The Boulevard Planning Group submitted this protest letter to the Bureau of Land Management in response to the Bureau's proposal to open 6,900 acres of public lands within the McCain Valley area for wind energy development.

Director (210)
Bureau of Land Management
Attention: Brenda Williams
P.O. Box 66538
Washington, DC 20035

PROTEST LETTER: EASTERN SAN DIEGO COUNTY PROPOSED RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN AND FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT-NOV 2007

Dear Director,

Our elected community planning group voted 7-0-0 at our January 3rd,2008 meeting, to send this letter. Please consider this a formal protest letter in response the ESDC RMP EIS noted above, which is dated November 2007. The notice was reportedly placed in the Federal Register on December 7, 2007. Our original comment letter on the Draft document, with 33 attachments, was submitted on May 31, 2007, via certified mail and e-mail to the El Centro BLM office. We also sent a letter to the BLM (11-11-05) protesting the Right-Of-Way/grant to PPM Energy for wind testing on 17,616 acres of the planning area, without public notice, at a time when renewable energy was not an allowed use, and prior to the Wind Energy Development Program and ROD in December 2005. We hereby incorporate those previously submitted comments/documents as part of this protest record. Most of our concerns have been brushed off with inadequate boiler plate responses saying ‘this will b e deal with later on a case-by-case basis'. However this land use change, ushering industrial uses, will hang over our community's head forever. This will require property owners to fully disclose this industrial zoning to potential buyers which has the real potential to reduce property values for a currently scenic area where no industrial uses are allowed.

We want to go on record, again, as protesting Alternative E as the Preferred Alternative and, again, as supporting Alternative C which better promotes preservation, conservation and protection of our public lands, natural, and cultural resources. Those resources include vast uncluttered panoramic view sheds, which will be protected in Alternative C by denying potential development of industrial wind energy facilities. The currently existing soul-soothing views and our rural community character are highly valued and worth protecting. We also support Alternative C's zero acreage available for geothermal leasing, and increased acreage designated for the In-Ko-Pah and Table Mountain Areas of Critical Environmental Concern.

The following comments are listed in the order they appear in the document, not necessarily in order of priority:

[Editor's note: The full letter can be accessed by clicking on the link below.]

 

Download File(s):
BLM-ESDC RMP Final EIS comments Pl Grp 1-08.pdf (108.46 kB)