Mojave Desert – DRECP & OHV
Date: 02/15/2020
State: CA
Issues: Off Road Vehicles, Wild Lands, Wildlife
Partners: Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife
Mission
EcoFlight and Defenders of Wildlife organized flights over the Mojave Desert with LA Times, business owners, wildlife experts and stakeholders to promote wildlife conservation management areas, document OHV impacts, and to educate passengers and the press about threats from proposed changes to the DRECP.
The Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan was envisioned to both protect irreplaceable desert habitats, plants, animals and ecological processes and allow for the development of a significant amount of centralized renewable energy by focusing on wildlife habitat protection when siting development. The Plan established Areas of Critical Environmental Concern and policies to protect endangered wildlife and landscapes. As the BLM considers revisiting the DRECP, it is important to understand potential threats to these areas and policies in the name of expedited energy development, water mining, off-road recreation, grazing and mining