- Location
- Desert Beach So Cal
Whose Earth is it anyways?
By ANDREW SILVA, Staff Writer
As the nation celebrates the 33rd annual Earth Day today, it's fair to ask "Whose Earth is it?''
San Bernardino County has its share of environmental problems, ranging from the dirtiest air in the nation to daunting water pollution problems that will take decades and hundreds of millions of dollars to clean up.
But the most contentious issues, the ones that can pack a government meeting with people passionately fighting for their cause, are over how the land should be used or protected.
That can range from setting aside prime land along Interstate 10 for the endangered Delhi Sands flower-loving fly to closing vast stretches of desert and forest to off-roaders and miners to protect the threatened desert tortoise and even nondescript plants almost no one but a botanist could recognize.
Usually, both sides will proclaim their love for the land and the outdoors.
"Why do you want to shut down the desert because of a couple of jerks?' lamented Judy Pruitt, 58, of Twentynine Palms.
She's unable to walk long distances and is still bitter about the 1994 California Desert Protection Act, which created the huge Mojave National Preserve in San Bernardino County and upgraded Death Valley and Joshua Tree national monuments to national parks.
The new wilderness designations that went with the law shut her out of areas she and her husband used to reach by four-wheel-drive.
She can no longer join her husband searching for gold or exploring remote areas just to be out among the Joshua trees, cactus and expansive breathtaking vistas.
"I moved out here from Long Beach so we could be here,' she said. "I haven't been out in several years.'
And each side will often ask: How much is enough? On one side, how much land do you need to develop, and on the other side, how much land do you need to protect and close off?
Environmentalists argue the land has been damaged enough by years of human encroachment, and there are still plenty of places in the desert and mountains for recreation.
"Enough is enough,' said Daniel Patterson :rainbow:, of the Center for Biological Diversity, which has filed scores of lawsuits to enforce the Endangered Species Act.
"Southern California is a place rich with environmental treasures and species diversity, and much of it, indeed most of it, has been lost already,' he said. "We need to protect the habitats that are left ... if we are to have any quality of life in the future.'
Lucerne Valley resident and rock hound Marie Brashear has been involved in countless land use issues and considers herself an avid conservationist who believes public lands should largely be open to the public for a variety of uses.
She argues the strident approach by groups like the Center for Biological Diversity are actually hurting conservation efforts.
"We believe when the pendulum goes out too far, it's going to swing back so far the other way, it's not going to be good for people who have practiced conservation all their lives like me,' she said.
http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,208~12588~1341629,00.html
By ANDREW SILVA, Staff Writer
As the nation celebrates the 33rd annual Earth Day today, it's fair to ask "Whose Earth is it?''
San Bernardino County has its share of environmental problems, ranging from the dirtiest air in the nation to daunting water pollution problems that will take decades and hundreds of millions of dollars to clean up.
But the most contentious issues, the ones that can pack a government meeting with people passionately fighting for their cause, are over how the land should be used or protected.
That can range from setting aside prime land along Interstate 10 for the endangered Delhi Sands flower-loving fly to closing vast stretches of desert and forest to off-roaders and miners to protect the threatened desert tortoise and even nondescript plants almost no one but a botanist could recognize.
Usually, both sides will proclaim their love for the land and the outdoors.
"Why do you want to shut down the desert because of a couple of jerks?' lamented Judy Pruitt, 58, of Twentynine Palms.
She's unable to walk long distances and is still bitter about the 1994 California Desert Protection Act, which created the huge Mojave National Preserve in San Bernardino County and upgraded Death Valley and Joshua Tree national monuments to national parks.
The new wilderness designations that went with the law shut her out of areas she and her husband used to reach by four-wheel-drive.
She can no longer join her husband searching for gold or exploring remote areas just to be out among the Joshua trees, cactus and expansive breathtaking vistas.
"I moved out here from Long Beach so we could be here,' she said. "I haven't been out in several years.'
And each side will often ask: How much is enough? On one side, how much land do you need to develop, and on the other side, how much land do you need to protect and close off?
Environmentalists argue the land has been damaged enough by years of human encroachment, and there are still plenty of places in the desert and mountains for recreation.
"Enough is enough,' said Daniel Patterson :rainbow:, of the Center for Biological Diversity, which has filed scores of lawsuits to enforce the Endangered Species Act.
"Southern California is a place rich with environmental treasures and species diversity, and much of it, indeed most of it, has been lost already,' he said. "We need to protect the habitats that are left ... if we are to have any quality of life in the future.'
Lucerne Valley resident and rock hound Marie Brashear has been involved in countless land use issues and considers herself an avid conservationist who believes public lands should largely be open to the public for a variety of uses.
She argues the strident approach by groups like the Center for Biological Diversity are actually hurting conservation efforts.
"We believe when the pendulum goes out too far, it's going to swing back so far the other way, it's not going to be good for people who have practiced conservation all their lives like me,' she said.
http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,208~12588~1341629,00.html
