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Neighbors of 29 Palms Marine Base question battle training in JV under BLM permit

lobsterdmb

Just a Lobster Minion
NAXJA Member
Neighbors of 29 Palms Marine Base question battle training in Johnson Valley under BLM permit
July 25, 2012

By Betty Munson

Two months for air-ground combat, 10 months for public access not workable, argues the Homestead Valley Community Council


“…many Off-Highway Vehicle groups, San Bernardino County officials, business groups, and hundreds of individuals have poured out opposition to the takeover of Johnson Valley OHV area. We stand amazed at the landslide of thoughtful and acute comment on the subject, and grateful for it. These observers and users who love Johnson Valley far outnumber our small populations.
But in the last analysis, they only visit. We live here. Many of us are off-highway enthusiasts, too, but we don’t leave when the weekend is over.”

In a letter to federal officials, the Homestead Valley Community Council (HVCC) spell out their reasons opposing the idea of military/public shared use of Johnson Valley.

HVCC represents the community associations in four homestead settlements on Highway 247. They live on and near the borders of the 29 Palms Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center (MCAGCC) in San Bernardino County in the high desert of Southern California.

The HVCC communicated their conclusions to the same federal officials who received a recent letter from County Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt. The Supervisor’s letter was headlined everywhere as an endorsement of shared use of the Johnson Valley Off Highway Vehicle area between the military and the public, and was also signed by Supervisor Neil Derry. The proposal was for the Marines to train under permit from the Bureau of Land Management for two months, and a small portion of Johnson Valley remain open to the public the rest of the year. The Marines preferred alternative in their Draft Environmental Impact Statement was to absorb most of this vast open area inside expanded Base borders.

The Supervisors’ letter discloses their grave concern that the loss of Johnson Valley to public access would be a major loss to the neighboring communities. Closer reading of shows they also endorse Base expansion into the study area east of the existing Base as being the least destructive and economically disruptive to Base neighbors, the County and the State (a view Supervisor Derry also expressed at a candidates forum).

The HVCC mailed out 19 packages containing their letter. The reference documents include HVCC resolutions detailing the damage to Base neighbors. Other documents were written by Homestead Valley property owners and Off Highway Vehicle groups with local members. Some documents point out the many flaws in the Marines’ Draft Environmental Impact Statement, still under review.

Many people even today have not heard of the Base expansion plans, though it has been under discussion for years. HVCC presents the pitfalls of the shared use plan from the standpoint of the people most impacted by the effects of battleground training, and shutting visitors, filmmakers and others out of Johnson Valley.

The final decision on the matter will be made in Washington.

Attachments:
Letter to US Congressman Howard “Buck” McKeon
Letter to Mr. Leon Panetta, Secretary of Defense
Appendix B: HVCC Resolution opposing Base expansion Jan 2009
Appendix C: Comment letter from San Bernardino County Land Use Services Department, Jan 2009
Appendix D: HVCC comment on Draft Environmental Impact Statement, May 2011
Appendix E: JV property owner comment on Draft Environmental Impact Statement, May 2011
Appendix F: JV resident comment on Draft Environmental Impact Statement, May 2011
“Shared Use”
Appendix G: California Off-Road Vehicle Association comment on Draft Environmental Impact Statement, May 2011

c/c:
Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt
Supervisor Neil Derry
Sen. Dianne Feinstein
Sen. Barbara Boxer, chair, Environment and Public Works
Sen. James Inhofe, ranking member Environment and Public Works
Sen. Ron Wyden, chair, Subcommittee on Public Land
Sen. Jeff Bingaman, chair, Energy and Natural Resources
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, ranking member Energy and Natural resources
Sen. Carl Levin, chair, Committe on Armed Services
Sen. John McCain, ranking member Committee on Armed services
Rep. Ken Calvert
Rep. Mary Bono Mack
Rep. Jerry Lewis
Rep. Adam Smith, ranking member House Armed services
Rep. Doc Hastings, chair, Natural Resources Committee
Rep. Edward Markey, ranking member, Natural Resources committee
Rep. Rob Bishop, chair, Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands
 
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