Save Our Desert is a group of people from all walks of life who have one thing in common--we love the desert and are willing to band together, to give up some of our precious time, in order to save the desert from those who threaten to destroy its special nature.
What we are fighting at the moment, in the fall of 2011, is an attempt by speculators to impose a wind energy project on Black Lava Butte and Flat Top Mesa, two buttes in the Pipes Canyon/Pioneertown area of California's high desert, where native flora and fauna abound and where there are Native American cultural sites. Black Lava Butte and Flat Top Mesa are icons, unique signature buttes in an area of Southern California where buttes are rare.
The applicant for the wind energy project is Desert Mesa Power, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Element Power (www.elpower.com), and the project would cover the tops of both buttes with concrete turbines surmounted with warning lights and approached by access roads across the beautiful mixed-use lands of the canyons below. The danger of fire would rise dramatically, and property values would plummet.
Have you watched a desert sunrise or sunset across the buttes of the Southwest? Have you seen the buttes flushed with rosy light at the first touch of early morning sun or sat at dusk on the desert sand with a cold beer in your hand, drinking in the wild reds, oranges, pinks and purples of a desert sunset monopolizing the sky? Well, have you? Then we don't need to persuade you to join us in protesting this invasion of desert horizons--you'll already know what Save Our Desert is doing, and why.
Look at the photos on our website of the buttes in summer, in winter snow, and under a spring explosion of wildflowers. Look at our desert tortoise and bobcat and make yourself a promise to ensure they are still there for our children and grandchildren to enjoy. If the turbines were installed, the native flora and fauna would both be threatened. The likelihood of bird strikes would rise sharply, with birds of prey such as eagles particularly at risk, and the whirling blades of the turbines would result in many bat kills.
There are better ways to go green than destroying the wilderness, and if we allow this project to go ahead, it sets a precedent for many other areas of wilderness to be destroyed.
John Muir, the founding father of our national parks, wrote that we need to save wilderness not only for its own sake but also for the sake of mankind, that it is a refuge to which we all need to retreat to refresh ourselves when we are weary of our man-made world. Each time some developer or speculator puts forward a plan to destroy more wilderness, we need to remember John Muir and his wisdom and speak out against the desecration of the natural world. We hope that you will start by making your voice heard against the imposition of wind turbines on the irreplaceable landscape of Pipes Canyon, Pioneertown, and the surrounding area. It won't cost you anything--there are no membership fees. If the wilderness doesn't charge for admission, why should we? Come join us.
Click to view
Two wind-measurement towers are now up and running, while the remaining two are in the course of construction, with helicopter delivering materials to both buttes.
Ours to enjoy ??? --- Only with your help.
