september 2007 desert report, cncc desert committee

BY WA N DA RASCHKOW

September 2007 News of the desert from Sierra Club California/Nevada Desert Committee www.desertreport.org

A PERSONAL ACCOUNT

“Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United

States of America in Congress assembled, That any person who shall

appropriate, excavate, injure, or destroy any historic or prehistoric ruin

or monument, or any object of antiquity, situated on lands owned or

controlled by the Government of the United States, without the per-

mission of the Secretary of the Department of the Government having

jurisdiction over the lands on which said antiquities are situated, shall,

upon conviction, be fined in a sum of not more than five hundred dol-

lars or be imprisoned for a period of not more than ninety days, or shall

suffer both fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.”

[Quoted from the Antiquities Act of 1906]

he Antiquities Act, the first law designed to protectarchaeological sites on public (federal) lands andestablish penalties for damage to archaeologicalsites, was signed by President Roosevelt in June,

1906. It also authorized the President to protect landmarks,structures, and objects of historic or scientific interest by desig-nating them as National Monuments. Section 3 of the Act pro-vided a means for the federal government to issue permits andencourage scientific study of archaeological sites.

Passage of the Antiquities Act took 25 years of concertedeffort from a variety of individuals and organizations. Spurred byconcern for loss of cultural resources to development and urbanrenewal programs, these basic protections were refined andexpanded by a series of Laws and Executive Orders (EO) includ-ing the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA).Before the NHPA was in effect, during my youth in Montana, Isaw wonderful historic buildings removed in the name of ‘renew-al’. On family trips I saw ghost towns and buffalo jumps – manyof which were eventually also damaged or destroyed.

Congress declared in the National Historic Preservation Act(NHPA) that “the historical and cultural foundations of theNation should be preserved as a living part of our community life

and development in order to give a sense of orientation to theAmerican people” and that “…preservation of this irreplaceableheritage is in the public interest.”

Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (asamended) requires that Federal agencies take into account theeffect of undertakings or authorized actions on “any district, site,building, structure, or object that is included in or eligible forinclusion in the National Register of Historic Places*.” This sec-tion, supported by the words of President Nixon in ExecutiveOrder (EO) 11593, essentially gave birth to the federal culturalresources preservation program as we know it today and createdjob opportunities for archaeologists within the federal govern-ment. Section 106 can be thought of as the “watchdog” part ofmy job – assessing and managing the effects of federal undertak-

continued on page 18T

Protection of Historic & Cultural Resources

Jack Miller Cabin, built around 1930 in the Santa RosaMountain, listed today on the National Register of HistoricPlaces

his issue of the Desert Report focuses on the h i s t o ry and pre h i s t o ry of Californ i a ’s desert s .While previous articles have often highlightedcontroversial issues, the topic here carries a clear

consensus: artifacts and history in the desert are valuable and deserveprotection. As this is true, then two questions come to mind: (1)Why is it so difficult to get information about the location ofarcheological sites, and (2) why should we, the public, care aboutthese sites that we seldom, if ever, visit?

As a result of unfortunate past experiences with pot huntersand vandalism it has become the policy of the agencies whichadminister public lands that the locations of petroglyphs andarcheological sites should not be provided to the public unlessthis information has already been published in a reasonablyaccessible form. The preservation of these resources takes prece-dence over public access. The State of California keeps a registerof archeological and historic resources that is consulted whenev-er a proposed project has potential for damaging these sites. It issignificant that this register is only available to persons holdingat least a master’s degree in archeology. Furthermore, theserecords can not be accessed through the Freedom of InformationAct, even though this act provides for the release of publicrecords of many other kinds. While this lack of public informa-tion is sometimes a disappointment, it is also true that many sitesare well known or are listed on the internet. Many of these areprovided with extensive interpretive information. There are alsodesert museums which present information on desert history andprehistory for all of us to appreciate.

The second and more significant question is, “Why should wecare for and about these artifacts and sites if we rarely see them?”Of course professional archeologists value the materials and wishto preserve them for study, but most of us who are curious are notprofessional archeologists. The answer I personally give to thequestion is this: “These records from our past provide a perspectiveupon our own civilization and culture that we badly need.”

The peoples which are described in the article by Jay vonWerlhof existed for thousands of years and they were eminentlyself-sustainable. This is a claim that we, today, can not yet make.The mining artifacts that are described in the article by MarthaDickes are a testimony to astonishing efforts and hardships thatfew people today would consider undertaking. The rock artwhich Russ Kaldenberg describes on the China Lake NavalWeapons Station was made over a span of at least 10,000 yearsunder extreme desert conditions. When we look at these recordsfrom our past it can only be a humbling experience.

Enjoy this collection of articles and as you read them consider their lessons.

T Protection of Historic & Cultural Resources.............................................. 1

From The Editor: Desert History ................................................................ 2

Historical Resources in the California Desert .......................................... 3

China Lake NAWS Good Steward Of Material Culture .............................. 4

Three Desert Museums ............................................................................ 6

Desert Societies, Then And Now .............................................................. 8

Current Issues ..........................................................................................11

Grazing: The Essential Range Management Tool ......................................12

Tejon Ranch: A New State Or Federal Park? ............................................14

Deterring ORV Use & Lessening its Impacts ............................................16

Mesquite: The Desert’s Tree Of Life ..........................................................19

Outings ......................................................................................................20

DESERT COMMITTEE MEETINGS

LOOK IT UP

Desert History

DESERT REPORT SEPTEMBER 2007}{ 2

BY CRA IG DEUTSCHE

In addition to providing background articles on desert landscapes and

issues, in the column titled “Current Issues” the Desert Report also

attempts to report on new developments. While the printed copies of the

Desert Report appear quarterly, the “News Updates” column which appears

on-line is revised as issues emerge. It is hoped that this on-line column will

become a desert bulletin-board to consult for information about recent

court and land agency decisions, public hearings, and for short news items

that are important but not widely reported. Because there can be a large

number of these items, this on-line column will begin with a listing of the

topics that follow. The on-line Desert Report can be found at:

www.desertreport.org.

It is, of course, not possible to include all the relevant topics in either the

“Current Issues” section of the printed Desert Report or in the on-line

“News Updates.” For information on other subjects, the column headed

“COORDINATORS” on the final printed page has been revised. Issues

and persons knowledgeable on particular issues are listed there with

contact information. This listing will be kept current with the intention that

it should also be a resource for persons interested in conservation issues

in the desert.

The site for the November meeting will be in Anza-Borrego Desert State

Park, and the February meeting will be held jointly with the CNRCC

Wilderness Committee in Shoshone, CA. We especially encourage local

citizens in the area to attend, as many of the items on the agenda include

local issues. Contact Tom Budlong at (310-476-1731), t o m b u d l o n g @

roadrunner.com, to be put on the invitation list.

FROM THE EDITOR

SEPTEMBER 2007 I N THIS ISSUE

BY MARTHA D ICKES

he California desert was prospected heavily fromthe 1850’s onwards. Ores were highgraded byhardrock miners, and boomtowns flourished in themost remote and inaccessible places imaginable.

When the ores gave out, the places were abandoned and all butforgotten. Today many of these places reside within federally-designated wilderness. There the ruins and artifacts from morethan 100 years ago survive out of reach of the casual visitor andlargely intact. This poses a challenge for wilderness management.How best to preserve the past while allowing for recreationaluse? In Ridgecrest, the BLM has been struggling with this ques-tion in several wildernesses for many years now, but in no area sokeenly as in the Inyo Mountains Wilderness.

The Inyo Mountains Wilderness is managed by two agenciesand within the BLM by two field offices. The Bishop Field Officemanages the west side of the crest; the Ridgecrest Field Officethe east side of the crest. Inyo National Forest manages upperelevations at the north end of the wilderness area. Silver was dis-covered at Cerro Gordo in the Inyo Mountains in 1865. The dis-covery of gold soon followed, most notably in Keynot Canyon.The Beveridge Mining District that eventually formed in 1877 ismanaged by the Ridgecrest Resource Area. Itencompasses 40 mines east of the crest, morethan half-a-dozen millsites, and a ghost town,all located along eastside streams in precipi-tous terrain. The district runs roughly fromCraig Canyon (north of Cerro Gordo) north-ward to “Cougar” Canyon where it lapsesinto Inyo National Forest.

At its height, the District supported 60-odd souls, a post office, a store, and even apolling place. More than 40 miles of loosely-connected trails cross virtually every historicmining site in the district. These are 19thcentury trails built by miners and mule pack-ers to resupply mines in the Inyo Mountainsand to carry ore from mine to millsite and outto markets in the Owens Valley. Abandonedby miners in the 1930’s, the trails lay largelyforgotten until they were rediscovered andpopularized by backpackers in the late 1980’s.Today they access a virtual outdoor museumof 19th and early 20th century mining histo-ry, complete with arrastras, stamp mills, boil-

ers, early gasoline-powered engines, cabins, tramways, adits, andother relicts and artifacts.

The California Desert Protection Act (CDPA) of 1994 estab-lishing wilderness in the Inyo Mountains recognized the value ofthese extraord i n a ry historical re s o u rces. In Section 2(c),Congress declared that these lands were to be included in theNational Wilderness Preservation System as wilderness, but alsoto “protect and preserve historical and cultural values of theCalifornia desert associated with ancient Indian cultures, patternsof western exploration and settlement, and sites exemplifying themining, ranching, and railroading history of the Old West.”Administering agencies were to “provide opportunities for com-patible outdoor public recreation, protect and interpret ecologi-cal and geological features, and historic, paleontological, andarcheological sites, maintain wilderness resource values, and pro-mote public understanding and appreciation of the Californiadesert.” (Section 2(d) of the CDPA).

The wilderness staff in Ridgecrest has been mapping, photo-graphing, and monitoring trails, sites, and artifacts associatedwith the Beveridge Mining District for over 15 years. In that time

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Historical Resources inthe California Desert

A WILDERNESS PERSPECTIVE

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Cabin Foundation – Inyo Mountains Wilderness

continued on page 10

hina Lake Naval AirWeapons Station (NAW S )outside of Ridgecre s t ,California, encompasses the

Mojave Desert in its South Range and thesouthernmost portion of the Great Basin inits North Range. At 1.1 million acre s ,China Lake is not only the largest Navyland range in the United States, but it is alsorich with cultural resources that span morethan 10,000 years. Over a thirty-year period, approximately 12 percent of its tworanges have been systematically invento-ried, documenting over 12,000 sites, averaging an archaeologicalsite every ten acres. The Department of Defense serves as an out-standing steward, preserving and protecting cultural resourceswhile taking care of NAWS basic mission of technology develop-ment and protecting the nation.

Several playas dominate the landscape. These include LakeChina, the drainage of Lake Searles, Airport Lake, SuperiorValley Lake, and many ephemeral lakes. These lakes are whatfamed archaeologist Dr. Emma Lou Davis called “paleogrocerystores.” Their shorelines contained marshes, which attracted ani-mals, which attracted people. The remains of 10,000-year-oldartifacts and fossils of animals as varied as elephants, bison,g round sloth, camels, deer, and antelope can be found.Paleontologists from the San Bernardino County Museum haverecently conducted a study identifying important locales plusidentifying places where gastropods are abundant (indicatingfresh water springs). Recent radio carbon dates on shellfish seemto average 11,000 years before the present. This is well within thetime span for the peopling of the Americas.

Names of springs include Lead Pipe Spring, Shady MyrickSprings, Lead Springs, Pothunter Springs, Hidden Springs,Layton Spring, Seep Springs, Bandit Springs, Stone CorralSprings, PK (or Pilot Springs). All of these springs are associatedwith the rich mining history of the desert. Springs were alsomagnets for prehistoric settlement, where archaeological sitescan be found. Many of the sites are in very good shape, as if pre-historic peoples or 19th century miners had recently left.

P e t r o g l y p h s , Sugarloaf Obsidian in North

Range

The North Range has seen more studythan the South Range. There are two rea-sons for this. One is that the North Rangeboasts tens of thousands of petroglyphs thathave been noted since the 1920s and studiedfor the past eight decades. New petroglyphsare found continually as China Lake staffwork with researchers and contract environ-mental specialists to continue to documentthis rich heritage.

Also, the well-known Sugarloaf Obsidianquarry is located in this range. The obsidian traveled via exten-sive trade networks across most of the Great Basin, into the SanJoaquin Valley, out to the Channel Islands, and down to BajaCalifornia. Sugarloaf Mountain is a massive and importantresource where native peoples called parts of NAWS home until1943. Today, though agreements with tribes and traditional fam-ilies, the descendants return regularly to use Coso Hot Springsfor religious purposes, harvest obsidian to teach stone tool man-

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DESERT REPORT SEPTEMBER 20074{ }

BY RUS SEL L KALDENBERG

ONE MILLION ACRE MUSEUM

China Lake NAWS Good Steward Of Material Culture

Top: Petroglyph at Birchram Spring, North Range; Above:Epsom Salt Monorail Braces near Wingate Pass, South Range

ufacturing, pick pine nuts, and provide the Navy with informa-tion that assists in managing the resources so that they persistinto the future.

Pictographs, geoglyphs, and the Old West

While petroglyphs are the most common form of rock art onthe North Range, the South Range contains beautiful pic-tographs (painted art) and dozens of geoglyphs (rock alignments)that are regularly noted.

The South Range is dominated by creosote bushes with scat-tered Joshua Tree forests and willows and desert olive at springs.While water is scarce in the Mojave Desert, springs readily flowthroughout the mountainous terrain on the South Range provid-ing a rich habitat for Bighorn sheep. Names of the mountainranges connote the Old West—Eagle Crags, Robbers Mountain,Pilot Knob, Brown Mountain, Wingate Pass, Layton Pass,Panamint Valley, the Slate Range, and Randsburg Wash—toname a few.

One of the oldest mining communities in southern Californiacan be found on the range. This is Coso Village, founded some-time before 1860. Many of its rubble buildings stand to tell ofthat era. It is here that the infamous bandido, Tiburcio Vasquez,sought shelter after robbing the stage at Freeman Junction. It wasat Crystal Springs, five miles from CosoVillage, that one of the last incursions of theOwens Valley “Indian War” was fought, and itwas at Coso Village that during the 1930s thepeople sought to mine tailings piles to make aliving during the Great Depression.

The iconic Twenty Mule Team route fromHarmony Borax traverses Death Valley andthen trends towards the Mojave thro u g hWingate Pass, Wingate Wash, through PilotKnob Valley and stops at the 1884-1888Twenty Mule Team service stations at LoneWillow Springs and Granite Wells. The rubblebuildings that remain stand as a tribute to ourpioneer heritage and to the sound managementof the Navy.

Other than the freight wagon roads, thebest known historic site on the South Range isthe Epsom Salt Monorail which began in theQuail Mountains near Death Valley and endedits run at Magnesia siding near the present daycommunity of Westend, near Trona.

Researchers work closely with NAWS staff

Researchers work closely with staff in theE n v i ronmental Planning and ManagementDivision to conduct special studies on the cul-tural resources of the Station. Currently fiveMaster’s Thesis level projects are being con-ducted. Famed western American archaeologi-cal researchers such as Drs. David Whitley,William Hildebrandt, Alan Gold, Robert Yohe,Suzanne Hendricksen, Mark Basgall, WilliamClewlow, Mark Allen, Brian Byrd, and JerrySchaefer and, others such as Sandy Rogers,Allika Ruby, Lynn Johnson, Amy Gilreath andR i c h a rd Steward, vie to understand theunknown past of the area through focused and

DESERT REPORT SEPTEMBER 2007

supported research.China Lake supplements its single archaeologist with a group

by the name of the Friends of China Lake Archaeology, whichwas formed in 2004 to assist in inventorying the base, managingthe Archaeological Laboratory and Curation Facility, and in doc-umenting the rock art. This Friends group was integral in bring-ing the Secre t a ry of Defense’s National Cultural Resourc eManagement Award to China Lake last year. China Lake proud-ly flies the Green Environmental Steward Flag associated withthat award. China Lake also received Govern o rSchwarzenegger’s Historic Preservation Award for developingthe Curation Facility from the Old Ice House.

Management through focused stewardship involves everyonein the chain from the Commanding Officer to the beginningemployee. “The China Lake way” involves offering ownership toall those who work or visit the Station. It is felt that through thisa p p roach China Lake can pre s e rve the archaeological and historical heritage of this part of California for future generations of Americans.

Russell Kaldenberg is currently Base Archaeologist for the China LakeNaval Air Weapons Station. Previously he was California StateArchaeologist with the Bureau of Land Management.

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North and South Ranges of the China Lake Navel Weapons Center

he Owens Valley of Eastern California today andthe experiences of those who lived there before uscan hardly be in greater contrast. We arrive in airconditioned cars in the summer, head toward

groomed ski slopes in the winter, visit gift shops in the daytime,and watch the movie channel in the evenings. It is easy to forgetthat this was not always so. This was a land of pioneer farmers,miners, herders, Native Americans, and even earlier desert peo-ples whose only records were the images they pecked onto scat-tered rock faces.

Today much of this history can only be found in books.Homes and mines collapse; the daily materials of NativeAmericans were largely perishable; and rock art sites are usuallywell off from our accustomed travels. It is fortunate that this his-tory and its lessons have been preserved in a number of desertmuseums. Three of these museums are described here. Thischoice is arbitrary although it is also representative. They take uson a journey through time and show us what we might never beable to find on our own.

Laws Railroad Museum

Pioneer life of the Owens Valley between 1880 and 1930 ischronicled in a remarkable way at the town of Laws. Six milesnorth of Bishop, California, this was once a stop on the Carsonand Colorado narrow gauge railroad. Today it is a museum withabout fifteen small buildings scattered on an eleven acre site.

There is a general store with its wares on display; there is anearly doctor’s office and an early dental office; there is a recon-struction of an early pharmacy. The printing office of the InyoRegister displays not only the history of the newspaper but alsothat of the Chalfant family as they reported the events of theirtime. On the other side of the lawn are a wagon barn, a black-smith shop, a tractor garage, and a complete school house. Thetrain depot stands at the center of the yard, and the tracks leadsouth past old railroad cars, rusting farm equipment, and a watertank with a pull-down spout that serviced the old steam engines.For immigrants who stood here and looked south through theheat and dust, this must have seemed the end of the world.

It is the pioneer farm house, however, that may be most strik-ing of all. Ceilings are high; doorways are framed in dark wood;and the wallpaper has a simple flower design. A cast iron bathtubstands on lion’s feet. Of course it was filled by heating water onthe wood stove. The pictures in a book case - and also on thewalls - are perhaps the most impressive. The wedding picture ofthe couple who lived there is formal: the groom has a dark suit, a white shirt, and a stiff collar; the bride wears buttoned boots, awhite dress with a high collar, a simple hat, and she is holdingwhite gloves. There are pictures of the children who have beenscrubbed to within an inch of their lives and are wearing theirSunday best. We are reminded that it was the women of the timewho may have had the most difficult lives of all.

The museum is listed on the National Register of Historic

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BY CRA IG DEUTS CHE

JOURNEYS INTO THE PAST

Three Desert Museums

Narrow Gauge Tracks - Looking South from Laws, CA

Places. It is funded in part by Inyo County, and in part throughdonations to the Bishop Museum and Historical Society. It iss t a ffed largely by volunteers. The museum website is at:http://www.lawsmuseum.org/

Eastern California Museum

Independence California was once the home of Mary Austin,who wrote colorful stories of the eastern deserts and the peoplewho lived and wandered there at the beginning of the 20th cen-tury. Independence was then, and still is, the Inyo County seat. Atthe center of the Owens Valley, it is fittingly where the EasternCalifornia Museum also chronicles the history of the valley.

This is principally an indoor museum with a special appeal forstudents of history. Perhaps most intriguing are the many panelsdisplaying written and photographic records from the past.There are pictures from nearly all the early towns of the valley:store fronts, streets, saloons, animals, and even the local baseballteam in uniform. Voting records, correspondence, and miningclaims are on display. The photographs of people are mostimpressive, and these constitute a record of prominent citizensand families up and down the entire eastern Sierra front.

The artifacts include smaller items of mining equipment, min-eral displays, guns, and household items of all sorts. The WorldWar II relocation center at Manzanar is featured in one exhibit.Native American culture is another prominent theme. There is alarge collection of arrow points and an extensive display of bas-ketry that was done at the beginning of the 20th century. Photosof the native villages, shelters, and elders are in contrast to thoseof white settlers of the same time.

The Eastern California Museum is fully funded by InyoCounty and has a professional staff to care for displays and tokeep the historical records that belong to the museum but are notp resented to the general public. The museum website is:http://www.countyofinyo.org/ecmuseum/

Maturango Museum

The very earliest history of Eastern California is accessibleonly through the physical artifacts that have been left behind:occupation sites of Native Americans and the rock art imagesfound on canyon walls and boulders in the desert. Some of theseimages date back at least 10,000 years, and other images mayhave been created within historical times. Most of these sites arenot advertised to the public. The most impressive of these are


protected within the boundaries of the China Lake NavalWeapons Center. The Maturango Museum is outstanding inmaking these materials available to the public.

The museum bookstore has an extensive inventory dealingwith rock art in Eastern California and with the history of thenearby Coso Mountains. There are photographic books display-ing the petroglyph panels; there are popular interpretations ofthe rock art; and there are technical studies of these sites. Manyof these printed materials are available only through the muse-um. Another notable feature of the Maturango Museum is itsprogram of lectures and tours. There is a regular evening seriesof presentations available free to the public, and there are fieldexcursions to sites in the nearby Owens Valley.

The most notable of all the museum offerings must surely bethe opportunity to visit Little Petroglyph Canyon in the nearbyChina Lake Naval Weapons Center. This canyon is the mostextraordinary of its kind in California, if not in the entire UnitedStates. It is dry, without shade, and nearly as austere as it is pos-sible to imagine. Still, the petroglyph panels speak of thousandsof years of life that not only survived but which produced anastonishing artistic record. Because entrance to the Naval Base isstrictly controlled, these petroglyphs have been preserved inextraordinary condition. It is possible for interested groups tomake arrangements directly with the Navy to tour the site, but itmay be worth the price of the tour to let the museum handle thearrangements and paperwork that the Navy requires. It is easilyworth a long drive to Ridgecrest for this opportunity alone.

Unlike the two museums described earlier, this one dependsentirely upon donations to its museum foundation. It is relative-ly small, and its physical collection is limited. Further informa-tion is available by phone (760-375-6900) or at the museum web-site: http://www.maturango.org/

Preserving the Past

It is easy to forget that people have not always lived as we dotoday. It is perhaps in the desert where the extremes of climateare particularly harsh that these differences are most striking.While the actual artifacts from earlier times may no longer beaccessible, the history is preserved through these museums. Tosee how peoples before us lived in these places is humbling. Thishistory has lessons for our present culture.

Craig Deutsche is Publisher and Managing Editor of Desert Report.

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An Invitation to Desert Archeology

Carson and Colorado Depot in Laws, CA

mperial County, California’s 58th, is now 100 years old.It is amazing to recall its successive stages as our pio-neers took us from a windswept desert to a year-rounddiversified agriculture. Shelters grew from shanty-

towns to booming cities; our children’s schools grew from shedsto colleges and universities. We became linked to all parts of thenation by air and road. Our residents have come from manystates and many countries. It is expected the population ofImperial County will rise from 160,000 today to 350,000 by mid-century (Imperial Valley Press, 11 July). No other county canmatch such a successful history.

But what of the people who were here before us? It is breathtaking to realize that part of what is now Imperial Countyhad been utilized or settled for at least 2000 years. There is evidence that some areas of this county had been settled even3,500 years ago.

It is clear, however, that by 2000 years ago four prehistoricsocieties were active in Imperial County throughout the year -summers and all. Tribes of Yuman speaking natives settled alongthe west bank of the Colorado River, the southwest shore of LakeCahuilla, and the West Mountains. The Shoshone who migratedout of southern Nevada settled along the northwest shore ofLake Cahuilla. Though intertribal fighting became serious attimes, all tribes traveled throughout thearea and traded with one another. Themost significant result was the spread ofh o rt i c u l t u re from Mexico thro u g h o u tareas along the waters of the ColoradoRiver banks, the New Alamo Rivers, LakeCahuilla, and the small lakes of Mesquiteand Blue.

The intertribal connections were cul-turally important, and frequently resultedin inter-tribal marriages, as with PrestonJefferson Arrow-weed whose father wasQuechan, of Colorado River, and whosemother was Kumeyaay, of the We s tMountains. (Preston wrote for the DesertReport, Mar. 15, 2007.) Fishing, gathering,horticulture, hunting, and trading were theeconomic basis for the Imperial County

tribes, but spiritual forces guided them in these.A major environmental element was added to the lure of

Imperial County when 2000 years ago the Colorado River had anunusual flood that swarmed through the New and Alamo Riversuntil Lake Cahuilla filled to a depth of 285 feet in the west coun-ty. El Centro would have been submerged under 25 feet of water.The Colorado River people would trek the fifty miles acrossdesert and sand dunes to work the east bank of Lake Cahuilla.Fishing, gathering, hunting, and shell collecting were all eco-nomic values, as well as probably planting activities. On the westbank the Cahuilla peoples additionally built stone-lined fishtraps, as did the Kamia, a branch of Kumeyaay from the West Mountains.

All of the societies made contact with one another, learned ofeach others’ skills and crafts, and traded with surplus goods.They also shared stories and songs, and all agreed on the beingand presence and powers of spiritual values. These people of thedesert were - and still are - a prayerful people. Prayers were thekeys to their adaptation to changing times and stressful circum-stances. Their ways were expressed - and still are - in storiesenabling them to adjust to the most difficult places and times.From these they found spiritual comfort in their conditionsrather than seeking ways to change. This is the most significant

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J AY VON WERLHOF

Desert Societies, Then And Now

IMPERIAL COUNTY

Map used by permission of the Anza-Borrego Desert Natural History Association,from “The Forgotten Artist,” by Manfred Knaak.

9{ }DESERT REPORT SEPTEMBER 2007

key to their 2000 years of adaptation, contrasting to the 100 yearsof remarkable changes in the historic period.

So here were two major human societies in the same desert,the pioneers and the natives, but how seemingly different and his-torically apart they are. Our prehistoric forebears adapted to thehistoric forces that engulfed them by utilizing the same lessons bywhich they conducted their lives for 2000 years. Adaptation hasbeen their successful tactic to life and to this world. They see thistrait as the spiritual side of the world and life, told in stories andsongs. Their every act in the desert was spiritually supported, andthe archaeological sites found in the desert, whether a fish trap,prayer circle, arrowhead, or potsherd, are all of the same intentand spiritual purpose. The spirits that supported them are stillthere and should be respected. To destroy or collect these arti-facts is affecting the spiritual purpose with which, and for which,these were made. These spiritual treasures should be protected byour society, for to collect or destroy is to violate the sacred, as wellas to leave a hole in the desert and the native’s past.

Jay von Werlhof is the dean of California desert archeology. He haswritten many academic papers and has mentored many students. He wasthe driving force in creating the Imperial Valley College DesertMuseum, expected to open within the next six months. A recentfestschrift honoring him has been published by the Maturango Museumin Ridgecrest, CA.

Above: Fish Trap near Old Lake CahuillaBelow: Sleeping Circles near Old Lake Cahuilla

Historical Resources in the California Desert

we have noted some losses, mostly due to natural attrition, butincreasingly due to theft and vandalism. In 2005, we brought aBLM archeologist with us on a six-day backpack to inventorythree intact standing structures, one of which we hope to stabi-lize next Spring. In 2006, we returned with the archeologist to tiedown the structure we plan to stabilize for the winter. On thattrip, we found one of the collapsed structures at the ghost townhad been resurrected with modern screws and plywood by a well-intentioned but sadly uninformed person(s). We disassembled asmuch as we could.

Over the course of the next few years, BLM plans on havingarchaeologists evaluate 15-plus known standing structures (teninside wilderness) within the Ridgecrest Field Office Area. (BLMwill not be evaluating structures associated with current miningclaims.) This is part of a new program we are implementing withrespect to what used to be called “adopt-a-cabin.” We are transi-tioning all structures found within the resource area to a HistoricSite Stewardship Program under the direction of culturalresource staff. The immediate goal is to run each standing struc-ture through a series of filters, to determine ownership, structur-al integrity, historical significance if any, and wilderness compat-ibility. Structures may then be removed or maintained to theappropriate standard with a management plan in place.

The 1964 Wilderness Act prohibits permanent structures orinstallations in wilderness (Section 4(c)). There will be no newconstruction or reconstruction of any collapsed structures orarcheological ruins inside any wilderness area. Standing struc-tures determined to be historically significant by a qualifiedarcheologist, however, may be stabilized if stabilization conformsto the Archeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) of 1979,the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966, and theWilderness Act and Section 2(c) of the CDPA. In this case, theemphasis will be strictly on historic preservation, not on estab-lishing developed recreation sites. American wilderness is not

compatible with the European alpine hut experience.The intact standing cabins in the Inyo Mountains Wilderness

are part of a much larger cultural landscape. The BLM is seekingassistance (funding) to complete a professional evaluation of allhistoric resources in the area. As an example of an intact, essen-tially unaltered 19th century mining district in its entirety, theBeveridge Mining District is unparalled. Also unparalled are therecreational opportunities afforded by the 40-mile long stretch oftrail linking historic sites in the area. An archeological inventoryand evaluation would help us develop an adequate wildernessrecreation-cultural resources management plan. A plan wouldhelp address the following:

1. How can we best protect and preserve this unique culturallandscape with more publicity and growing recreational use?

2. What structures and trail segments should we stabilize andmaintain and to what standard?

3. How do we mitigate adverse recreational impacts such asthe use of cabins, ruins, and millsites as campsites, and the dam-age to sites and loss of artifacts due to vandalism and theft? Dowe develop some rules? What type of information should we beproviding to the public?

4. What kind of recreational experience should we be promot-ing? Where do the Inyos fall on the recreational opportunityspectrum from primitive, self-exploration to permitted and guid-ed use?

5. What recreational uses should be accommodated? Whatshould not? What uses are most compatible with culturalre s o u rce protection and the protection of other sensitiveresources in the area?

Martha Dickes is the Wilderness Resources Specialist in the RidgecrestField Office. She has hiked and backpacked in the Inyo Mountains formany years and has personally visited and catalogued most of the sitesand resources mentioned in this article. She is now confronting the ques-tion of how these resources can best be managed and protected.

The Sierra Club Desert Committee supports the BLM inaddressing these issues. If you would like to suggest some answersto these questions, or if you have further ideas about such historicpreservation, please contact Martha Dickes at: [email protected]

continued from page 3

Milling Site – Inyo Mountains Wilderness


Small Forge Used for Blacksmithing –Inyo Mountains Wilderness

CURRENT ISSUES

11{ }DESERT REPORT SEPTEMBER 2007

the current critical habitat designation. It further restricts the areas that

would be enforced for conservation of the plant which is found

nowhere in the United States except on a portion of the Algodones

Dunes. On August 23, 2007, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be host-

ing a public meeting at their Carlsbad Office, 6010 Hidden Valley Road,

Carlsbad, California, 92011 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 8

p.m. They will accept written comments from all interested parties

until September 25, 2 0 0 7 . More information is available at :

w w w.fws.gov/carlsbad/PMV_Docs.htm and www. b i o l o g i c a l d i v e r s i t y

.org/swcbd/SPECIES/peirsons/index.html.

Major Ruling Issued Against“Sunrise Powerlink” Project

In a stunning setback to San Diego Gas and Electric, the California

Public Utilities Commission has delayed a decision on the Sunrise

Powerlink through at least the summer of 2008. Commissioner Dian

Grueneich admonished SDG&E for the delay. According to a ruling

issued Tuesday, July 24, SDG&E only recently revealed several key

pieces of new information about the Powerlink including:

(1) SDG&E’s desire to expand the project in the future (most likely to

the Greater Los Angeles region),

(2) The need for a major new substation to interconnect the Sunrise

Powerlink with wind power, and

(3) SDG&E’s new position that renewable facilities will not be devel-

oped in the Imperial Valley without the Powerlink. (The company

previously claimed that renewables would be developed with or

without the Sunrise Powerlink.)

More Military Training in theCalifornia Desert?

A company called Wind Zero has purchased 1,000 acres in the east-

ern part of the town of Ocotillo in western Imperial County where it

hopes to establish a “training facility” for government (military) per-

sonnel, law enforcement, and civilians. This is an area rich in Native

American cultural heritage. Imperial County is an EPA non-attainment

air basin where the air quality at times is of the poorest in California.

This facility would also impact the Ocotillo designated EPA sole source

aquifer. Wind Zero has not yet filed any paperwork with Imperial

County. The community is keeping close track of this project, which is

very similar in its components to the Blackwater military/mercenary

training camp proposed on 800 acres in the rural town of Portrero in

Eastern San Diego County. The company’s web site is: www.wind-

zero.com. To view a video of the June community meeting, go to:

www.citizensoversight.org. Look for the link “videos”, click on that,

and in the list of recent videos you will find the one for the Ocotillo Wind

Zero meeting.

Renewable Energy in the DesertBoth the President’s National Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the state

of California’s commitment to expanding renewable energy technolo-

gy and development have resulted in a dramatic increase in interest

and filing of right-of-way applications for development of solar energy

projects on public lands in the California desert. Currently at least 30

preliminary applications have been filed with the BLM California Desert

District (CDD) for development on more than 350,000 acres of public

land. These are at best “expressions of interest” and when complete

applications are filed, if ever, they will be subject to the requirements

of the National Environmental Protection Act which requires, among

other items, opportunities for public comment. Additionally, numerous

applications have been filed for the development of wind and geother-

mal energy. Energy development involves many complex issues and

deserves the attention of an informed public.

The link below has good references on these projects. Of particular

interest is the link to the Communication Plan for Outreach. This

describes the position of the CDD concerning these applications.

http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/cdd/alternative_energy.1.html

Surprise Canyon RS 2477 SuitDismissed

Last year an off-road group sued under RS-2477 for access to

Surprise Canyon in the Panamint Mountains. RS 2477 is the ancient

statute that motor enthusiasts claim gives rights to drive all old roads.

In July, 2007, Judge Lawrence J O’Neill, a US District Court judge,

dismissed the suit. The off-road group does not own the road, and only

owners can sue, he stated.

Surprise Canyon flows at substantial volume for several miles in the

canyon, fed by two springs above the falls. It’s an extreme rarity. In

places the canyon is so narrow that vehicles had to drive in the stream.

In other places vehicle ruts captured the stream creating unnatural

conditions. Since a flood which occurred in 1984, and now without

traffic, riparian growth has rebounded, and wildlife is flourishing.

Bighorn sheep have become a common sight. It’s expected the

off-road group will appeal, or try a different tactic. The effect of this rul-

ing on the Inyo County RS2477 suit to open roads in Death Valley

National Park is unknown.

Critical Habitat for Pierson’sMilk-vetch in the AlgodonesDunes

On July 27, 2007, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a new

critical habitat proposal for the federally and state-protected Peirson’s

milk-vetch, as mandated by federal court. The new proposal identifies

16,108 acres of land in the Algodones Dunes as habitat necessary for

the survival and recovery of the rare plant, a 25-percent reduction from continued on page 13


t’s a crisp February morning. My open shutters show-case the expansive Steptoe Valley below, one of themany closed basins across east central Nevada whichhost various living symbols of our rural custom and cul-

ture. On the distant East Bench the high-voltage transmissionlines reflect the early-morning sun, silently providing power foreverything electric and electronic, including my word processoras well as the one used by its owner somewhere down the line toprotest construction of transmission towers.

And near the transmission line I see a large white band migrat-ing slowly northward toward the tank on the East Bench - a flockof range sheep taking their time going to water. Their owner andhis peers across the West help maintain rangeland health whileproviding food and fiber for all citizens, no matter their politicalviews or environmental persuasion - hell, even vegetarians attimes wear wool.

I heard my neighbor whistling before daylight as he left forwork at the local copper mine - he seems content that our nation’sindustrial needs have once again prioritized and secured hisemployment. He and his colleagues across our land, by providingdomestic minerals and metals which benefit all segments of oursociety, help limit our nation’s reliance on foreign minerals. Theirefforts provide materials to build everything we use, includingthat same anonymous down-the-line computer, which, ironically,expends much of its useful life protesting the opening of mineseverywhere.

I know little about electricity or mining, but I empathize withthose industries simply because I’ve experienced the frustrationsresulting from similarly-misguided or incomplete data regardingthe grazing industry. Therefore, I am pleased to briefly addressthe benefits of federal-land grazing, the business that supportedmy livelihood, in concert with its industrial neighbors, for morethan 40 years.

In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s much of the land in theWest, including Nevada became overstocked with sheep, cattleand horses, and the range suffered extensive damage. Most of thenative bunchgrasses were lost and replaced by perennial shrubsand non-native grasses, species which are not as palatable to live-stock. This abuse ultimately led to passage of the Taylor Grazing

Act which regulates grazing on federal lands. Following the act’spassage and the resultant reduction of grazing levels, there was ageneral improvement in range conditions. One of the results ofmanaging grazing was the creation of numerous “exclosures”,small areas fenced to exclude livestock, which were constructedby the federal government to monitor grazing and to determinethe general overall effect of grazing upon the resources. Theinformation provided by these exclosures may not have yieldedthe expected results but the information provided is neverthelessquite useful. Across Nevada, exclosure studies have shown thatabsence of grazing does not automatically lead to an increaseddiversity of vegetation and healthier plants. Our rangeland grass-es and forbs evolved in the presence of grazing animals and reg-ular disturbance by fire, drought, insects, etc. Fresh new growthis important to plant health. No plant is static. It must be able togrow if it is to be healthy. Outside the exclosures native rangelandis more productive, more diverse, more conducive to wildlife and

I

BY BRENT ELDR IDGE

GRAZINGThe Essential Range Management Tool

Sheep in Garden Valley, NV


DESERT REPORT SEPTEMBER 2007 13{ }

Grazing Rules on HoldIn July, 2006 the BLM issued revised grazing rules, claiming they

would “contribute to protecting the health of the rangelands” and

make administration more efficient. Western Watersheds Project chal-

lenged the revisions, arguing that they were largely fashioned by graz-

ing interests and ignored much of BLM’s own science on the subject.

In unambiguous terms Judge Lynn Winmill of the Idaho District Court

agreed that the regulations were initiated by grazers, not the BLM,

stated the new regulations loosened grazing restrictions without

showing improvement, and that they limited public input and compro-

mised the BLM’s ability to properly manage grazing. Judge Winmill

also concluded that the BLM did not properly consult with the Fish &

Wildlife Service, violated NEPA and FLPMA, and that a review team had

modified the original science-based analysis with unexplained omis-

sions and revisions.

Judge Winmill put the revised regulations on hold until the BLM

obeys the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental

Policy Act. The decision is available at http://www.westernwater-

sheds.org/news_media/newsmedia.shtml. Click Read the Decision.

LADWP’s Green Path NorthThreatens California Desert

The Los Angeles Department of Water & Power’s proposed Green

Path North is yet another plan to put a new energy corridor through the

California desert. This plan proposes a path of high-transmission

power lines stretching from the Coachella Valley to Hesperia that

would slice through mostly undeveloped desert land, including the Big

Morongo Canyon Preserve ACEC and the Pipes Canyon Preserve.

The LADWP’s selling point for the project, that it would transmit

renewable geothermal power, ignores the many less environmentally

destructive ways for Los Angeles to green-up its energy supply, includ-

ing locally-generated solar energy and use of the latest technology to

transmit high-voltage energy along existing energy corridors. The fact

that the LADWP sought out an indirect transmission line path that goes

85 miles out of its way to zigzag across primarily public land (leasable

at $14.60 per linear mile) makes this project far from green.

Other than the application LADWP filed with the BLM, public infor-

mation on Green Path North is close to nonexistent. Local communities

have come together to form the California Desert Coalition specifically

to oppose Green Path North, and further information can be obtained

from the CDC at http://cadesertco.flashbyte.us.

continued from page 11 Public Invited to Review BLM’sOHV Grant Applications

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is inviting public comments

on its draft grant applications being proposed to the California

Department of Parks and Recreation, Off-Highway Motor Vehicle

Recreation Division (OHMVR). The draft BLM applications encompass

ap p r o x i m ately 90 projects, ranging from facility developments

to restoration work proposed throughout BLM’s 16 field offices in

the state.

The grant applications may be viewed at: http://www.blm.gov

/ca/st/en/prog/recreation/ohv/grants/2008.html. All public comments

received prior to close-of-business on September 7 will be forwarded

to OHMVR Division as part of the grant packag e s . Comments

written after this date should go directly to the Off-Highway Motor

Vehicle Commission with copies to the BLM.

Further information on the grant process is available on the OHMVR

website: http://www.ohv.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_ id=1164

For further details on BLM’s grant applications, contact BLM OHV

coordinator Jim Keeler at (916) 978-4654 or email, james_keel-

[email protected].

Revisions to the South CoastResource Management Plan

The Palm Springs-South Coast Field office of the Bureau of Land

Management (BLM) is preparing a revision to its 1994 Resource

Management Plan (RMP) for the South Coast Planning Area. This area

i n cludes 300,000 acres in parts of five counties: Los A n g e l e s ,

Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Orange. Increasing urban-

ization along with changes in a number of other factors will be reflect-

ed in the revised plan and the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

which will accompany it.

The planning process will begin with a “scoping” period in which

members of the public are invited to indicate the issues and concerns

which they wish to have addressed in the plan. Public scoping meet-

ings will be held in San Diego County, Riverside County, and Los

Angeles County in order to ensure local community participation and

input. All public meetings will be announced through the local news

media, newsletters, and the BLM Web site (http://www.blm.gov/ca) at

least 15 days prior to the event. Written comments will be accepted

within 30 calendar days of the last scheduled public scoping meeting.

Further information will be posted on the Palm Springs-South Coast

Field website (http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/palm springs.1.html) or

may be obtained from Greg Hill at (760-251-4840), or by e-mail to

[email protected].

CURRENT ISSUES

t the crossroads of California where valleys,mountains, and deserts meet, lies Tejon Ranch:270,750 acres of private land, the largest con-tiguous parcel left in California. Tejon straddles

the Tehachapi Range of the southern Sierra Mountains from theSan Joaquin Valley floor to the desert slopes of the AntelopeValley. Today, when driving “the Grapevine” section of Interstate5, people enjoy views of oak dappled grasslands and chaparralalong the western edge of Tejon. In spring, the slopes explode instunning wildflower shows.

Currently home to the California condor, Tejon Ranch is at acrossroads in time. Within the next few years, decisions will bemade that will irrevocably alter the fate of Tejon Ranch and thequintessential California natural landscape that we know today.

Why is Tejon Ranch so special?

Scientists consider Tejon Ranch to be a “biological diversityhotspot” because of its highly unique concentration of a largenumber of plants and animals. It is the only place where four“eco-regions” – the San Joaquin Valley, Mojave Desert, SierraNevada, and South Coast – converge. Home to over 80 imper-iled species, including the San Joaquin Kit Fox, CaliforniaSpotted Owl, the Tehachapi Slender Salamander, and many otherplants and animals that live no where else on Earth, it also pro-vides crucial biological connections between adjacent protectednatural lands, linking the Sierras to the southern coast ranges andthe desert to the coast and San Joaquin Valley.

Incomparable native grasslands on the east side of Tejon rep-resent a plant community that has been virtually eliminatedthroughout most of California and the West, supporting thepronghorn antelope, the namesake of the eastern valley. From

towering valley oaks to their diminutive scrub oak cousins, Tejoncontains the richest number of oak species in the state.

The land now called Tejon Ranch harbors a rich cultural lega-cy for numerous Native American tribes. Sacred sites and historicvillages are located throughout the property and are essential formaintaining and revitalizing tribal cultures. Historic ranchos andother ranching artifacts from the Californio period also remainon the ranch. Tejon is truly a living history of California’s richand extraordinary past.

Two of the largest earthquake faults in California meet onTejon Ranch: the San Andreas Fault (the mother of all fault linesin California) and the Garlock Fault, which forms the TehachapiMountains. These large, active, and wide destructive fault zonesare foolish places on which to build new cities.

What is planned for Tejon Ranch?

The Tejon Ranch Company, a publicly-traded company heav-ily invested in by Wall Street, has proposed a series of sprawlingurban developments that could destroy Tejon’s natural and cul-

{

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BY I L EENE ANDERSON AND ADAM KEAT S

CALIFORNIA CROSSROADS AT THE TEJON RANCH

More UnaffordableHousing… Or A New State

Or Federal Park?

Why is Tejon Ranch so special? It is the only place where four “eco-regions”– the San Joaquin Valley, Mojave Desert,

Sierra Nevada and South Coast – converge.It is also home to over 80 imperiled species.

tural heritage, jeopardize the recovery of the California condor,seriously congest southern California’s freeways and highways,and increase air pollution in two of the nation’s worst air qualitybasins. The Company is piecemealing these developments, whichare remote from any municipal infrastructure, to benefit theirdistant corporate stockholders. In doing so, they are violatingone of the prime considerations of environmental review: cumu-lative impact.

The proposed luxury “Tejon Mountain Village” in KernCounty, sprawling over 37,000 acres and building golf courses,second and third vacation homes, and commercial space, wouldcarve the heart out of Tejon. It would badly compromise primeCondor habitat – habitat upon which the survival of the speciesin the wild might depend. This exclusive development wouldirrevocably change the quality and quantity of wildlands in thiscrucial area of the Tehachapi Mountains, turning it into a play-ground for the wealthy homeowners.

The enormous 23,000-house “Centennial” project in LosAngeles County is the largest housing developmentever proposed in California’s history and is located onlands that currently support many more pronghornthan people. This new city would re q u i re long commutes to jobs in Los Angeles, Bakersfield, orP a l m d a l e / L a n c a s t e r, adding to traffic congestion, worsening air quality, and increasing green house gasemissions since there are no public transit systems toserve the area..

The partially constructed “Tejon IndustrialComplex” along Interstate 5 in Kern County is a mega-box industrial complex, slated for a major expansion onprime agricultural land. This “inland port” wouldincrease diesel truck traffic in the already seriously pol-luted southern San Joaquin Valley and add to truck traffic congestion on Interstate 5.

The burdens to local public services from these proj-ects are daunting. Ultimately, county taxpayers will payfor new basic infrastructure including fire protectionand emergency medical services in these remote areasof the counties.

… So what’s the solution?

Significant conservation investments have alreadybeen made to secure the biological connectivity aroundthe southern San Joaquin Valley. Using the nationalforests and monuments as building blocks, both privateand public monies have been used to secure adjacentareas as natural open space. One big gap remains –Tejon Ranch. Because of its unique natural, cultural,and historic re s o u rces, the Center for BiologicalDiversity and Sierra Club, in coordination with otherconservation organizations, are aiming to convincestate and federal officials that Tejon should be the gov-ernment’s highest priority for wildland protection – alasting legacy for our future generations. Based on eval-uations by eminent conservation biologists, this groupis asking state and federal officials to secure and pre-serve at least 245,000 acres of Tejon as a new state ornational park… forever.

When this goal is reached, everyone will be able toexplore and enjoy the oak dappled foothills of thesouthern Sierra Nevada, the fir-topped peaks of the

DESERT REPORT SEPTEMBER 2007 15 }{

Tehachapi Mountains, the poppy-covered desert slopes ofAntelope Valley, and glimpse the vast wingspan of prehistoricCondor!...all just 60 miles north of Los Angeles at Tejon-Tehachapi Park!

Ileene Anderson is a biologist with the Center for Biological Diversityand coordinator of the Center’s efforts to achieve the Tejon-TehachapiPark vision. Adam Keats is director of the Center for BiologicalDiversity’s Urban Wildlands Program.

To learn more about Tejon Natural Park, please visitwww.savetejonranch.org and www.sw-center.org/swcbd/programs/sprawl/tejon/index.html

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Proposed Vision for Tejon-Tehachapi Park

he California Desert Protection Act of 1994 desig-nated a number of new Wi l d e rness Areas inSouthern California because, as the act states, thewilderness values of the lands were becoming

increasingly threatened by “incompatible use and development.”Anthropogenic threats to Wilderness Areas nationwide are cer-tainly numerous and hard to ignore, including atmospheric pol-lutants, invasive species introduction, livestock grazing, and firesuppression. For the deserts of Southern California, however,one of the most direct and persistent human threats toWilderness Areas is recreational ORV (off-road vehicle) use,often in inappropriate or illegal settings. Indeed, the number ofillegal ORV incursions into wilderness is certainly in the thou-sands – too many for land management agencies to control – andis probably increasing.

Impacts of ORV use on soil and vegetation

The impacts of ORV use upon desert ecosystems are well doc-umented by scientists. When ORV tires come into contact withdesert soil, they destroy surface stabilizers and reduce both soilporosity and water infiltration capacity. As a result, desert soilsbecome far more susceptible to wind and water ero s i o n .Moreover, compacted soil can greatly inhibit the root growth ofdesert plants. In areas where ORV use is heavy, vegetation gen-erally becomes significantly denuded. These effects can occurafter only a few vehicle passes and cause noticeable damage dueto the fragility of desert soils and the slow recovery time of thedesert ecosystem.1

Impacts of ORV use on desert animals

Still, the greatest impacts of ORV use may be the effects it hashad upon desert animals, including federally threatened species.Lizard population densities tend to show marked declines inareas with heavy ORV use, probably as a result of a combinationof factors, including the loss of plant cover, reduction of inverte-brate food sources, and trampling deaths. A study of flat-tailedh o rn lizard populations at Ocotillo Wells State Ve h i c l eRecreation Area indicated that the lizards, which favor sandyareas, may have shifted or dispersed to less-suitable habitats as aresult of heavy ORV use.

Desert bighorn sheep populations have also been shown toavoid areas with heavy vehicular use. A study in CanyonlandsNational Park indicated that the sheep tend to avoid road corri-dors, resulting in 15 percent less use of potential suitable habitat.Additionally, ORV use has caused a substantial loss of habitat andreduction in habitat quality for the desert tortoise. High-densitytortoise populations formerly occupied many heavily used ORVareas, and continued use of these areas prevents the tortoisesfrom reestablishing themselves.2

Controlling ORV use

But how can illegal ORV use be controlled? Given that lawenforcement rangers simply cannot be everywhere at once, thereare only three realistic on-the-ground options: wilderness /closed route signs, barricades, and restoration.

For the past seven years, crews of Student ConservationAssociation (SCA) interns have been working in partnership withthe Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to restore illegal ORV

{

T


BY DAN IEL F. SHRYOCK , LAURA A . MEEK , AND THOMAS H . MEEK

Deterring ORV Use & Lessening its ImpactsRESTORATION, BARRICADES, AND SIGNAGE

Unauthorized Vehicle Trail before Restoration Identical Trail after Restoration

routes in the Wilderness and Limited-Use Areas of SouthernCalifornia, developing restoration techniques that both camou-flage incursions and encourage re-growth. Now the results arestarting to be quantified.

From September, 2006 to May, 2007, the SCA’s WildernessRestoration Corps VII monitored 190 restored and 555 non-restored incursions into 37 different Wilderness Areas. Usingthis data, they assessed the effectiveness of three strategies –restoration, hard barriers, and signs – at preventing illegal ORV use.

Restoration by camouflage

So how does one go about restoring the desert? Seven yearsago, the SCA attempted to answer this question, and the solutionarrived at by teams of interns was based on a very simple strategy: camouflage.

Today, the techniques in use by SCA crews are geared towardsblending illegal routes in with the surrounding landscape, while,at the same time, encouraging regrowth. The most common ofthese techniques is called vertical mulch, whereby dead shrubs orcreosote branches are gathered and replanted on illegal routes tolook like real, dead bushes. Typically, seed pits are then placed atthe base of the mulch, providing a convenient microclimate fornew plants to grow.

Some other commonly used restoration techniques includehorizontal mulch (laying dead plant matter, such as Joshua treelogs, across incursions), raking and sweeping to remove any visi-ble vehicle tracks, adding rocks from the surrounding landscape,and decompacting soil. When done well, these techniques cantrick even a discerning eye into believing that the incursion theyare hiding was never there at all.

Of the 190 restored incursions, 72.1 percent had not beendriven on again. In comparison, only 28.3 percent of the 555non-restored incursions (including those with wilderness signs orbarricades) were not being used.

Not surprisingly, restored incursions were significantly lesslikely to be used than others. But this is not all. Restoration alsoseemed to encourage regrowth. Indeed, one of the most com-monly noted locations for regrowth was at the base of verticalmulch, where seed pits are typically placed. Thus, restoration iseffective both at preventing ORV use on incursions and encour-aging regrowth.

The one caveat to these restoration strategies is that restora-tion may not be as effective on the largest of incursions – thosethat can be seen for long distances – such as hill climbs. In general, restoration is probably most effective on incursions thatcan only be seen for distances of up to about 100 meters.

Barricades

Like restoration, barricades can be a relatively effective meansof preventing vehicle use on incursions. Of the 124 barricadedincursions monitored, 60 percent (72) were effective at preventing all vehicle use. Still, this means that in 40 percent ofcases the barricades did not stop ORV users from driving onincursions. That’s a high number, considering the cost and effortinvolved in construction.

What’s more, barricades can only be used in desert environ-ments when there are natural features on both sides to preventusers from simply going around. There are no trees in the desertto provide convenient obstacles. And even when this condition is


met, there is always the potential for vandalism. In contrast, restoration seeks to camouflage incursions so that

users will never suspect that a route has been closed. Barricadescannot accomplish this, nor do they encourage plant regrowth.However, in certain environments where restoration cannot beused easily – sandy washes, in particular – barricades may still bethe most effective means of controlling ORV use.

Signage

Of the 745 incursions monitored, approximately 327 wereclearly marked with carsonite wilderness signs (not includingthose with barricades or wood posts). Nearly half of these incur-sions had at least a few sets of vehicle tracks when monitored,while another 20% had at least one set of tracks. This means thatonly a third of the signed incursions had not been driven on. Ifwe exclude incursions where restoration is present, the numberdrops to about a quarter.

Obviously, the wilderness signs alone are not preventing ille-gal ORV use. This does not mean that signs are not important,though. In fact, a statistical analysis of the non-restored incur-sions indicates that signs do help reduce the frequency of ORVuse to some extent. There also would be no way to indicate thelocation of wilderness boundaries without them.

The signs are simply not doing a good enough job. There aretoo many people driving past them. Alternative strategies, par-ticularly restoration, must be used in conjunction with wildernesssigns if ORV use is to be controlled.

ORV use must be restricted to legal routes

For several decades, ORV use in Southern California has beena serious threat to desert ecosystems. With the designation of 69new Wilderness Areas in 1994, this threat has become far tooserious to ignore. These areas are the home to several federallyt h reatened species. If Wi l d e rness Areas are to serve their scientific and re c reational function as pristine ecosystems unimpaired for future generations, then ORV use must berestricted to legal routes.

Seven years of restoration efforts by the SCA and the BLMhave helped, but there is still much work to be done. In an agewhen so many impacts are seemingly beyond our control – pol-lution, global warming, invasive species – can we really afford toleave this one unchecked?

Laura Meek and Daniel Shryock were interns with the StudentConservation Association during the 2006-2007 academic year whilethey assessed the effectiveness of various techniques in protecting wilder-ness for the Bureau of Land Management. Thomas Meek is a graduatestudent in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and OrganismalBiology, University of California, Riverside, California.

1 For more information on how ORVs affect desert soils and vegetation, see: R. H.Webb and H. G. Wilshire, editors. 1983. Environmental Effects of Off-road Vehicles:Impacts and Management in Arid Regions. Springer-Verlag, New York.

2 For more information on how ORVs affect desert animals, see: Beauchamp, et. al.1998. Habitat Use of the Flat-Tailed Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma mcallii) in aDisturbed Environment. Journal of Herpetology. Vol. 32: 210-216; Papouchis, et. al.2001. Responses of Desert Bighorn Sheep to Increased Human Recreation. The Journalof Wildlife Management. Vol. 65: 573-582; Boarman, W.I. and K. Beaman, editors.2002. The sensitive plant and animal species of the Western Mojave Desert. U. S.Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, Sacramento, CA.

17 }{

actions are simple paperwork exercises and do not have thepotential to affect cultural resources. For those that might havean effect, the next step is to identify historic or prehistoricresources within the reach, or Area of Potential Effect, of theproject. Cultural resources that are identified during this step areanalyzed and evaluated. The BLM will try to adjust the projectto avoid those cultural resources found to meet the criteria forlisting in the National Register. If the historic property can’t beavoided, we look for ways to lessen the impact to the resource orto preserve the information contained within it. These steps arecarried out in consultation with the State Historic PreservationOfficer and Native Americans.

Compliance is always a balancing act. The BLM has a multi-ple use mandate: to manage public lands in a manner that p rotects archaeological and natural re s o u rces while beingresponsive to the country’s needs for recreation, minerals, andenergy development (among other things). Project proponentswonder why it takes so much time to provide a cultural “clear-ance”. The answer is that cultural resources are part of our “irre-placeable heritage”. These cultural resources are fragile andfinite; once they are gone we have lost that part of our past for-ever. The time we take to identify significant resources and pro-vide for their protection is time well spent in the public interest.

In turn preservationists often express frustration that we areunable to ‘save’ every cultural resource. Although all culturalresources are left undisturbed whenever possible, the federalgovernment focuses primarily on protection and preservation ofsignificant resources- those listed or eligible for listing on theNRHP.

My job, the job of federal agency archaeologists, is to repre-sent the interests of our shared National heritage and to involvethe public, other agencies, and Native Americans in the federalland management process.

Your job is to respect and protect these fragile and irreplace-able traces of our past.

* The National Register is the official list of cultural resourcesdeemed worthy of preservation , and we refer to listed resourcesas ‘historic properties’ – whether they are historic in age or areolder, prehistoric resources.

Wanda Raschkow is the Cultural Resources Specialist/Archaeologist forthe Bureau of Land Management in the Palm Springs-South CoastField Office. The Field Office manages approximately two million acresof land – a sizeable storehouse of cultural and spiritual resources, themajority of which have not yet been identified.

ings on significant and irreplaceable cultural resources.Section 110 (NHPA) answers the concerns for preservation,

rounds out the responsibilities of federal agencies that require thedevelopment of preservation programs, and includes proactiveidentification and protection of historic properties. Section 110and BLM’s preservation program are the ‘fun’ part of a federalarchaeologist’s job. This is where public education, volunteerprograms, and archaeology for the sake of archaeology come into play.

What is the role of a federal agency archeologist? Federalagencies, as EO 11593 states, are expected to “administer the cul-tural properties under their control in a spirit of stewardship andtrusteeship for future generations and initiate measures necessaryto direct their policies, plans and programs in such a way that fed-erally owned sites, structures, and objects of historical, architec-tural, or archaeological significance are preserved, restored, andmaintained for the inspiration and benefit of the people.” Thefederal archeologist, or cultural resources specialist, providesexpert advice to agency decision-makers and provides leadershipfor agency preservation and protection efforts. The culturalresources specialist also provides an access point for public andNative American participation in decisions that may affect signif-icant, and spiritual, properties.

As a federal archaeologist, much of my time is engaged inwhat we refer to as “compliance” or NHPA Section 106 review.This involves incorporating the procedures and processes of theNHPA into the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) environ-mental analysis process. The cultural resources process runs par-allel and is similar in purpose to natural resources protectionefforts. Where agency biologists and natural resources staffconcern themselves with the protection of critical habitat ande n d a n g e red species, cultural specialists protect historic and prehistoric properties.

The process essentially follows this path: a federal archaeolo-gist/cultural specialist is first called upon to determine if the proj-ect has the potential to affect cultural resources. Some federal



Protection Of Historic And Cultural Resources: A Personal Account

Visit BLM’s cultural heritage programs:www.blm.gov/heritage/adventures/

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Archaeological resources are protected under a variety of federal laws and

regulations. The Archaeological ResourcesProtection Act of 1979 (ARPA) provides

both civil and criminal penalties for the excavation, removal, damage, alteration,

or defacement of archaeological resources.

DESERT REPORT SEPTEMBER 2007 { }19

hen most Americansthink about mesquitetrees they only thinkabout the tree as a

source of charcoal for barbeques. Moreknowledgeable individuals also know thatmesquite wood is very hard, stable duringtimes of changing humidity, and useful formaking furniture and other small items. Tothe Native Americans of the Southwest,however, the mesquite tree was the mostimportant tree in their lives. An all purposet ree, it was a source of food, fuel, shelter,f i b e r, dyes, and wood for tools and weapons.

Prior to European settlement in the Southwest, extensivemesquite occurred in many of the lower elevation valleys ofSouthern California, Southern Nevada, Arizona, and NorthernMexico where groundwater lay close to the surface. The mostwidespread species of mesquite is the honey mesquite (Prosopisglandulosa), found in washes and low places, and screwbeanmesquite (Prosopis pubescens), found only in and near riparianareas. Due to firewood cutting, groundwater pumping, cattlegrazing. and development many mesquite forests are just smallremnants of what they once were. Most of us today think ofmesquite as a shrub or small tree, but in earlier times, before dis-turbance and where groundwater was plentiful, trees thirty feettall with trunks one to two feet in diameter were not uncommon.Prior to agricultural development there were extensive mesquiteforests with many large trees in the lower Coachella Valley. In thelate 1960’s and early 70’s when I first noticed mesquite there werestill some large trees although they were no longer healthy dueto a falling water table.

Mesquite, a member of the pea family (Fabacae), produces abean like pod which encapsulates the plant’s seeds. The pods ofhoney mesquite, edible during all stages of development, are use-ful as soon as they are big enough to grab. The immature greenpods were picked by Native Americans, roasted and eaten likegreen beans. They could also be crushed and eaten raw. The fullydeveloped but not dried pods were crushed, cooked and eaten.The dried pods were either picked off the trees or gathered afterfalling to the ground. The dried pods could either be processedimmediately or stored for later use. The fact that the dry podscould be stored for extended periods of time was of great impor-tance to the desert tribes who were dependent upon this staple

food source for a portion of the year. Manyof these tribes were semi-nomadic andmigrated between the lowlands in the coolmonths and the higher elevations in the hot months.

Although we are moving away from theregional cuisines of our predecessors, it isi m p o rtant to recognize that NativeAmericans had strong regional traditions forhow they utilized the same food resources.For example, the Cahuilla people of theCoachella Valley used storage granaries madeof sticks, elevated above the ground surf a c eand covered with thatch, to provide pro t e c-

tion from the elements and rodents while the Timbisha of DeathValley stored their mesquite pods in lined underg round pits.

Unlike most edible plants of the pea family, the seeds of thehoney mesquite are not the primary edible portion of the plant.The flesh of the seed pod consists of a sweet tasting carbohydratematerial which makes up most of the mass of the pod. The seedsare small and only a minor part of the pod by weight. Some treesbear much sweeter pods than others so that trees with the sweet-est pods were preferred. The dried pods were prepared for eat-ing by pounding and grinding the pods, using a mortar and pes-tle. The resulting material was sifted through a porous basket toseparate the seeds from the pod flour. The seeds were set asideand saved. Th e Timbisha used wooden mortars made fro mmesquite stumps and stone pestles while people like the Seri ofN o rthwest Mexico used stone bedrock mortars and wooden pestles.

The Timbisha took the pod flour, moistened it with a smallamount of water, gently kneaded it to evenly distribute the mois-ture and made a patty over a form like an upturned basket. Theythen covered the surface with the seeds saved from the grindingprocess and set it aside to dry in a place protected from the sun.The covering of seeds and protection from sunlight kept thematerial from turning dark and being less desirable. Once thepatty was dry the layer of seeds was scraped off and discarded.The dried cake was then ready to eat or could be stored for lateruse. The seeds themselves were not normally eaten because ofthe difficulty in separating the edible portion from the hard,inedible portion of the seed. The Timbisha would remain on the

BY J OHN HIAT T

W

Above: Honey Mesquite: Leaves, Flowers, Pods


MESQUITEThe Desert’s Tree Of Life

California/Nevada Regional Conservation CommitteeDesert Committee

Outings

Following is a listing of Desert Committee Outings. There are carcamps, tours, day hikes, backpacks, service trips, and others thatcombine two or more or those activities. Outings are not rated; dis-tance and elevation gain can give you an indication of the suitability of a trip; but the condition of the trail, or lack of a trail canchange the degree of difficulty. An eight mile, 900’ elevation gainhike on a good trail would be easy to moderate, the same hike cross-country could be strenuous. It is recommended that participants callthe leader and ask about the suitability of the outing given your conditioning, particularly if it is your first time on that type of trip.

If you have not participated in a service trip, give it some thought.They certainly involve work, but they are also a lot of fun. You havean opportunity not only to help the environment, but also to meetnew people and to work with staff knowledgeable about the area.Trips frequently include a hike the next day that may explore a littleknown or seldom visited area, or even perhaps one that is generallyoff limits to the public.

For questions about a particular outing or to sign up, please contact the leader listed in the write-up. For questions about DesertCommittee Outings in general, or to receive the outings list by e - m a i l , please contact Kate Allen at [email protected] or 661-944-4056.

Like nearly all organizations that sponsor outdoor travel, theSierra Club is now obliged to require participants to sign a standardliability waiver at the beginning of each trip. If you would like to read the Liability Waiver before you choose to participate on an out-ing, please go to:http://www.sierraclub.org/outings/chapter/forms/,or contact the Outings Department at (415) 977-5528 for a printed version.

El Paso Wilderness Area Service Trip (South of Ridgecrest, CA)October 6-7, Saturday-Sunday

Help install tortoise ramps in two guzzlers in this wilderness areasouth of Ridgecrest, CA. Desert tortoise can become trapped inthese watering spots, ramps will enable them to drink and to getout safely. BLM will supply ramps and tools. Two-mile hike onSaturday to work site, carrying tools. Visit to interesting arche-ological site along the way. Sunday, shorter hike, with a visit toan historic site. BLM Wilderness Coordinator Marty Dickes willdirect the installation efforts. Car camp Friday and Saturdaynights. Happy hour and potluck dinner Saturday night. Ldr:Kate Allen 661-944-4056, [email protected] CNRCC DesertCommittee

Carrizo Plains Service TripOctober 13-15, Saturday-Monday

Explore and Serve in the Carrizo Plains National Monument:Pronghorn antelope will not jump fences to escape predators but

rather attempt to crawl under. Our service on Saturday will mod-ify several sections of fence to facilitate this mobility. Sunday willbe, at the choice of the group, either a hike in the Caliente Rangeor else a tour of popular viewing areas in the plains. Those whocan stay on Monday will continue assisting in fence modification.This is an opportunity to combine carcamping, day hiking,exploring, and service in a relatively unknown wildern e s s .Contact Ldr: Craig Deutsche, (310-477-6670), [email protected] CNRCC Desert Committee

Tamarisk Removal in the Santa Rosa Wilderness October 20, Saturday

Work with the BLM to help clear Devil’s Canyon of this invasiveplant. Meet 8 AM in Indio, at the Mobil Station at the corner ofHighway 111 and Jefferson St. Caravan to Boo Hoff trailhead


Leaders wanted! Would you like to lead trips for the Desert Committee?We are looking for certified Sierra Club leaders to conduct service tripswith the BLM, the National Park Service, and other organizations. Thereare more opportunities for service trips than there are leaders available.Service trips can be one day, a weekend or several days. Much of the planning will be done by the entity for which the work is being done.

Trips wanted! To all Sierra Club Leaders: do you have a trip planned thatyou might like to see in the Desert Report? Desert Committee outings aresent to every chapter newsletter in California and Nevada. Listing with theCommittee can increase participation - and gives you chance to meet people from outside your local group. Please contact Kate Allen [email protected] or 661-944-4056 for further information.

Other sources of desert trips Other organizations sponsor desert trips.Among these are the Desert Survivors, Friends of the Nevada Wilderness,and Utah Backcountry Volunteers. These are not Sierra Club organizations,nor are their trips endorsed by the Sierra Club; the information is provided because it may be of interest to readers. It is up to individuals todetermine the suitability of trips offered by other organizations.

Desert Survivors: http://www.desert-survivors.org. Must be a memberto participate. Name implies rugged, strenuous trips, and some of themare, but there are also some more moderate trips. Check ‘em out.

Friends of the Nevada Wilderness: http://www.nevadawilderness.orgFriends of Nevada Wilderness organizes volunteer restoration trips to helpwild landscapes recover from noxious weeds, illegal vehicle use, and otherimpacts. You can explore scenic Nevada and help keep it wild at the sametime! These trips are free, and the beautiful wild areas you get to enjoy arepriceless! Please check the Friends website or their blogspot athttp://nevadawild.blogspot.com for a list of upcoming trips.

Utah Backcountry Volunteers: www.utahbackcountry.org This grouppartners with agencies such as the Forest Service, Bureau of LandM a n ag e m e n t , and Park Service to identify on-the-ground projects and then conduct service trips that restore, repair and maintain our public lands.

Mesquite: The Desert’s Tree Of Lifecontinued from page 19

DESERT REPORT SEPTEMBER 2007 { 21 }

and hike 2 miles to the work site. We will cut down the tamariskwith loppers and hand saws, then herbicide will be applied toprevent resprouting. Chance to see Native American rock artand native fan palms along the moderate hiking trail. Ldr: RalphSalisbury, [email protected] (preferred) or 951-686-4141. Day of outing use 951-522-2993. San Gorg o n i oChapter/CNRCC Desert Committee

Equestrian Trail Hike - Joshua Tree National ParkOctober 20, Saturday

People say the best way to keep a secret is to publish it. Heregoes: this is a breezy five or six- mile hike on a seldom-usedhorse trail in a very scenic area of the park. Bring a couple ofquarts of water and a lunch, wear comfortable boots and maybea camera. Being as I’m writing this in July I have no idea of whatthe weather will be in late October. We’ll discuss clothing whenyou call. Moderate to difficult. See you there! Al and Ann Murdy(760)366-2932 or aemurd y @ e e e . o rg San Gorg o n i oChapter/CNRCC Desert Committee

Ghost Town ExtravaganzaOctober 20-21, Saturday-Sunday

Come with us to this spectacular desert landscape near DeathValley to explore the ruins of California’s colorful past. Camp atthe historic ghost town of Ballarat (flush toilets & hot showers).On Sat, do a challenging hike to ghost town Lookout City withexpert Hal Fowler who will regale us with tales of this wild westtown. Later we’ll return to camp for Happy Hour, a potluck feastand campfire. On Sun, a quick visit to the infamous Riley townsite before heading home. Group size strictly limited. Send $8per person (Sierra Club), 2 sase, H&W phones, email, rideshareinfo to Ldr: Lygeia Gerard, P.O. Box 294726, Phelan, CA 92329;(760) 868-0979. CNRCC Desert Committee

Wild and Scenic Amargosa October 20-21, Saturday-Sunday

We will travel by car and foot to visit a number of sites in theTecopa/Shoshone area immediately south of Death Valley: fossilsites, rock alignments, mining relics, pioneer graves, and the outstanding riparian area along the Amargosa River. We meet inBaker and will conclude in Shoshone. Saturday evening will be acar camp with a potluck dinner and campfire. One of the localresidents will talk with us about the past and future of this historic area. High clearance 2WD sufficient. Group limit, 12persons, Contact leader Craig Deutsche (310-477-6670),[email protected]. CNRCC Desert Committee

Holiday Service in Carrizo Plain National MonumentDecember 29, 2007 - January 3, 2008, Saturday-Thursday

Celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of the next inone of our new national monuments. The Carrizo Plain, west ofBakersfield, is vast grassland, home to pronghorn antelope, tuleelk, kit fox, and a wide variety of birds. A welcome hike on Dec.29, three and a half days of service modifying barbed wirefencing, and a full day for hiking and exploring are planned. Useof accommodations at Goodwin Ranch included. Limited to 12participants, $25 covers five dinners. For more information, contact leader: Craig Deutsche, [email protected], (310-477-6670), or co-leader leader Melinda Goodwater,[email protected], (408-774-1257). CNRCC DesertCommittee

floor of Death Valley until the crop of mesquite pods was fullyripe in late May or June, then gather and store part of the cropwhile processing the rest into cakes which they would carry withthem as they moved to higher elevations for the summer.

Anyone who has tried to walk through a mesquite groveknows that the twigs and smaller branches are covered witht h o rns. To improve access and help avoid the thorns theTimbisha would use sticks to prop up the lower branches so thatthey could walk underneath them to pick the pods or gatherthem from the ground. They would break off the dead limbs forfirewood and to improve access. The trees provided shade dur-ing the warmer months when leafed out and shelter from thewind at all times. The trunks and larger limbs provided ready-made supports for shelters. Shelters consisted of a woodenframework covered with a layer of thatch. A common thatchmaterial used in Death Valley was arrow-weed. The cut stemswere tied into bundles using strips of mesquite bark peeled fromyoung limbs and then the bundles were tied onto the woodenframework.

The heartwood of honey mesquite is hard, dark brown, andvery stable, neither expanding nor contracting very much withchanges in humidity. It was used by Native Americans for a vari-ety of tools and weapons in addition to the structural compo-nents of shelters and furniture.

Americans of European descent are just beginning to appreci-ate mesquite trees as one of the iconic plants of the lowlands ofthe Southwest deserts. As we are forced by a growing populationand shrinking water supply to adapt to a lifestyle in which wateris more and more precious, mesquite trees are becoming a verynoticeable part of the urban landscape. In some of the older res-idential neighborhoods of Las Vegas native mesquite trees weresaved at the time of development and are still a prominent land-scape feature. Hopefully, we will again appreciate mesquite treesfor all the things they can provide.

I deeply appreciate the help of Pauline Esteves of theTimbisha Shoshone in Death Valley for sharing her knowledgeof the historic role of the honey mesquite tree in the lives of herpeople. Additional information was taken from “People of theDesert and Sea” by R.S. Felger and M.B. Moser.

John Hiatt, a desert activist living in Las Vegas, Nevada, is a boardmember of Friends of Nevada Wilderness.

Honey Mesquite: Food, Shelter, Fuel, Fiber, Dyes, and Wood


Grazing: The Essential Range Management Tool

livestock use, and much more pleasing to the eye. Old vegetationtends to be much less palatable to all grazing animals because it is lower in nutrients and higher in toxins than fresh younggrowth.

Do we ponder the fact that wildlife and waterfowl almostalways move to the grazed or mowed areas on private lands fol-lowing harvest of the crop? Do we attempt to correlate thatobservance with similar choices made by wildlife occurring onfederal lands? In this sheepherder’s opinion, non-grazing by live-

stock can be as damaging to diversity and production of range-land as is overgrazing. By my observation, wildlife often chooseto forage or browse in areas earlier-grazed by livestock, overthose not grazed, because the mature plants grazed by livestockoften regenerate succulent fresh growth for those that follow.

Over the four decades I depended on rangeland ranching, ourranch hosted large flocks of Canada geese and numerous pro n g-h o rn antelope moving onto our private land fol-lowing harvest. We watched pro n g h o rn ante-lope move quickly into rangeland pastures fro mwhich we had recently removed cattle, and weo b s e rved mule deer abandon their traditionalwinter range in North Spring Valley (NV) infavor of moving to a large burn five miles distantonly two years after it burned. Bambi and hisfriends show us what they like; it’s our duty asstudents of the range to observe, accommodate,and monitor for the good of all users.

Many if not most sources of water for live-stock and wildlife on Nevada’s federal landsw e re developed by the grazing industry.Without those strategically-located improve-ments, the waterless range would be beyondreach for all browsing and grazing species -private grazing interests have for more than acentury helped distribute wildlife and livestockon federal lands through expenditure of privatefunds to capture rainfall or bring water to thesurface for the benefit of all.

Public lands ranchers pay a formula-basedfee for grazing on federal land - the fee is farless than advertised private-land-lease rates, solet’s compare briefly the overall costs of private

versus federal land grazing. Private lands are generally relativelysmall fenced pastures requiring little lessee travel expense forlivestock management, with the private landowner often provid-ing property maintenance, irrigation, stockwater, and some live-stock management and care. Federal lands are dry, wide openexpanses requiring extensive management travel over roads notmaintained, resulting in accelerated wear and tear on expensivevehicles. Truck, fuel, tire, wage, and maintenance costs, whenadded to the federal grazing fee, result in overall federal-rangegrazing costs to the lessee equal to or greater than private-land-grazing rates. Though the government employs a large work-force to monitor, police, and help design and install projects onour federal ranges, it provides no livestock management or care.Yet, the American public derives significant benefits from appro-priately managed grazing on the public lands. Properly grazedlands support greater numbers and variety of wildlife than com-parable ungrazed lands, and the rancher picks up the tab.

It is well established that overgrazing destroys rangelanddiversity and production. Conversely, resultant affects of non-grazing, as shown by the results from numerous exclosures acrossNevada, suggest that lack of grazing leads to plant decadence,loss of diversity, and diminishing benefit for wildlife. Thereexists no good substitute for properly-managed grazing in stim-ulating and maintaining plant health and vigor for the good of allusers be they human, animal or insect.

Brent Eldridge comes from a multi-generational ranching family inSpring Valley, NV, and currently serves as chairman of the White PineCounty Commission. He lives in Ely, Nevada.

Cattle Drive Ruby Lakes Valley, northeast NV

Across Nevada, exclosure studies haveshown that absence of grazing does not

automatically lead to an increased diversityof vegetation and healthier plants.

DESERT REPORT SEPTEMBER 2007{ }22

Published by the Sierra Club California/Nevada Desert Committee

All policy, editing, reporting, design and layout is the work ofvolunteers. To receive Desert Report mail the coupon on theback cover. Articles, photos, letters and original art are welcome.Please contact Craig Deutsche ([email protected], 310-477-6670) about contributions well in advance of deadline dates: Feb 1, May 1, Aug 1, Nov 1.

Our Mission

The Sierra Club California/Nevada Desert Committee works forthe protection and conservation of the Californ i a / N e v a d adeserts; supports the same objectives in all desert areas of theSouthwest, monitors and works with governments and agenciesto promote preservation of our arid lands, sponsors educationand work trips, encourages and supports others to work for thesame objectives, and maintains, shares and publishes informationabout the desert.

Editorial StaffPUBLISHER AND MANAGING EDITORCraig [email protected](310-477-6670)

EXECUTIVE EDITORJudy [email protected](818-248-0402)

CO-EDITORSAndrea [email protected](818-988-2433)

Ann [email protected](775-827-2353)

Liz [email protected](510-845-2963)

OUTINGS EDITORKate [email protected](661-944-4056)

GRAPHIC DESIGNJason [email protected](310-989-5038)

OfficersCHAIRTerry [email protected](805-966-3754)

VICE CHAIRJoan Taylor(760-778-1101)

SECRETARYStan [email protected](760-375-8973)

OUTINGS CHAIRKate [email protected](661-944-4056)

DATA BASE ADMINISTRATORSLori [email protected](909-621-7148)

Tom [email protected](310-476-1731)

Carl [email protected](805-653-2530)

CoordinatorsCALIFORNIA WILDERNESSDESIGNATION AND PROTECTIONVicky [email protected](415-928-1038)

NEVADA WILDERNESS DESIGNATION AND PROTECTIONMarge Sill(775-322-2867)

ORV ISSUESGeorge Barnes (public lands)[email protected](650-494-8895)

Phil Klasky (private lands)[email protected](415-531-6890)

NEVADA MINING ISSUESDan [email protected](775-348-1986)

CALIFORNIA MINING ISSUESStan Haye(760-385-8973)

TEJON RANCH DEVELOPMENTJoe [email protected](661-821-2055)

IMPERIAL COUNTY ISSUESTerry [email protected](619-299-3775)

EASTERN SAN DIEGOTerry [email protected](619-299-3775)

SUNRISE POWERLINKMicha [email protected](619-299-1797)

RED ROCK STATE PARK (CA)Jeannie [email protected](760-375-8973)

ANZA-BORREGO STATE PARKDiana [email protected](619-258-4905 x104)

EASTERN RIVERSIDE COUNTYDESERTSDonna [email protected](760-347-7586)

CARRIZO PLAIN MANAGEMENT PLANCraig [email protected](310-477-6670)

NEVADA WATER ISSUESJohn [email protected](702-361-1171)

PANAMINT/INYO MOUNTAINSTom [email protected](310-476-1731)

COACHELLA VALLEY ISSUESJeff [email protected](760-324-8696)

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