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Please help support Anza Borrego Desert State Park's efforts to preserve this amazing place!
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is truly a national jewel.
Located in Riverside and San Diego counties, it is the largest California state
park and is a critical refuge for endangered plant and wildlife species--including
approximately 60 percent of California's endangered peninsular bighorn sheep
population. It is also home to a diversity of historical and cultural resources,
which provide glimpses into this area’s ancient past. Anza-Borrego's magnificent
arid landscape of giant boulders, mesas, canyons, sand dunes, and famous groves
of majestic native palm trees attract visitors from around the world.
Though founded in 1933, Anza-Borrego does not have a management
plan to guide the California Department of Parks and Recreation's stewardship of
the area. Over the last few years, park staff has worked hard to develop a General
Management Plan (GMP) for Anza-Borrego. When it was first released last year,
anti-environmental groups were successful in lobbying the new Schwarzenegger
administration to delay a vote on the GMP by the California State Park and
Recreation Commission. This vote is necessary for the plan to be implemented.
Park staff has now re-released a draft for public comment. The public comment
period has been extended to September 13th and the Commission hearing is scheduled
for December 3rd.
Both the Preferred Alternative and Alternative 3
(the Environmentally Superior Alternative) propose significant protections
to the sensitive desert environment of the Park. The Preferred Alternative
in the GMP recommends that over 55,000 acres of the park be designated as
wilderness, and 2,600 acres be designated as a cultural preserve. Alternative
3 recommends that 31,200 acres of the park be designated as wilderness, and
44,500 acres be designated as natural/cultural preserves. Although the total
acreage of proposed wilderness is less in Alternative 3 than in the Preferred
Alternative, additional protections to sensitive resources would be afforded
through the implementation of natural/cultural preserves, which are managed
to protect the complete integrity of the area.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
You can help defend Anza-Borrego by writing comments by September 13th to:
Environmental Coordinator
Southern Service Center
California Department of Parks and Recreation
8885 Rio San Diego Drive, Suite 270
San Diego, CA 92108
FAX: (619) 220-5400
Email: enviro@parks.ca.gov
In your letter, you should explain why the park is important to
you and then make the following points in your own words:
- The Anza-Borrego Desert State Park general management
plan is a sound document that balances the needs of people with the protection of
the environment.
- The plan is the result of years of study and a great deal
of public input.
- The plan provides a blueprint for how to meet the growing demands
of visitors to the park while meeting its primary goal of protecting the natural and
cultural resources of the park.
- The park’s stated goals and guidelines set forth a proactive strategy to protect
its resources through management within park boundaries, participation in planning
processes and partnerships outside of park boundaries where activities may impact
park resources, and through acquisition of properties surrounding the park.
- Support for the Preferred Alternative with encouragement that the
Cultural Resources and Natural Resources Management Plans be prepared immediately
following approval of the GMP to provide a baseline for other management plans, OR
- Support for Alternative 3.
- Oppose Alternatives 1 and 2, which would allow for significant impact
of sensitive resources.
The Draft General Plan/EIR can be found on-line by going to www.parks.ca.gov.
From there, go to the page for Anza Borrego Desert State Park and click on General Plan Information.
For more information, please contact (after August 30th):
Bryn Jones
Desert Program Director
California Wilderness Coalition
(951) 781-1336
bjones@calwild.org
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Just three miles off of Interstate 80, 
