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LUCERNE VALLEY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION (LVEDA)
To: MAGTFTC, MCAGCC
ATTN: Joe Ross - Land Acquisition Program Manager
Box 788104, Building 1554, Room 138
Twentynine Palms, CA 92278-8104
From: Lucerne Valley Economic Development Assoc. (LVEDA)
Chuck Bell, Sec. 760 964 3118 chuckb@sisp.net
P. O. Box 193
Lucerne Valley, CA 92356
Date: 1/30/09
RE: NOI - EIS ISSUES - 29 PALMS TRAINING LAND/AIRSPACE ACQUISITION PROJECT
Mr. Ross:
LVEDA members appreciate your and the Colonel's attendance at the Jan. 27
Lucerne Valley MAC meeting, our invitations to the Barstow and Johnson Valley
meetings and your cooperation with the "Partnership" and "Friends" of Johnson
Valley in helping to make this as open and congenial a process as possible. We
understand and greatly appreciate the Marine Corps' mission. National defense -
public health and safety - are the primary reasons for the existence of
government.
What you heard at the LV meeting was not just "typical opposition rhetoric". It
was based on the reality of the harm a western expansion would inflict on the
economics, culture and environment of our community.
Arguments against the western expansion into Johnson and Lucerne Valleys
include:
Economics: If the JV OHV Area is shut down or substantially reduced, we would
suffer a significant loss of revenue from OHV-related traffic - major
filming/commercials - mining - general recreation - etc. for the Lucerne Valley
Market/Hardware (shopping center) - 3 gas stations - our restaurants - a
multitude of other businesses, etc. Most of the businesses in our town are here
"because they want to be" - not because it is financially lucrative - in effect
subsidizing us with goods and services well beyond what are normally available
in other communities with our population and demographics. The "profit margin"
for our businesses is already a "stay-open/break-even" situation. Loss of
current weekend business - up to 10% of total revenue for some - would be the
"straw on the camel's back" that would force them to shut down. Ernie Gommel's
comments (Hitchin Lucerne, Inc.) are absolutely correct. Our survival is at
stake.
OHV Displacement: The JV OHV Area is probably the largest, oldest and well
established in the nation and cannot be replaced. It provides the space for
long-distance race courses no other s. Calif. facility offers. It has become an
"icon" not just for off-roading, but for a myriad of other recreational and
resource-related land-uses. The other OHV Areas in the Mojave Desert cannot
accomodate JV's current use. Even with the small portion of the open area
remaining In the Anderson Dry Lake areas adjacent to Camprock Rd. - displacement
will result in more local, private land trespass and incursion into more
environmentally sensitive and protected BLM areas.
Renewable Energy Projects: BLM's "withdrawal" alone will likely induce renewable
energy projects - originally intending to locate in the JV area (some of which
might be able to co-exist with OHV use) - to choose other, more environmentally
sensitive and remote areas with less or none of the required electrical grid
infrastructure.
Ord Mt. Cattle Allotment: Approx. 1/3 of this active cattle allotment is within
northern JV - much of which is included in the western expansion area -
potentially rendering the Allotment economically useless.
Mitigation Costs: A western expansion will require significant costs for
tortoise mitigation - which may not even be available in the w. Mojave by the
time Congress makes its decision - but certainly at a much higher cost than
potential bighorn sheep mitigation in the alternative eastern area.
San Bernardino County is advocating the eastern alternative - which we support -
which could require re-routing Amboy Rd. and a reduction of current "wilderness"
designation with compensation elsewhere - yet with minimal economic and
environmental impacts compared to the western alternatives. LVEDA supports the
County's position.
If the Base needs the expansion to accommodate maneuvers only for a few days/yr.
- a coordinated "co-use" option might be feasible if live ordinance is not
utilized.
Please notify us of all meetings, hearings, status reports, etc.
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