By Kathy Bancroft Lone Pine, California, the town where I was born and have lived all my life, sits in the valley by Conglomerate Mesa a mile from Death Valley National Park. I call the place Payahuunadü, meaning “land of flowing water.” The Mesa hosts a vibrant, beautiful and productive ecosystem of rare and unique desert plants, as well as culturally sensitive and archeologically significant artifacts. Returning to the Mesa, I am thrown back to my childhood, gathering pinyon nuts, listening to my relatives share our stories, and performing traditional rituals. Conglomerate Mesa is the traditional homeland of my people,…
Conglomerate Mesa
In case you missed our Desert Policy Associate Bryan Hatchell’s interview with KMMT FM Arts, Culture & Entertainment (ACE) Show Host John DeMaria on August 13, please use the media player below to listen to the full interview. Bryan provides a good education on the natural, cultural and environmental value of Conglomerate Mesa as he appeals to listeners to provide public comments to the Ridgecrest Bureau of Land Management by the August 30, 2021 deadline. After listening to the show, please visit the Protect Conglomerate Mesa Website, ProtectConglomerateMesa.com, and click on our Action Alert to access important information, including our…
In their next phase of destructive gold exploration, Canadian company K2 Gold, through its subsidiary Mojave Precious Metals, LLC, is proposing to build 2.7 miles of brand-new roads and 1.1 miles of overlanding routes to access 30 different drill sites and drill 120 holes on Conglomerate Mesa. The total impact is estimated to be 12.2 acres, more than 61 times as much as K2 Gold’s previous exploration activities. Comment by August 30th to #ProtectConglomerateMesa from K2 Gold’s proposed mining activity!
This issue contains the time-sensitive news that the Ridgecrest BLM has announced the opening of a Public Scoping Comment Period for K2 Gold and Mojave Precious Metals’ (MPM) next gold exploration proposal at Conglomerate Mesa. This destructive project proposes miles of new road construction and 120 drill holes in wilderness-like lands. Friends of the Inyo urges you to comment now and stand up for this beloved landscape. Read below for all details and materials to help you make comments. The deadline to comment is August 30th! Don’t wait!
BISHOP, CA — Today, the Bureau of Land Management announced the opening of the public comment period for the proposed mining project at Conglomerate Mesa, located on traditional homelands of the Paiute-Shoshone and Timbisha Shoshone and about one mile from California’s Death Valley National Park. K2 Gold’s proposal will impact at least 12 acres of Conglomerate Mesa. The company proposes to drill 1,000 feet down at seven locations to collect samples for gold analysis and to develop nearly three miles of new roads. Mining and drilling in the region would permanently destroy cultural resources and traditional cultural use sites, as…
In their next phase of destructive gold exploration, Canadian company K2 Gold, through its subsidiary Mojave Precious Metals, LLC, is proposing to build 2.6 miles of brand new roads and 1.1 miles of overlanding routes to access 30 different drill sites and drill 120 holes on Conglomerate Mesa. The total impact is estimated to be 12.2 acres, more than 61 times as much as K2 Gold’s previous exploration activities. The Ridgecrest Bureau of Land Management has opened up its 30-day public scoping comment period through August 30th. If you love Conglomerate Mesa and want to protect it, participate now!
Opinion: Gold mining not necessary for renewable energy future By Wendy Schneider, Executive Director, Friends of the Inyo There are many reasons to protect Conglomerate Mesa, ancestral homeland of the Shoshone (Newe), Paiute (Numuu), and Timbisha Native Americans. These include its profound cultural significance to the area’s tribes, its rare endemic plants, its thriving high altitude Joshua Tree forest, its spectacular dark sky, its irreplaceable geological fossil record, recreation opportunities, and the home it provides for wildlife. At this moment all of Conglomerate Mesa’s values are threatened by mining exploration. There has been a lively debate about the merits of…
Three beautiful Eastern Sierra landscapes, Conglomerate Mesa, Long Valley and the Bodie Hills, are under threat from foreign mining companies whose proposed projects would generate profits for them at the expense of destroying economically and ecologically important landscapes in Inyo and Mono counties. These projects threaten the scenic beauty of our landscapes with toxic contamination of soil and water, damage to the habitat of struggling species, dust, noise and light pollution, all conditions that are detrimental to our area’s recreational tourism and ranching economy. These proposals to destroy lands for profit also show great disrespect to the Eastern Sierra’s native…
Thursday June 24th at 5:00pm Congressman Obernolte will host a telephone town hall to hear directly from you on the issues impacting our community. What can I do? We encourage you to attend and advocate for the protection of Conglomerate Mesa from K2 Gold’s mining activity. To participate in this event, please register at least one hour ahead of time via Rep. Obernolte’s website here. You can also call in at the time of the event at (833) 305-1684.
Did you miss the live event? Join Friends of the Inyo and Sierra Club as we virtually explore Conglomerate Mesa and remind ourselves on why we work so hard to protect this beautiful landscape. This event was hosted by Bryan Hatchell from Friends of the Inyo and Kris Hohag from Sierra Club. They show a recent flyover tour video of Conglomerate Mesa and then dive into the recent threats to this landscape.