ThumperX
Well-known member
Saline Valley Warm Springs Needs our help!!!
Off the AMA radar but in the gun sights of the National Park Service I am pleading with my fellow riders to please take action.
Several plans are being proposed for Saline Valley from the leave it and do nothing (as good as it sounds it isn't the safest plan) to total restoration.
As a member of the Saline Preservation Assosiation I urge you to take a moment and see what is being proposed for this amazing piece of American Landscape.
This is an email I received last night from Major Tom who runs the SalinePreservation association.
Saline Preservation Association membership@salinepreservation.org
7:37 PM (16 hours ago)
to SPA
Dear Members,
While I was in Kauai, I heard of the Park Service scheduling public meetings and initiating a comment period on the proposed alternatives for the Saline Valley Management Plan. The NPS did not notify me of these dates, as they usually do, before I left for this two-week vacation in Hawaii. (Mike Cipra was my contact, and he said he is leaving the employ of the Park Service, so this may explain the failure in communication.) I have just returned home, where I now have access to the SPA database and can inform our membership of these events at the 11th hour. My apologies for a situation over which I had little control. This email alert is somewhat scatter-shot, but I felt it important to get something out as quickly as possible, and will do a follow up after the upcoming meetings. -Major Tom
Here is the gist of the NPS invitation taken directly from their website:
Alternatives Development
The National Park Service (NPS) is seeking public input to help inform and shape alternatives development for a management plan and environmental impact statement for the Saline Valley Warm Springs area of Death Valley National Park (Park). Five alternatives have been drafted and the Park Service is asking for comments at three public meetings in February. Comments can also be submitted electronically or by mail.
The purpose of the proposed plan is to provide a basis for managing this remote yet popular area of the park, balancing the protection of unique natural and cultural resources with public health and visitor use at the Saline Valley Warm Springs.
Public input is important to this planning process, and the NPS encourages participation at the open house style public meetings at the Park and in gateway communities on February 4-6, 2014. The NPS will present the elements of the preliminary alternatives and provide opportunity for attendees to comment on these and other reasonable options for the planning process. The agency is asking for detailed comments on specific elements of an alternative(s) to help guide the Park in refining the alternatives.
Comments can be made at: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/document...cumentID=56823
Comment Period: 01/23/2014 - 03/28/2014
Following the above-provided link will give you access to the Alternatives and similarly relevant documents. The alternatives range from "No Action" to Complete removal of all the tubs, sinks and non-native landscaping we have enjoyed for decades.
Public meetings have been scheduled for Feb 4 at Furnace Creek, Feb 5 in Lone Pine, and Feb 6 in Ridgecrest. All meetings take place between 4-6:30 p.m.
More information on locations, and directions, may be found at: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/meetingN...rojectID=39438
If anyone needs a place to camp in Ridgecrest, I have lots of room and invite you to use our yard. Just drop me a return email for more information.
I would encourage our members to share your comments to the NPS with the Saline Preservation Association, so that we might best represent the views of our membership in offering a SPA position paper with respect to the Park's suggested Management Plan options.
If you would care to comment on the process being used by the Park Service to gather comments and public input with respect to the Saline Valley Management Plan, we would welcome that input as well, and will present those comments to the Park.
Any comments you care to share should be emailed to: membership@salinepreservation.org
I would like to share a relevant post offered by our member Timothy Sutherland:
Two of the guiding principles the National Park Service adheres to:http://www.americantrails.org/resour...PSmission.html
* Productive Partnerships: Collaborating with federal, state, tribal, and local governments, private organizations (that's us), and businesses to work toward common goals.
* Citizen Involvement: Providing opportunities for citizens to participate in the decisions and actions of the National Park Service.
I really hope they believe in these guiding principles. The second really speaks to us. I can only imagine how many comments are being sent to the NPS during this comment period of which I would think 99% would be in favor of keeping things the way they are as we are by far the largest group of people who use and protect this area.
Again, I am sorry this information may be reaching you at past the 11th hour for the public meetings, but public comments made online are welcome through March 28.
Off the AMA radar but in the gun sights of the National Park Service I am pleading with my fellow riders to please take action.
Several plans are being proposed for Saline Valley from the leave it and do nothing (as good as it sounds it isn't the safest plan) to total restoration.
As a member of the Saline Preservation Assosiation I urge you to take a moment and see what is being proposed for this amazing piece of American Landscape.
This is an email I received last night from Major Tom who runs the SalinePreservation association.
Saline Preservation Association membership@salinepreservation.org
7:37 PM (16 hours ago)
to SPA
Dear Members,
While I was in Kauai, I heard of the Park Service scheduling public meetings and initiating a comment period on the proposed alternatives for the Saline Valley Management Plan. The NPS did not notify me of these dates, as they usually do, before I left for this two-week vacation in Hawaii. (Mike Cipra was my contact, and he said he is leaving the employ of the Park Service, so this may explain the failure in communication.) I have just returned home, where I now have access to the SPA database and can inform our membership of these events at the 11th hour. My apologies for a situation over which I had little control. This email alert is somewhat scatter-shot, but I felt it important to get something out as quickly as possible, and will do a follow up after the upcoming meetings. -Major Tom
Here is the gist of the NPS invitation taken directly from their website:
Alternatives Development
The National Park Service (NPS) is seeking public input to help inform and shape alternatives development for a management plan and environmental impact statement for the Saline Valley Warm Springs area of Death Valley National Park (Park). Five alternatives have been drafted and the Park Service is asking for comments at three public meetings in February. Comments can also be submitted electronically or by mail.
The purpose of the proposed plan is to provide a basis for managing this remote yet popular area of the park, balancing the protection of unique natural and cultural resources with public health and visitor use at the Saline Valley Warm Springs.
Public input is important to this planning process, and the NPS encourages participation at the open house style public meetings at the Park and in gateway communities on February 4-6, 2014. The NPS will present the elements of the preliminary alternatives and provide opportunity for attendees to comment on these and other reasonable options for the planning process. The agency is asking for detailed comments on specific elements of an alternative(s) to help guide the Park in refining the alternatives.
Comments can be made at: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/document...cumentID=56823
Comment Period: 01/23/2014 - 03/28/2014
Following the above-provided link will give you access to the Alternatives and similarly relevant documents. The alternatives range from "No Action" to Complete removal of all the tubs, sinks and non-native landscaping we have enjoyed for decades.
Public meetings have been scheduled for Feb 4 at Furnace Creek, Feb 5 in Lone Pine, and Feb 6 in Ridgecrest. All meetings take place between 4-6:30 p.m.
More information on locations, and directions, may be found at: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/meetingN...rojectID=39438
If anyone needs a place to camp in Ridgecrest, I have lots of room and invite you to use our yard. Just drop me a return email for more information.
I would encourage our members to share your comments to the NPS with the Saline Preservation Association, so that we might best represent the views of our membership in offering a SPA position paper with respect to the Park's suggested Management Plan options.
If you would care to comment on the process being used by the Park Service to gather comments and public input with respect to the Saline Valley Management Plan, we would welcome that input as well, and will present those comments to the Park.
Any comments you care to share should be emailed to: membership@salinepreservation.org
I would like to share a relevant post offered by our member Timothy Sutherland:
Two of the guiding principles the National Park Service adheres to:http://www.americantrails.org/resour...PSmission.html
* Productive Partnerships: Collaborating with federal, state, tribal, and local governments, private organizations (that's us), and businesses to work toward common goals.
* Citizen Involvement: Providing opportunities for citizens to participate in the decisions and actions of the National Park Service.
I really hope they believe in these guiding principles. The second really speaks to us. I can only imagine how many comments are being sent to the NPS during this comment period of which I would think 99% would be in favor of keeping things the way they are as we are by far the largest group of people who use and protect this area.
Again, I am sorry this information may be reaching you at past the 11th hour for the public meetings, but public comments made online are welcome through March 28.
