Update: Keep Long Valley Green Campaign The Keep Long Valley Green campaign has been very active in 2020 working to secure LADWP’s commitment to an adequate water supply for the area’s ecological, economic and recreational needs. Long Valley is a critical part of Eastern Sierra ranching operations, provides important habitat for the threatened sage grouse and other species, and is a popular recreation area for both locals and visitors. Settlement negotiations regarding the lawsuit filed by Mono County and the Sierra Club are ongoing. While we hope those negotiations secure a long-term commitment from LADWP to provide adequate water, the campaign…
Policy
Action Alert: Inyo County Road Maintenance and Motorized Mixed Use Comments are needed on Inyo County Road Maintenance and Motorized Mixed Use on National Forest Roads. On Jan 13, 2020 the Inyo National Forest provided notice that it is considering granting easements and special use permits to Inyo County for eight roads on the White Mountain and Mount Whitney Ranger Districts of the national forest. The roads considered for easements are portions of Death Valley, Onion Valley, County, and Foothill Roads. Roads considered for special use permits include Division Creek, McMurray Meadows, Coyote and Mazourka Canyon. This proposed action, if…
Haiwee Geothermal Development Update In January 2020 the BLM released the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for a project that will expand the Haiwee Geothermal Leasing Area to 22,805 acres, almost triple in size. With this growth, BLM will change the management provisions of National Conservation Lands and Areas of Critical Environmental Concern to allow for geothermal energy production, infringing on Mojave ground squirrel populations, sacred tribal sites, desert tortoise land and more. Part of the leasing area is proposed to expand into a Development Focus Area (DFA) which was established by the DRECP. Friends of the Inyo is pushing…
Panamint Valley Lithium Update & Monitoring Opportunity Update Lithium exploration in Panamint Valley has been upheld through all levels of the NEPA process is set to move forward. All the proponent, Battery Minerals Inc., has to do is put a bond down with the BLM and they can begin drilling. It is tough to know when they will initiate exploration but in the meantime, we have a great opportunity for motivated environmentalists and volunteers to help us monitor the Panamint Valley project site. What is monitoring? In this case, monitoring is as simple as taking pictures of the drill sites…
Supporting Fire Restoration in the Eastern Sierra The Inyo National Forest (INF) is busy implementing the new Forest Plan and one of their first steps is an ambitious proposal to approve up to 200,000 acres of the Forest, outside of designated wilderness, for prescribed burning and associated fire restoration. Typically each prescribed fire project needs to go through its own environmental review, reducing the ability to increase the pace and scale of restoration activities. Under the Eastern Sierra Fire Restoration and Maintenance Project the Forest would be approved to implement prescribed fire and fuels treatment projects for a ten year…
Action Alert: Alabama Hills Management Plan Scoping On the heels of the designation of the Alabama Hill National Scenic Area, the BLM will begin building out an Implementation Plan that will guide the future of this beloved piece of public land outside of Lone Pine. As stated in the legislation that designated the National Scenic Area in March of 2019, the BLM must “develop a comprehensive plan for the long-term management of the Scenic Area”. Management plan development under the National Environmental Policy Act begins with a process called “scoping.” Scoping allows the public and all interested parties to provide…
Comment Letter on Haiwee Pumped Storage Submitted Towards the end of November, Friends of the Inyo submitted comments to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on L.A area company, Premium Energy’s application for a preliminary permit to examine the Haiwee area for its “pumped storage” capabilities. Simply put, pumped storage is a type of energy storage that involves two reservoirs, one at a higher elevation and one at a lower elevation. When energy is cheap, water is pumped uphill to the higher reservoir for storage. When demand is higher and energy is more expensive, it is sent downhill and sold…
Haiwee Pumped Storage Update Back in June we updated you on two proposed pumped storage projects in the Eastern Sierra. We are happy to report that the project proponent Premium Energy, has withdrawn their application for the Owens Valley Pumped Storage Project. Nevertheless, they continue to pursue the Haiwee Pumped Storage Project, for which the Federal Regulatory Energy Commission opened a 60 day public comment period on September 27, 2019. This project would have one upper reservoir and one lower reservoir with either an underground pressure tunnel or above ground penstock connecting them. The filling of the reservoirs would be…
Bi-State Sage Grouse Listing Update The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced on September 27, an extension on the final determination of whether to list the Bi-State Sage Grouse as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. USFWS is extending their final determination based on substantial disagreement regarding the sufficiency and accuracy of the available data relevant to the proposed listing, making it necessary to solicit additional information. Therefore, along with the announcement to extend the final determination, USFWS is also reopening the comment periods for the proposed rule to list the species and the proposed rule to designate critical…
25th Anniversary of the California Desert Protection Act This October, Friends of the Inyo and folks across the California desert are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the California Desert Protection Act (CDPA), the act that established Death Valley National Park, Joshua Tree National Park, Mojave National Preserve, and 69 wilderness areas. The CDPA created a collective of protected lands that draws millions of visitors from all over the world each year, driving local economies and creating jobs. These protected lands are the backbone of our tourism economy, provide military security, and make this region a great place to live and…