At 190th west at Ave A-8 to going toward 200 st land is being destroyed by heavy equipment to prepare the land for farming. 200 year old Joshua trees are being dozed and burried on site for a carrot farmer. This is all the way to 230th st. ( miles of destruction for natural habitat)


Piles of Joshua trees on West Ave B at 200th st


same pile at corner marker. These guys knocked down the county markers.


plowed area


hole where the cactus are burried


Hole where the plants are burried


New road on 200th west


Equipment being used


plowed area


trees at 200th and B West


new access road plowed in

WHAT ARE THEY THINKING????????

Local farmers are destroying trees that are native only to the Mojave desert. These trees take 200 or more years to grow only to be knocked down to make room for more carrots. Or so it would seem, but are they actually circumventing a future environmental plan for a solar company???

The County was called as far back as February 2009 about this destruction and nothing was done about it. Finally the Sierra club got involved and the county told the operator to cease and desist. Over the weekend the "Perps" feverishly proceeded to cover up their dastardly deed. Here are some pictures of before and after about 3 days apart (after they were told to stop)

(1) 34o 48' 38.34"N 118o 29' 35.65" W Elev 2724 (2) 34o 48' 37.72"N 118o 29' 32.85" W Elev 2723 (3) 34o 48' 37.68"N 118o 29' 26.57" W Elev 2722 (4) 34o 48' 37.43"N 118o 29' 23.61" W Elev 2722 (5) 34o 48' 15.77"N 118o 29' 07.52" W Elev 2719 Here are the approx locations of the bury pits

I just saw a county map which shows the protected area and these cretins have destroyed about 50% of it. This area is really small compared with all the open area in the valley. So why are they (farmer Grimmway) picking on this little patch of animal heaven.

By the way the Antelope Valley Conservation District wasn't interested in the subject and blew off complaints. We need a change of board members with these people who have stewardship of the land and doesn't do anything about Special Environmental areas that are marked on the map. (There are not to many of them left for the nature freaks and nature buffs)

The farmer must have known he screwed up because he spent all of the weekend burying the plants in pits. (March 7-8) Which comes to a sore subject for me. The county will not let me bury anything on my land then why can this farmer get away with it.

For a FYI the AV valley News has stated that this doesn't exist and is not true. When a female reporter was contacted she said that the pictures weren't genuine and she has more important things to do.

When you have big money, you can do what you want. The local newspaper is in bed with the massive farm corp.

I feel that west Lancaster is being targeted by VERY big money. Google's own esolar.com and many other BIG developers. This whole west Lancaster area is crawling with county officials, regional planning heads, NAT clean up teams, low flying executive helicopters and lots of strange people crusing around in limo's wearing $3000.00 business suits. When the time is right we need to get together and ALL of us must protest!!! This could devalue our land so we need to collect for damages once they make public their BIG development plans.

I was informed that the county is being an azzhole as usual. When I called down about the trees being bulldozed the poindexter at the desk said he wasn't interested its OK to plow the trees. The county supervisors office wasn't interested. The AV Press said it didn't happen and the pictures weren't revalent. Regional Planning said it was OK to plow 2 1/2 acres and above that you need a permit.

Now the county says that it is the owners fault and they are not saying anything about the azzhole that did the deed

They even gave a property owner the OK to chainsaw trees on a peice of property on 190th.
Somebody needs to get their signals straight. if it's an SE area I understand you need permits, so where does the county poindexters get the Idea they can give an OK to cut them down

Regional Planning has designated certain areas of the North Hi Desert as Significant Ecological Area (SEA) where there is a increase in permitting and Ecological studies requirements. Buyer beware

All these and more can be had at GIS-NET Public at Regional Planning.
to get to below maps download this file ("imf43949.ssn" CLICK Here)to your computer before you click on GIS-NET and remember where you put it on your computer.
click on advanced view,
click on red tool box,
then click on open browse to the file "imf59075.ssn" you just uploaded ,
insert it into the load window, then click "open session"


PDF of SE areas in AV


PDF of blue line areas


PDF of SE areas in fairmont

Why does the A V press hide this stuff or are they just lazy. Antelope valley press

Developer to buy land for owls
Nests reportedly smashed to avoid environmental limits

This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Wednesday, October 18, 2006.

By BOB WILSON
Valley Press Staff Writer
LANCASTER- A land development company responsible for smashing burrowing owl nesting sites to eliminate environmental impediments to construction was ordered Monday by the city's Planning Commission to purchase 30 acres of land as a habitat for burrowing. owls.,

The land is intended to replace 30 acres of owl-nesting area where Royal Investors Group of Los Angeles had submitted plans for the construction of 115 homes on the northwest corner of 40th Street West and Avenue K.

Speaking on behalf of Royal Investors, Orest Y. Dolyniuk told the commission one of the company's "partners" hired someone to remove the concrete irrigation pipes that the owls - considered a species of special concern by the state - use for nesting.

Dolyniuk called the action "an error in judgment."

To prevent future errors, commission Chairman Ken Mann asked his colleagues to require Royal to replace all of the habitat lost.

"It's real disappointing that what took place, took place," Mann said.

"One thing I don't want to have take place - at least on my watch as the chairman - is that somebody get the impression they can go out and start grading property and then come back in and ask for forgiveness," he said.

"At this stage of the game - because we can't count birds and we can't go out and do a study to figure out what really was there after the fact - then what would be appropriate from my viewpoint would be to match (the lost land) acre for acre," Mann said.

"In the future, if we've got somebody who just doesn't get the drift about going in and disturbing habitat, then maybe as time goes by, I might be making recommendations ... for greater (land-replacement) acquisitions," he said.

The nesting sites - concrete irrigation standpipes - were smashed in January after two local environmental groups asked the City Council to overturn the Planning Commission's Oct. 17, 2005, approval of a map submitted for the project.

The commission's approval was appealed by the Friends of the Prime Desert Woodlands and the Antelope Valley Environmental Group, and the appeal was upheld by the City Council on Feb. 14.

The council agreed with the environmental groups and their legal adviser that Royal Investors' plans should have been sent for review to the State Clearinghouse, the agency that has authority over all development projects in California and disseminates information to appropriate departments for environmental review and comment.

The City Council sent plans for the Royal Investors project back to the Planning Commission "with direction to have biological studies re-done on the site and to have a new initial (environmental) study completed on the property," recalled Brian Ludicke, director of Lancaster's Department of Community Development.

A new initial study was sent to the State Clearinghouse with a proposal that Royal Investors be required to purchase and set aside 10 acres of land as a replacement habitat, Ludicke said.

The California Department of Fish and Game - one of the agencies to which such plans are routed by the State Clearinghouse - advised the city to require- Royal ..to, purchase 30 -acres, not -10:

In his recommendation to the Planning Commission on Monday, Ludicke again recommended requiring Royal Investors to set aside 10 acres for burrowing owl habitat.

"We believe that the mitigation measures contained in the initial study and the fact that we have gone through the procedural requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act have provided an adequate environmental review for this project," Ludicke said.

Dolyniuk told the commission he supported Ludicke's recommendation for 10 acres.

The proposal drew protests from environmentalists such as Michael Wilson, president of the Friends of the Prime Desert Woodlands.

Wilson told the commission that CEQA requires a 1:1 replacement ratio when owl burrows are destroyed by a project, not a 1:3 replacement ratio.

If the commission approved the new request, it would be establishing "a threshold ... for malicious destruction of owl habitat," he said.

Furthermore, if the commission allowed Royal Investors to replace the land, then the city must "adopt a program for monitoring on reporting on ... the measures it has imposed," Wilson said.

That means the city must provide a means of monitoring the acquisition and care of the new habitat property, he said. Wilson further contended that the new study submitted to the state erroneously noted that no evidence of owls was found on the site during a Jan. 18 visit - about four days before the standpipes were destroyed.

"Isn't it surprising that no evidence of owls was found on a site where owls had been observed for years?" Wilson asked.

In the appeal upheld by the City Council, the groups requested a full environmental impact report, not a new initial study for a mitigated negative declaration, he said.

"In light of . . . the malicious destruction with intent to influence the environmental review, the overall loss to the community and the judgment to uphold our appeal, we believe than an environmental impact report is required and that 30 acres for mitigation is justified and appropriate," Wilson said.

Wilson's comments were supported by Dean Webb and Russell Almaraz.

Almaraz told the commission he saw owls at the site on Saturday, Jan. 21, about a day before the standpipes were knocked down.

Both Almaraz and Webb voiced support for a full environmental impact report, a 1:1 land-replacement ratio and the hiring of an independent agency to monitor the new habitat land.

After hearing from the public, Mann called the staffs 10-acre replacement proposal "not adequate" and noted that staff failed to include a state Department of Fish and Game recommendation for four owl searches on different days within 30 days of any construction work.

The staff s recommendation was for one search for owls within 30 days of the start of construction.

"I'd be more apt to say we ought to be keeping with fish and game," Mann said.

Vice Chairman Bruce MacPherson concurred and said he preferred that the surveys be done not only "prior to construction" but "prior to any site disturbance."

Royal also will be required to obtain the habitat-replacement land - subject to city and state approvals - prior to any disturbance of the property at 40th Street West and Avenue K.

Title and responsibility for that land is to be transferred to a local conservancy for future preservation.

With those conditions, the commission voted 4-0, with commissioner Mark Troth abstaining from the discussion and vote, to approve Royal Investors' tract map for developing the 30-acre site.

Royal Investors is a private limited-liability company engaged in the purchase and sale of properties in the Antelope Valley.

The company's business is assembling large parcels of land and subdividing the properties into single-family-home sites before selling the city-approved projects to builders.

bwilson@avpress.com

Letter from Fish and Game

I've seen this devastation first hand. Seen the burial pits. It is very sad and hopefully it is not a harbinger of things to come. This beautiful Valley is slowly and irrevocably disappearing before our eyes.