Bill Theobald

Desert Sun Washington Bureau

Sen. Dianne Feinstein has reintroduced legislation that could expand Joshua Tree National Park and attempts to balance conservation with off-road recreation and renewable energy development in the California desert.

The legislation is similar to a bill the California Democrat introduced last February but it leaves out 1.8 million acres of California desert that are part of three national monuments – Mojave Trails, Sand to Snow and Castle Mountains – that President Barack Obama designated earlier this month.

Remaining in the bill are provisions that create five off-road vehicle areas, designate 230,000 acres as wildlife areas, and add more than 43,000 acres to the Death Valley and Joshua Tree national parks – 39,000 acres to the former and 4,500 acres to the latter. Joshua Tree is currently about 800,000 acres.

The new acreage would not include Eagle Mountain and would expand the northwest portion of the park near the High Desert towns of Joshua Tree and Yucca Valley.

More than 2 million people visited Joshua Tree National Park in 2015, up from about 1.6 million visitors in 2014.

Feinstein's bill also would designate 77 miles of rivers as wild and scenic and clarify how desert land can be used for renewable energy development. It would encourage development of renewable energy in solar zones that would avoid conflicts with land intended for conservation.

“President Obama’s decision to create three national monuments in the Mojave Desert was the right call, but unfortunately his authority … didn’t allow him to include the many other valuable provisions in the original legislation,” Feinstein said in introducing the revised legislation.

Obama protects 1.8 million acres of California desert

She noted that the five off-road recreation areas cover a total of 142,000 acres. “I have worked with off-roaders for years because I believe their use of the land should be protected just as it is for conservation purposes,” Feinstein said. “I gave them my word that I’d fight for them and I intend to do so.”

She said the bill was the product of years of engagement with a variety of interest groups, including environmentalists, local and state government officials, off-highway recreation enthusiasts, cattle ranchers, mining interests, the Department of Defense, wind and solar energy companies, California’s public utility companies and many others.