WEMO Workshop

If you're concerned about the BLM's plan to open off-road vehicle routes in residential neighborhoods adjacent to private property, come to a

Drop-in Letter Writing Event 

Saturday June 2, between 9 and 11 a.m., at the 

Wonder Valley Community Center

80526 1/2 Amboy Road in Wonder Valley

Volunteers will help you identify proposed routes and write an effective letter. Alternate viewpoints are welcome. The BLM can benefit from public input on how best to manage public land in San Bernardino County.

The deadline for public comment is June 14, 2018.

The BLM has drafted a new version of its WEMO (West Mojave) plan, and in response to comments from residents on its earlier plan in 2016 the agency has added a “Street-Legal Only” option, which would exclude most ORVs on neighborhood streets.  However, the BLM’s own preferred proposal still advocates opening local roads to ORVs.  Residents need to understand how these different options would affect them and register their views with the BLM, and the June 2 drop-in can help.

If you commented on the 2016 version, you still need to respond to this new draft plan.  If you’re unable to attend the drop-in, more information is available at http://www.orvwatch.com/; click on the “WEMO” tab to find the latest resources.

Glass Outhouse Gallery, Saturday, June 2

Artist Keith North

The Glass Outhouse Gallery presents:

Keith North/Artist
Harrison House Artist-in-Residence

Opening, Saturday, June 2, 5 - 9 p.m.
Glass Outhouse Gallery
77575 Twentynine Palms Highway
Wonder Valley, CA 92277

Dear Art Lovers,

Harrison House is pleased to collaborate with The Glass Outhouse for an exhibition of the works of our Artist-In-Residence, Keith North, in honor of their 9th Anniversary. The show will feature assemblage sculpture, painting and linoleum collage. The opening event is on Saturday, June 2nd, from 5-9pm at The Glass Outhouse Gallery, located at 77575 - 29 Palms Highway in 29 Palms.

Keith North is a self-taught outsider artist from the San Francisco Bay Area with Native American roots. A keen observer, his penchant for satire and social commentary infuse his work. During a previous residency in 2010, Keith created the iconic, 10 foot tall Sun Worshiper statue that welcomes visitors at the Harrison House gate.​​​
We hope you will join us.

Best,

Eva
_________________________
Eva Soltes, Founder/Director
Harrison House Music, Arts & Ecology

Donna's Poem at Open Mic

Donna and Donnie

A Poem Read at the The Palms Open Mic,
by Donna Bemmer

This girl can’t even tote a tune in a bucket,
So I wrote this little ditty about me!
Hope you like it.
And I hope I don’t show it, but I’m about as nervous as a cat
In a room full of coyotes.
But I don’t think anyone really cares,
For I’ve lived in this desert for so many years.

I’ve lived in this desert for, oh, a long while.
One thing I haven’t lost is my style
To smile at my desert livin’,
That just kept on given’
Me hell where I dwelled.

I discovered this scene a decade, waaaaay back.
When I was a more lean
(And recently told, a mean!) horse and donkey
Riding machine.
So I started thinkin’,
Ummm - maybe that’s the reason my desert livin’
Kept on givin’
Me hell, where I dwelled!!

So I came to this bar.
I found a new man, and he ain’t no joke!
The silver fox there, in the black coat.
In this desert scene,
In that desert sand,
Right out back there, under those palm trees
I asked him if’n
He was able if’n
He was willing
To accept what i was laying
Out on that table.
To help me through my desert livin’,
That kept on givin’
Me hell, where I dwelled.

I’m a lucky girl.
He accepted my offer,
He thought he ought
To help me through,
To not get killed or caught
Up, in my desert livin’
That kept on givin’
Me hell where I dwelled.

So life’s about change.
It’s changed for the best.
I can finally relax and just be.
With my new desert man
I found under those trees.

June 2018 Artist of the Month | Robert Rowell

Robert Rowell, artist, hatter, and musician -- the “Bob” half of the duo “Bill and Bob,” is the WVCC Artist of the Month, with six pieces hanging starting on Saturday, June 2, at
9 a.m.

Bob is an accomplished and rather prolific painter who hopes to reach other people with his work, raising questions and inspiring wonder.

Wilson Road

ASL Club

The ASL Club meets most every Saturday from 11 a.m. until noon. Beginners are welcome. This is a fun, friendly, and easy going group. Everyone is welcome to join in. A $1 donation to pay for the room is appreciated.

If you'd like to review the resources before the class, please see the links below. The most useful thing to learn is the fingerspelling alphabet.

ASL resources

American Sign Language Dictionary
https://www.handspeak.com/word/

FINGERSPELLING
Try to learn the alphabet as soon as you can.
https://www.handspeak.com/spell/
Dr. Bill Vicars - Read fingerspelling
http://asl.ms/

COLORS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TYlvmDCMcs

WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, and WHY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAQ1gPD8rBo

ASL Numbers 1 - 10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LIV0miyxR8
ASL Numbers 11 - 20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL_7fooUJ20
ASL Numbers 20 - 30
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2OE1w1mtRg

Deafula | http://bit.ly/Deafula

Write the BLM | June 14, 2018 deadline

I know many of you have and enjoy your quads, and this is NOT about you riding your quad to your neighbor's house, to pick up your mail, or about taking established trails exploring in the area. This is about whether or not the BLM will open all of our roads to unrestrained and unregulated ORV traffic from outside of our area -- 24/7, 365 days a year.

We here seem to have reached a sort of local peace regarding ORVs. People seem to be riding respectfully and other people don't seem to be reporting them. If this is your experience, this is a good thing. The BLM WEMO preferred plan would end that.

I have a feeling that even the most die hard ORV riders still like it quiet out here, still like the clean air, and enjoy our well-maintained roads, and untrammeled wilderness. All of this will be threatened if we don't speak up to protect it.

Instructions for writing a letter to the BLM before the June 14 deadline are below.

Thank you.

WEMO (the BLM's West Mojave Plan) is back, and YOU need to weigh in!
Comment Deadline June 14, 2018

In March 2018 the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released a NEW draft West Mojave (WEMO) plan for allowing off-road vehicles to operate on the roads in our communities. And the plan has both GOOD news and BAD news for our rural residential neighborhoods:

The BAD news: The BLM’s “Preferred Alternative” (#4) designates most of the roads bordering their lands in our neighborhoods as “Motorized”, meaning off-road vehicles could legally use them as well as street vehicles.

The GOOD news: In response to the many comments we all sent in in 2016, the BLM is now offering an additional Alternative (#2), which instead designates most of those roads as “Street-Legal Only”.  This means use of the routes would be open to street-legal vehicles only as defined by the California Department of Motor Vehicles (excluding most ORVs!).

OUR TASK: Convince the BLM to use Alternative 2 (“Street-Legal Only”) rather than their current preference, Alternative 4 (“Motorized”)!  What will that take?  LOTS of comments, including from YOU!

HOW TO COMMENT: 
Use our Sample Comment letter:  Word Document format – PDF Format. Feel free to customize it, and be sure to include the date and your name and address!  Deadline is June 14, 2018.  You can copy-and-paste the letter into an email addressed to  blm_ca_wemo_project@blm.gov, or print it out and mail to:

Bureau of Land ManagementCalifornia Desert District
Attn: WMRNP Plan Amendment
22835 Calle San Juan de Los Lagos
Moreno Valley, CA 92553.

You can make your comment stronger by personalizing it and adding specific, substantive information on items of particular interest to you.  See what works best here.

IF YOU KNOW OF A ROUTE YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE DESIGNATED AS SOMETHING OTHER THAN “STREET-LEGAL ONLY” — e.g., “Motorized” (open to all vehicles), “Non-Motorized” (such as bicycles), “Non-Mechanized” (such as hiking or equestrian trails) or Closed —you should submit a route-specific comment specifically to that effect.  Learn how here.

IF YOU SUBMITTED COMMENTS IN 2015-16 you need to resubmit them to make sure they count in the final plan. Learn the best way to resubmit here.

NOTE:  We do not advise you to use or comment via the BLM’s ARCGIS (“Interactive On-Line”) map as it is not accurate and does not display the “Street-Legal-Only” designation.  Instead, use the Georeferenced PDF maps we link to and the comment methods we’ve recommended to be sure your comments are accurate and counted.

You can access links to all WEMO maps and all of documents associated with the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) in the sidebar of our WEMO page.

NOTICE: The BLM includes the following notice on their comment site:

“Before  including your address,  telephone number, e-mail  address, or other personal identifying information in  your  comment, you should be aware that your entire comment, including your personal identifying information,  may be made publicly available at any time.   While you may ask us in your comment to withhold your  personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.  All submissions from individuals identifying themselves as  representatives or officials  of organizations or  businesses will be made available for public inspection in their entirety.”

There will be a USDA Food Distribution on Monday, May 21, at the Wonder Valley Community Center, 80526-1/2 Amboy Road, Wonder Valley, CA 92277.
Wonder Valley residents may sign in beginning at 10:30 a.m. Distribution will happen after the food truck arrives and we have had time to start putting boxes together.

There will be a USDA Food Distribution on Monday, May 21, at the Wonder Valley Community Center, 80526-1/2 Amboy Road, Wonder Valley, CA 92277.

Wonder Valley residents may sign in beginning at 10:30 a.m. Distribution will happen after the food truck arrives and we have had time to start putting boxes together.

Low-income Wonder Valley residents self-certify on site. No ID or documentation is required.

Pickup forms are available at the Wonder Valley Community Center, or online at: http://tinyurl.com/wv-pickup-form. If you want to pick up a box for someone else, or have someone else pick up a box for you, you must submit a *signed* pickup form.

If you have any questions, please stop by the WVCC, or call (760) 367-9880.

Required text:

Nondiscrimination Statement

In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA. 

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.), should contact the Agency (State or local) where they applied for benefits. Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English. 

To file a program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, (AD-3027) found online at: http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html, and at any USDA office, or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by: 

(1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture 

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights 

1400 Independence Avenue, SW 

Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; 

(2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or 

(3) email: program.intake@usda.gov. 

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.