Local environmentalists are gearing up to oppose the Soda Mountain Solar Project, a proposed 2691-acre renewable energy development that would be constructed adjacent to the Mojave National Preserve. A press release from the California Desert Coalition says, “This project is the poster child for inappropriately sited renewable energy projects and threatens bighorn sheep migration corridors, desert tortoise habitat, the integrity of adjacent wilderness study and natural areas and scenic viewsheds.” The release goes on to say, “… the project’s groundwater pumping could harm water quality and quantity at MC Spring in the Mojave National Preserve, the home of the federally endangered tui chub, one of our most unique and rare desert fish.” A workshop led by National Parks Conservation Association representatives has been scheduled for Friday January 10 from 4-6pm at the Joshua Tree Art Gallery to prepare for a public meeting the next day Saturday, January 11 from 1-4pm, at the Bureau of Land Management’s Soda Mountains Solar public meeting at the Travel Lodge in Yucca Valley, California (54850 29 Palms Hwy).
