Residents in Joshua Tree rally to keep protections on national monuments
Federally protected serene areas in nature brought people to rally together to protect the future of three national monuments in California — two that are close to the Coachella Valley.
“One of the most important things to me is to help protect the land. First of all, it is our roots. It’s pretty much everything we rely on for life,” Vita Lusty of Joshua Tree said.
The Whitewater Preserve is part of the Sand to Snow monument. It covers more than 154,000 acres of protected federal land that is currently under review along with the Mojave Trails with more than 1.5 million acres, by the Department of the Interior after an executive order from President Donald Trump.
That created concern up in the High Desert.
“To review monuments of 100,000 acres and above, two of our monuments fall into the category, Sand to Snow and the Mojave Trails and we want to share that with our supporters and let them have the opportunity to share with the administration and the community how much they care about this landscape and these two monuments,” said Danielle Segura, executive director of the non-profit Mojave Desert Land Trust.
At the rally, speakers shared stories about the effects of losing federal protections for these national monuments.
Many people said that keeping the land protected is good for business
“We have a huge economic impact that benefits from these outdoor recreational opportunities. A study came out just this last week that Secretary (Ryan) Zinke unveiled and showed that there are billions of dollars being invested in eco-tourism here in the desert and our community benefits from that,” Segura said.
One person says he supports the president……
“He’s going to give the land back to the people. I hear through the grapevine that it eventually goes into private and they sell them,” said Norbert Brezenger of Whitewater.
It’s the fear of future development that rallied people together to voice their concerns.
The list of national monuments was finalized by the Department of the Interior Friday and includes two national monuments in the desert: Sand to Snow and Mojave Trails. Castle Mountain was originally slated for review but has since been removed from the list.
President Trump signed the executive order as he said the land protections put in place by his predecessors was “a massive federal land grab” that “should never have happened.” Local environmentalists disagree with this assessment sayingm the national monuments provide recreational, economical, and health benefits to the surrounding community.
The rally included music, speakers, and a Q&A session with local experts discussing President Trump’s executive order.
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