Three New National Monuments In California Desert

[Brian B]

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/02/12/466583045/photos-obama-declares-3-new-national-monuments-in-california-desert

[Nick Gatel]

Brian, thanks for posting this. I just heard about it this afternoon.

15 years ago I hiked 500+ miles through Joshua Tree National Park, The Mojave Preserve and areas that are probably part of the new Mojave Trails Preserve, and the new Castle Mountains National Preserve. Boundaries have not been announced or published yet.

Ironically, today I took a picture of Air Force One, and in the background is Mt San Gorgonio and the area that is the new Sand to Snow National Preserve.

I have hiked through this area, from my home in Palm Springs to the peak of San Gorgonio many times.

Can’t wait to find out what the actual boundaries are.

If anyone is interested, here is a trip report of that 500 mile Mojave Desert walk. Just a warning… it is kind of long (9 parts) and is just a daily summary of the 30 plus days of this walk that was a loop from Palm Springs to Lake Mead and back. There are no gear lists, pictures, or other typical trip report content. I wrote it for my kids who didn’t realize I did the trip when they were young.

 

[Jerry Adams]

Nice story Nick.  A lot of people don’t like the desert but there’s a lot of beauty if you can see it.

Obama – another great executive order.  Teddy Roosevelt created the Malheur refuge with an executive order.

[Nick Gatel]

There will probably be some backlash and challenges from the Republicans in Congress over the Executive Order.

As a die in the wool Capitalist, my position on Governemnt land is different than most. I believe ALL Federal land should be declared Wilderness and all roads, concessions, special franchises, leases, grazing, mining, logging, etc. shold  be removed, revoked or eliminated to include all renewable energy projects. Trail construction should be banned. Only walking should be allowed. Snowshoes and skis should be allowed. Anything mechanical, to include bikes, should be banned. Only self-propelled vessels should be allowed on waterways and lakes that are in Wilderness areas. All pets, beasts of burden, and especially horses should be banned.

[Jerry Adams]

I bet Edward Abbey would agree : )

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