Public Lands Document Archive
Articles: Editorials, Op-Eds
and Desert District Advisory Council (DAC) Reports
- Existing land use and route network plans provide a solid foundation for drafting a monument plan for Mojave Trails, by G. Losson (2/9/2024)
- Rockhounding: Front page LA Times, above the fold, by L. Thoresen (7/29/2023)
- Rockhounds fight for access to their jewel in the desert: Mojave Trails National Monument, by L. Sahagun, Los Angeles Times (7/29/2023, front page)
- Mojave Trails National Monument: Southern California's crown jewel of casual collecting, by L. Thoresen (7/18/2023)
- Rockhounds fight for access to their jewel in the desert: Mojave Trails National Monument, by L. Sahagun, Los Angeles Times (7/16/2023)
- BLM asks Rockhounds to define hobby for Mojave Trails Nat'l Monument, by L. Thoresen (June 2023)
- BLM to host open houses on Mojave Trails, by L. Thoresen (May 2023)
- Mojave Trails Nat'l Monument Update, by A. Guzman (March 2023)
- Remembering Bill Depue, by L. Thoresen (Febraury 2023)
- The Mojave Trails subgroup is up and running – what's next?, by G. Losson (November 2022)
- New Rules for Fossil Collecting on Department of Interior (BLM) Land, by A. Hoekstra (September 2022)
- DAC mtg report, by L. Thoresen (September 2022)
- Countdown to a final management plan for Mojave Trails. On the docket: Industrializing California's deserts, by L. Thoresen (September 2022)
- BLM draft RMP open for comment on Grand Staircase-Escalante Nat'l Monument/Kanabe-Escalante Planning Area and Bears Ears Nat'l Monument, by A. Hoekstra and L. Thoresen (Sept 2018)
- West Mojave (WEMO) Route Network Project (WMRNP) resource page
- WEMO maps need fixing, stakeholders ask for comment period extension, by L. Thoresen (6/6/18)
- DRECP resource page
- DAC mtg report (3/20/18), by L. Thoresen (3/27/2018)
- BLM's proposed review of DRECP is a bad idea, by L. Thoresen (3/13/2018)
- BLM schedules public mtgs on amending DRECP, by L. Thoresen (2/13/2018)
- BLM gives Industry another chance to lay claim to Calif's deserts, by L. Thoresen (2/1/2018)
- Rockhounds could hit rock bottom in 2018, by L. Thoresen (12/1/2017)
- Cooperation is key to success in Mojave Trails' future, by F. Haney (9/27/2017)
- SD Fair Review: Roundup for gem minerals of the West, by L. Thoresen (9/27/2017)
- Holding our breath: DAC mtgs & Natl Monuments review, by L. Thoresen (9/27/2017)
- DOI Reviews: RACs-DAC 27 Natl Monuments on the block (9/1/17), by L. Thoresen (9/1/2017)
- Natl Monuments: Refuges for Rockhound habitat, by L. Thoresen
- DAC mtgs need to be reinstated, by L. Thoresen (6/1/2017)
- The Rime of the Mojave Mariner, by L. Thoresen (5/1/2017)
- DAC mtg report, by L. Thoresen (4/2/2017)
- What it means to be a Stakeholder, by L. Thoresen (2/1/2017)
- PRPA proposed rule flyer (1/9/2017)
- PRPA comment letter flyer (1/9/17)
- New rules proposed for fossil collecting on federal lands, by A. Hoekstra (1/5/2017)
- Collecting invertebrate fossils on public lands, by M. Nelson (1/5/2017)
- Mojave Trails NM flyer (11/17/2016)
- DAC mtg report (10/15/16), by L. Thoresen (10/27/2016)
- Public lands update three milestones, L. Thoresen (10/4/16)
- PPT slide deck: rock collecting on public lands, by L. Thoresen (9/27/2016)
- Report: BLM Field Tour & DAC mtg, L. Thoresen Mtg (6/1/2016)
- To collect or not to collect, (5/7/2016)
- A lost gem? New Mojave Trails monument rules appear to bar rock hunting, by L. Sahagun, Los Angeles Times (5/7/2016)
- DRECP: What's next, by L. Thoresen (2/2015)
- Storm clouds gather over the California desert, by L. Thoresen (January 2015)
Federal Register notices and comment letters
Mojave Trails National Monument Management Plan (MTNM Plan)
Authors: SDMG, et al.
06/30/2023
Comment letter (115 pages).
Copy of letter with 19 signatories submitted via post and email to BLM for the scoping period ending July 5, 2023 on the CDCA Plan amendment and monument management plan for Mojave Trails.
Mojave Trails National Monument Plan Community Alternative
Authors: The Wilderness Society, CalWild, Conservation Lands Foundation, and Mojave Desert Land Trust
August 2022
(149 pages).
A proposed monument management plan for Mojave Trails which had the support of VetVoice Foundation, Californians for Western Wilderness, Morongo Basin Conservation Association, California Native Plant Society, Audubon California, and California Desert Coalition. The proposed plan explicitly calls for the accommodation of rockhounding in Mojave Trails. About nine of these conservation groups, including CalWild, attached and incorporated by reference this alternative plan to their comment letters for the scoping on the monument management plan ending July 5, 2023.
Comments for Aug 7, 2021 DAC meeting
Authors: Lisbet Thoresen, et al.
08/06/2021
Comment letter (2 pages).
Copy of letter submitted to BLM/DAC via email posted on SDMG website
Comment letter/questions submitted for the DAC meeting record on behalf of Rockhound advocates regarding WMRNP and DRECP reconciliation; DRECP accommodations for hobby collecting; and support for creation of a DAC subgroup on Mojave Trails National Monument. The letter is on the SDMG website at:
https://sdmg.org/blmdocs/Thoresen_etal_BLM_DAC_bus_mtg_20210806a.pdf
or short url: https://bit.ly/DAC20210807
GSENM-KEPA RMP
Author: Southern California Paleontological Society (SCPS).
11/30/2018
GSENM-KEPA RMPs-EIS Vol. 1-508. Comment letter on BLM's draft for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and Kanab-Escalante Planning Area Draft Resource Management Plans (RMPs) and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
https://sdmg.org/blmdocs/SCPS_ltr_20181130_GSENM-KEPA_RMPs-EIS_vol_1-508.pdf
Draft WMRNP LUPA/DSEIS [Docket: 2018-05272]
Authors: Kim Erb, Lisbet Thoresen, Jim Parrish, Andrew Hoekstra
06/14/2018
Comment letter (11 pages).
Copy of letter submitted to BLM via email posted on SDMG website
Comment letter submitted to BLM on behalf of Rockhounds on the Draft Land Use Plan Amendment (LUPA) and Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) for the West Mojave Route Network Project (WMRNP) within the West Mojave (WEMO) Planning Area of the California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA). The letter (with redactions) is on the SDMG website at:
https://sdmg.org/blmdocs/20180614_Thoresen_Erb_etal_comment_letter_WMRNP_FR2018-05272_redacted.pdf
or short url: https://goo.gl/AzSvhD
WMRNP: BLM response to request for comment period extension
Author: California BLM Director Jerome Perez
06/13/2018
BLM response to May 30 letter from Cohen et al. requesting 90-day extension on WMRNP comment period to September 12, 2018. Request denied. June 14th deadline reaffirmed.
https://sdmg.org/blmdocs/BLM0014927.FINAL_SIGNED.Response_to_May_30_Request_for_WMRNP_Extension.pdf
or short url: https://goo.gl/zBgEHD
WMRNP: Request to BLM to extend comment period 90 days
Author: Sheara Cohen, The Wilderness Society, et al.
05/30/2018
Comment letter co-signed by 39 individuals and organizations, including eight rockhounds and one paleontological society.
https://sdmg.org/blmdocs/WEMO_extension_request_20180530.pdf
or short url: https://goo.gl/LwqaWY
Attachments: https://sdmg.org/blmdocs/WEMO_routes_GIS_issues_CBD_20180426.pdf
https://sdmg.org/blmdocs/WEMO_data_irregularities_20180430.pdf
BLM proposal to open DRECP to plan-level review
Author: SDMG et al
03/22/2018
Comment letter co-signed by 10 gem-mineral societies and 14 rockhound advocates opposed to opening DRECP to review.
https://sdmg.org/blmdocs/SDMG_DRECP_FR2018-02098_letter_20180322.pdf
or short url: https://goo.gl/p6D43Q
DAC Reinstatement
Author: SDMG.
05/11/2017
Request to reinstate the Desert District Advisory Council meetings.
https://sdmg.org/blmdocs/SDMG_Zinke_letter_request_reinstatement_DAC_20170604.pdf
or short url: https://goo.gl/K6Pg4V
RAC Reinstatement
Authors: 71 DOI Resource Advisory Committee members.
05/11/2017
Request to reinstate the meetings and activities of the Resource Advisory Councils.
https://sdmg.org/blmdocs/RAC_Reinstatemen_Request_Letter_20170511.pdf
or short url: https://goo.gl/YC0ouj
PRPA
Author: Southern California Paleontological Society (SCPS).
02/03/2017
Docket No. NPS–2016–0003. RIN 1093-AA-16. Comment on proposed Rule on Paleontological Resources Preservation Act of 2009.
SCPS's letter had 61 signatories, including SDMG.
https://sdmg.org/blmdocs/SCPS_PRPA_comment_letter_20170203_final.pdf
or short url: https://goo.gl/Rewue6
DRECP Transitioning to Implementation
Author: BLM
02/24/2017
Interim draft report presented at DAC mtg, 2/23/2017
https://sdmg.org/blmdocs/DRECP_transition_to_implementation_2-24-17.pdf
or short url: https://goo.gl/mfxls6
SGMNM
Authors: SDMG and CFMS.
10/17/2016
San Gabriel Mountains National Monument Plan and Land Management Plan Amendment #46964
https://sdmg.org/blmdocs/SDMG-CFMS_comment_letter_SGMNM_Management_Plan_final.pdf
or short url: https://goo.gl/h2DP1n
Draft DRECP
Author: SDMG
02/21/2015
DRECP NEPA/CEQA [Docket: 09‐ RENEW EO‐01]. Comment letter (48 pages).
Docketed on DRECP website »
A clean scan of the identical letter is on the SDMG website at:
https://sdmg.org/blmdocs/SDMG_DRECP_comment_ltr_20150223.pdf
or short url: https://goo.gl/ZNPbPe
Public Representatives & Federal and State Agencies
on National Monuments
Nat'l Monuments Review
Author: 24 members of Congress
11/09/2017
Letter to President Trump with recommendations on recissions to 27 National Monuments, including five in California.
https://westerncaucus.house.gov/uploadedfiles/11092017_final_monuments_letter_to_trump.pdf
or short url: https://goo.gl/cjCosq
Rockhounding in Nat'l Monuments
Author: Senator Dianne Feinstein
05/12/2016
Letter to DOI Secretary Sally Jewell in support of rockhounds.
https://sdmg.org/calnatmonuments/Feinstein_to_Jewell_support_rockhounding_CalNatMonuments_20160512.pdf
or short url: https://goo.gl/bnEn5j