California Desert Protection Act

Harriet Allen, an environmentalist who mentored generations of desert activists and played a key role in the 1994 passage of the landmark California Desert Protection Act, has died. She was 95. Allen died Sept. 30 of complications related to old age at a Kaiser hospital in San Diego, her family said. "She waged a decades-long battle to educate everyone that the desert matters," said Elden Hughes, a longtime desert-protection activist. "The fact that the desert has sustained itself as well as it has is a tribute to Harriet Allen.

Preserving the desert Re "Senator backs protecting two areas in the Mojave," Dec. 21 I just read that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is working to protect roughly 1 million acres of desert in Southern California. How nice. But why doesn't she first save California's once-rich salmon runs in her San Francisco Bay backyard? She should stop aiding and abetting the San Joaquin Valley industrial agriculture operations that are taking too much of the water needed to rebuild the salmon runs in the Sacramento River.

Ranger Hank Kodele fingered the long, thin sagebrush scratches along the sides of Rick Russell's glossy red Hummer and said, "Know what they call these things? Desert pinstripes." Even Russell, who makes off-road maps and videos for a living, hadn't heard that one, so it was one thing he would learn from an expedition to Death Valley National Park to explore the mysteries of the federal California Desert Protection Act (CDPA) enacted last October.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) says she plans to introduce legislation today to establish two national monuments on roughly 1 million acres of Mojave Desert outback that is home to bighorn sheep and desert tortoises, extinct volcanoes, sand dunes and ancient petroglyphs. Its centerpiece, Mojave Trails National Monument, would prohibit development on 941,000 acres of federal land and former railroad company property along a 105-mile stretch of old Route 66, between Ludlow and Needles.

Your editorial on Sen. Seymour's misguided efforts to block the California Desert Protection Act was much needed. Californians, the great majority of whom support this environmentally crucial piece of legislation, need to know that their senator thinks that he can get away with catering to special interests at the expense of the people, the environment, and the economy, which would be improved by S-21 due to increased tourism. Californians should also know that, soon after blocking a vote on the California Desert Protection Act, Seymour attempted to attach to an appropriations bill an amendment that would have bypassed the Endangered Species Act to allow more timber harvesting in California.

I would like to respond to a letter (Sept. 29) which suggests the California Desert Protection Act was written behind closed doors without public input. No piece of legislation I know has had more public hearings than the California Desert Protection Act. I recommended over 50 amendments which were added to the bill in the Senate based on community input. Amendments were made in the House as well, and included in the final bill. Since passage of the California Desert Protection Act, I have worked assiduously to take care of any problems, whether it has been grazing improvements, vehicle use of the Mojave Heritage Trail, or access to private property, that have been brought to my attention.

The City Council has approved the $900,000 purchase of about five acres of federal land to build a sports park. Formerly part of the Chet Holifield Federal Building on Alicia Parkway, the land was declared surplus earlier this year and was earmarked by the city for a lighted soccer field, lighted basketball courts and a skateboard park. Legislation as part of the California Desert Protection Act--sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) in 1994--allows the city to buy the property for $4.

As you know, we were finally able to enact the California Desert Protection Act in the final hours of 103rd Congress (Oct. 9). Our success after a long and difficult road was due in no small part to the consistent editorial support voiced by The Times. We made sure your editorials were given wide circulation here on Capitol Hill and they helped convince a majority of members to approve this far-reaching legislation. Your editorial of Oct. 7 was particularly helpful. The Times should feel proud of its role in winning protection for this unique and beautiful area.

Re "Dust-Up Over Talc," Feb. 8: Why was this area ever included in wilderness? The 1964 Wilderness Act says that a federally protected wilderness will be an area of 5,000 acres, or greater, untouched by man. An area that has been mined is obviously not untouched by man. This is only one example of an area that should not have been included in the California Desert Protection Act. Or, was the Wilderness Act purposefully ignored to stop further mining of...

Thanks to Interior Secretary Donald P. Hodel for taking a common-sense view of Senate Bill 7 (the California Desert Protection Act). All desert user groups have worked for many years on the BLM's California Desert Plan. This plan protects all environmentally fragile lands and permit's activities such as rock hounding, military flyovers, camping and off-road vehicle use that would be prohibited by Senate Bill 7. The L.A. Basin is already bursting at the seams. Let's not make matters worse by putting a fence around our California desert.

Harriet Allen, an environmentalist who mentored generations of desert activists and played a key role in the 1994 passage of the landmark California Desert Protection Act, has died. She was 95. Allen died Sept. 30 of complications related to old age at a Kaiser hospital in San Diego, her family said. "She waged a decades-long battle to educate everyone that the desert matters," said Elden Hughes, a longtime desert-protection activist. "The fact that the desert has sustained itself as well as it has is a tribute to Harriet Allen.

A pair of decisions in the last two days governing recreation, conservation and development across several million acres of California desert are reigniting tensions over endangered species and motorized access in the fast-growing region. Late Tuesday, U.S. Bureau of Land Management officials signed the west Mojave management plan, designed to streamline construction and map areas for motorized recreation and wildlife protection on 9.3 million acres of public land in five counties and 11 cities.

Re "Bush Opens Way for Counties and States to Claim Wilderness Roads," Jan. 21: As a member of a family whose outdoor recreation in the deserts and mountains dates back three generations, I applaud this change in anti-access thinking. It's about time someone brings some sanity to the unnecessary and arcane land closures of the last 20 years. I've seen many of the places I love closed in the name of "protecting" and "saving." Protecting from what? Saving for whom? In all my years visiting campsites and traveling on trails or roads, I have never, ever once said, "The land around here sure has been devastated by the people coming here."

The City Council has approved the $900,000 purchase of about five acres of federal land to build a sports park. Formerly part of the Chet Holifield Federal Building on Alicia Parkway, the land was declared surplus earlier this year and was earmarked by the city for a lighted soccer field, lighted basketball courts and a skateboard park. Legislation as part of the California Desert Protection Act--sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) in 1994--allows the city to buy the property for $4.

Re "Dust-Up Over Talc," Feb. 8: Why was this area ever included in wilderness? The 1964 Wilderness Act says that a federally protected wilderness will be an area of 5,000 acres, or greater, untouched by man. An area that has been mined is obviously not untouched by man. This is only one example of an area that should not have been included in the California Desert Protection Act. Or, was the Wilderness Act purposefully ignored to stop further mining of...

I would like to respond to a letter (Sept. 29) which suggests the California Desert Protection Act was written behind closed doors without public input. No piece of legislation I know has had more public hearings than the California Desert Protection Act. I recommended over 50 amendments which were added to the bill in the Senate based on community input. Amendments were made in the House as well, and included in the final bill. Since passage of the California Desert Protection Act, I have worked assiduously to take care of any problems, whether it has been grazing improvements, vehicle use of the Mojave Heritage Trail, or access to private property, that have been brought to my attention.

Ken Carpenter's inaccurate description (letter, Aug. 3) of the recently introduced California Desert Protection Act suggests off-road vehicle users are continuing to oppose protection of the desert without even looking at the specific proposal. The new initiative will ensure permanent protection of the desert's threatened wildlife, scenic and recreational resources and access to them by all the people of this state. The legislation is probably the most accessible wilderness and park proposal ever put forward.

In response to "Compromise by Feinstein on Desert Measure Possible," April 28: We object your characterization of Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands) as a "moderate with a solid environmental record." Lewis has one of the lowest environmental scores in Congress, according to the annual Environmental Scorecard published by the League of Conservation Voters. In 1992, Lewis earned an abysmal 6% environmental score, one of the lowest in the House and well below the 17% average for GOP members of Congress.

Re "Green Leaders Have Turned Into Toadies," Column Left, Jan. 5: While I share Alexander Cockburn's frustration with the failure of environmental issues to make a difference in the recent elections, he is wide of the mark in his continuing denunciation of major national environmental organizations for this state of affairs. In the midst of the media circus and political demagoguery that pass for responsible statesmanship these days, how could intelligent messages talking of the looming crisis of the environment hope to be heard?

Ranger Hank Kodele fingered the long, thin sagebrush scratches along the sides of Rick Russell's glossy red Hummer and said, "Know what they call these things? Desert pinstripes." Even Russell, who makes off-road maps and videos for a living, hadn't heard that one, so it was one thing he would learn from an expedition to Death Valley National Park to explore the mysteries of the federal California Desert Protection Act (CDPA) enacted last October.