energy projects on private and disturbed public land.”

The National Parks Conservation Association already has given its support to the bill.

“Visitors from around the world come here to visit Route 66, to experience our sand dunes, Joshua Tree forests and wildflowers because our scenery is unique in all the world,” said Marcia Bond, General Manager of Barstow’s Hampton Inn.  “But to keep visitors coming, we have to ensure these incredible lands and their rich cultural heritage are still here for them to experience.” […]

The desert region’s timeless and iconic appeal includes sacred Native American sites, pioneer trails and Route 66, which Smithsonian Magazine named as one of the ‘10 Must-See Endangered Cultural Treasures.’

UPDATE: Tonight’s story by the Desert Dispatch in Barstow reported a couple of factoids I neglected to mention. Feinstein’s bill is a re-introduction of similar legislation. She introduced the previous version last year, but the proposal stalled.

Also, this:

One of the biggest changes to the bill is the elimination of a renewable energy section. Instead, the bill will separate the land conservation from the renewable energy portion and will leave the renewable energy to other agencies.

Those other agencies include the Department of the Interior, which is proposing parts of the Mojave Desert for solar energy projects.

(Hat tip: San Francisco Chronicle)

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.