More than 30 people sent letters and spoke before a special meeting of the Yucca Valley Town Council Monday night about desert conservation bills sponsored by Senator Dianne Feinstein and Congressman Paul Cook. The council met to consider approving a resolution to support one or the other or both bills, and whether Mayor George Huntington should sign a letter urging President Obama to forego using the Antiquities Act to establish three national monuments in the southern California desert. Managing editor Tami Roleff was at the meeting and says the public was evenly divided in supporting Feinstein’s bill, Cook’s bill, and both bills…
“The Old West, we can’t protect that if we don’t set lands aside for that purpose, and that’s why I think we need to designate these lands.”
Buck Buckley of Joshua Tree said people come to the desert for wide open, undeveloped space, and he felt Senator Dianne Feinstein’s bill best protected the land for future generations.
But Jim Bagley of Twentynine Palms disagreed.
“Since 1994, Senator Feinstein has been diligently trying to change that multiple use management into a much more elitist, exclusive-use designation, such as wilderness and monument.”
Greg Herring of Pioneertown said that while neither bill is perfect, he supports Cook’s bill. “Cook’s bill has compromise that most of us are willing to live with.”
David Sall was one of many who urged the council to support both bills.
“I think if you’re going to support one, you should support both. Let the two sides get together and hash out the differences between the two.”
The town council voted to approve resolutions supporting both bills, although Council Member Rick Denison voted against supporting Feinstein’s bill, saying he had concerns about closing access to private lands and future telecommunication towers, among other things.
Public comments were also divided about the Antiquities Act, which both Republican and Democratic presidents have used to establish national monuments. The council voted unanimously to send a letter to President Obama urging him to not use the Antiquities Act.
