Public meetings set on proposed Marine expansion at Twentynine Palms
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
By DAVID DANELSKI
The Press-Enterprise
People who want to learn more about Marine Corps plans to add as much as 424,000 acres to the Twentynine Palms training center will have a chance this week at three public meetings.
Military officials have said they need the additional territory for weapons testing and live-ammunition exercises to enhance their ability to fight terrorists.
The expansion would include almost 76,000 acres of private property and most of the Johnson Valley Off-Highway Vehicle Area, a 189,000-acre mecca for motorcyclists and other off-roading enthusiasts. It also would include habitat for desert tortoises, bighorn sheep and other wildlife.
The meetings -- one Thursday in Twentynine Palms and two Friday in Victorville -- are an early step in the three- to five-year expansion process. The plan will be scrutinized in a detailed environmental study and ultimately would require approval from Congress and the president.
Military and U.S. Bureau of Land Management officials will make introductory statements and then be available at tables to answer questions, said Capt. Amy Malugani, a spokeswoman for the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center.
Military officials said the land added to the training center would be used to test weapons systems on the MV-22 Osprey vertical takeoff aircraft and the Joint Strike Fighter, the Marines' first stealth jet.
The military's contention that the training grounds are needed for national security isn't necessarily a slam-dunk justification, according to a study published this week by a North Carolina State University professor.
"The government can no longer rely solely on the 'war on terrorism' and 'national security' as arguments to maintain a crisis situation where local people willingly sacrifice protection of their 'homeland,' " Kenneth Zagacki said in a university news release.
The study examined how the U.S. Navy abandoned plans this year to acquire more than 30,000 acres for a landing field in rural North Carolina -- land the Navy had been saying for five years was needed for national security, Zagacki said.
Residents there opposed the expansion and put the Navy in an "awkward position" by arguing that the landing field would destroy the very homeland the military was trying to protect, wrote Zagacki, a professor of rhetoric, in his study published in the Southern Communications Journal.
Malugani said the military has made no final decisions on the Twentynine Palms proposal and could use the information gathered at the public meetings to develop alternative plans.
Marines Corps' plans to acquire land raise residents' concerns
By DAVID DANELSKI
The Press-Enterprise
Desert residents said Thursday that they fear Marines Corps plans to expand the 932-square-mile Twentynine Palms combat training center will take their homes, curtail their off-road recreation and destroy wildlife habitat.
More than 50 people attended the first of three public meetings the military and U.S. Bureau of Land Management are hosting this week to answer questions about the proposal to expand the training center by as much as two-thirds.
"I'm very concerned," said artist Thom Merrick, of Wonder Valley, a rural area that borders the eastern side of the existing military land.
"It's like living next to a giant that knows no end to its hunger."
Merrick said he and several other Wonder Valley residents can't tell from the maps provided by the military whether their homes are inside the proposed expansion area.
In introductory remarks, Col. Wes Weston assured the crowd of about 100 gathered Thursday at Twentynine Palms Junior High School that nothing had been decided yet.
"It's very early in the process," he said.
There will be many public meetings and a thorough environmental study, and the final plan ultimately would require approval from Congress and the president.
The military contends additional land is needed to test weapons systems on the MV-22 Osprey vertical takeoff aircraft and the Joint Strike Fighter, the Marines' first stealth jet.
Military officials want enough space for three battalions to maneuver simultaneously using live ammunition accompanied by air support. Each battalion would have about 1,000 Marines aided by other troops performing command and logistics duties.
"This is to make sure we train the Marines and make sure they are ready for combat," Weston said.
But many of the residents who showed up Thursday were more worried about losing land than fighting wars.
The 424,000 acres identified by the military cover almost 76,000 acres of private property and most of the Johnson Valley Off-Highway Vehicle Area, a 189,000-acre playground for motorcyclists and other off-roading enthusiasts.
Veteran off-roader Pat Geer, of Yucca Valley, said she is worried about the possible loss of Johnson Valley to dirt lovers like her.
"I've been off-roading for decades, and it's in my heart," she said. "There's not much free land left."
The expansion area encompasses an array of geological features, such as Bristol Dry Lake, known for its salt mining; Amboy Crater and the surrounding lava fields; and the Sheephole Mountains and Cadiz Valley.
Several wilderness areas border the land the Marines are seeking.
D-Anne Albers, who lives in Wonder Valley and works with Defenders of Wildlife environmental group, said the expansion area includes prime desert tortoise habitat north of Johnson Valley and bighorn sheep habitat east of the training center.
The expansion could take territory the animals need at a time when desert wildlife habitat elsewhere is being claimed for solar and wind projects, Albers said.
"It would be very bad. The desert is just getting eaten up."
A Navy research group looked at 11 other potential training sites in the nation, including Fort Bragg and Camp Pendleton, but only Twentynine Palms has sufficient airspace and land, according to the Navy's application to acquire public lands.
Two additional public meetings are scheduled today in Victorville: 1 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn, 12603 Mariposa Road. _________________ www.UTVGuide.net www.DuneGuide.com
The OHV community has known for some time that the Marine Corps was looking to expand its training operations into the existing Johnson Valley OHV area, one of the premier OHV recreation areas in the country, just east of Los Angeles (San Bernardino County). Well, the other shoe dropped on August 13th when the Marine Corps filed the necessary paperwork with the Bureau of Land Management requesting that approximately 421,270 acres of land be withdrawn from public use and eventually designated for the exclusive use of the Marine Corps for training exercises "in the interest of Homeland Defense and the War on Terrorism."
Because of the size of the land transfer, approval of this request requires action by the Congress. For those of you not familiar with Johnson Valley, this is the largest open OHV area in the country, 189,000 acres to be exact. The possible closure of this area to OHV recreation could have a devastating impact on OHV recreation in southern California.
The review process for considering the Marine Corps request has just begun. Until a final decision has been made, OHV recreation will continue to be allowed in the Johnson Valley area. OHV leaders in southern California are working to identify potential alternative sites for OHV use in the event Congress approves the transfer from the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management to the Marine Corps.
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Marine Base Threatens Hammer Trails - Johnson Valley
Marine Base Expansion Threatens OHV Area
The Johnson Valley Off-Highway Vehicle Area is home to the Hammer Trails, which are treasured by off-road enthusiasts from around the world. However, it is part of a potential expansion of the battlefield training grounds at Twentynine Palms Marine Base and faces possible closure. Recently, a popular Web site mounted a four-hour virtual online rally in a show of support to keep all of the Johnson Valley OHV Area open. There were 1,495 messages posted and over 33,000 page views during the four hours in support of the 140,000-acre OHV area, located southeast of Barstow, California. The rally allowed participants to voice their opinion about the potential attempt by the Marines to take over the important Hammer Trails and provided the opportunity to show admiration for troops and support for the U.S. military.
The Marine Corps "USMC Land Acquisition" presentation included a map with areas they were interested in expanding. Considering that the maps on the USMC document are practically unreadable, it is hard to tell exactly where the lines are. Once scaled to the same size and overlaid, it looks like the "Johnson Valley Expansion" area would take a precious part of the north area of Johnson Valley OHV. The "additional area of interest" would take away even more of the land that is so valuable to off-road enthusiasts from around the world.
Although we wholeheartedly support our troops and their families and believe the Marines must have the best training grounds available, we need to do everything we can to help find an alternative to the Twentynine Palms expansion and the closure of Johnson Valley OHV Area to recreationists. The military wouldn't be taking over an empty area of the desert, as the Hammer Trails are one of the best four-wheeling areas in the world, and the Johnson Valley OHV Area is priceless and could never be replaced. Organizations such as the California Off-Road Vehicle Association (CORVA) and the BlueRibbon Coalition are already taking the lead on this issue. At the rate we are losing public recreational land, it's imperative that all off-road enthusiasts get involved in the struggle to keep all of these lands open for everyone to enjoy.
Call to Action
A coalition representing off-highway enthusiasts met with representatives of Twentynine Palms Marine Base to review the Military's possible plans for the '50s-era base. The proposed expansion would increase the Marine Base into adjoining Bureau of Land Management (BLM) desert land, which may include Johnson Valley. The goal of the coalition is to gather information as a united group and meet on a regular basis with the military in an effort to work toward a mutually agreeable solution.
The military has been evaluating options for base expansions in an effort to provide increased training areas for our nation's military, and has previously indicated their intent to be "good neighbors." The proposed expansion is in an evaluation stage only.
The California desert is a finite resource that has been allocated over the past seven decades to a multitude of public purposes and uses. One of those uses is national defense training, and the USMC is evaluating the feasibility of a major reallocation of that finite resource. Ultimately, the coalition is asking for continued access to our public lands.
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