June 4 is the deadline for public comment on the “West Mojave Route Network Project Draft California Desert Conservation Plan Amendment and Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the California Desert District,” or WEMO Route Project, for short. Reporter Dan Stork tells what the project is about, and how some local residents are reacting…
The draft includes four alternatives for designated routes of travel in the 9.4 million acre planning area. The BLM’s preferred alternative was opposed by the Morongo Basin MAC and many environmentalists, and has been endorsed by the Twentynine Palms City Council.
Opposition in the Monument Manor neighborhood of Joshua Tree ramped up in recent days, when residents learned that two of the alternative plans designated OHV-allowed routes in Section 5, adjacent to the neighborhood. Access to Section 5 goes through the neighborhood, and through Section 6, which is administered by San Bernardino County Community Services Area 20. Development plans for Section 6 call for a gate to block through-traffic by OHVs. Residents fear a consequent funneling of OHV traffic past and through their properties.
For information about how to comment upon the WEMO Route Project, see this story at z1077fm.com. (Full disclosure: This reporter lives in the Monument Manor area.)
Email comments to [email protected]
For official information about the project, see http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/cdd/west_mojave__wemo.html
For suggestions on how to comment, see https://defendjt.wordpress.com/2015/05/29/stop-blms-plan-to-radically-increase-orv-traffic-in-joshua-tree/
