Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Cowboys and Aliens in Antelope Valley’s Elizabeth Lake

A recent episode of Ancient Aliens on the History Channel 2 detailed the story of Lake Elizabeth being a Alien site. Indians called it Devils Lake, and they spoke about a Thunder Bird or “rocket plane”? Ancient Alien hosts described it as potential plane, since Indian legend describe it as a bird with fire (ThunderBird). Many ranchers in the past have complained about missing and mutilated cattle over the years. The first sighting of this monster is said to have been by a rancher named Francisco “Chico” Lopez who raised cattle and sheep around Elizabeth Lake in the 1860s. The stories say the monster ate Lopez’ cattle, so he sold out in 1883 to another rancher Leonis, who tolerated the beast no more than he tolerated squatters. In a book by S.E. Schlosser’s 2005 retelling of the legend in “Spooky California,” Leonis later sold the ranch himself because the monster had been raiding his cattle and scaring off his workers. When Leonis’ ranch hands reported the monster was stealing cattle, he camped beside the lake and waited for it to emerge from the water. The rancher attacked the monster and the monster then retreated to allegedly Tombstone, Arizona where according to an April 1890 article in the Tombstone Epitaph two cowboys shot to death a creature like a giant crocodile with wings that stretched 160 feet. Was it the Lake Elizabeth Monster? If the Thunder Bird of Devils Lake is real or not there isn’t any concrete evidence, but it makes for an interesting story. We bring this up because areas need places of interest to get tourism, and people to visit. Antelope Valley currently lacks that attraction which can help bring alternative commerce to an area. Presently Antelope Valley has technology in the Stealth Bomber, Wind and Solar, spring poppy reserve and lower priced homes and land, but there isn’t anything like an out of this world experience to attract people traffic.Antelope Valley needs a legend, a phenomenal occurrence, hiking trail or something exquisite to attract visitors. Mybe there is hope that SpaceX or private space exploration craft will launch from Edwards in the future. To read more about the legend of Lake Elizabeth you can read 1930 book, “On the Old West Coast,” by Horace Bell, or S.E. Schlosser’s “Spooky California,”

Friday, June 1, 2012

Desert Tortoise Bighorn Sheep and Environmentalists get bypassed by California Legislators Bill SB 226 in favor of Calico Solar Project

The Los Angeles Times reports that under this bill SB 226, which was approved by the Senate in March and passed 56 to 10 in the Assembly, Calico Solar may now go directly to the California Energy Commission with its application for approval. The bill is expected to be approved by Governor Brown as the administration lobbied for the bill. K Road acquired the project from Tessera. It was planned to be an over 8000 acre 850 megawatt project but has since been reduced to 4600 acre 663 megawatt project 37 miles east of Barstow, Ca. It is just north of Hwy 40. The project needs quick action as it faces a June 30 deadline for approval from the Energy Commission. Funny enough according to the LA Times Calico Solar doesn’t have a power purchase agreement with an energy company, nor financing and it doesn’t even have a construction date. The Times reports that with the California government approval, the project will be an acquisition target for a solar firm. Today, Calico Solar has no power purchase agreement with a utility, no financing and no construction start date, and it faces a lawsuit by environmentalists. But with the Energy Commission's approval, the project could become an attractive acquisition for a big solar developer. Environmentalists have since filed a suit over the project. It is perplexing how this project has moved along so fast, since at the same time the Dept. of Fish and Game instituted mitigation cuts. The California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) announced in March that budget cuts had temporarily stopped the agency’s ability to review and approve new mitigation banking proposals statewide. The State budget cuts have created a backlog and the Department has slowed the process. The Desert Tortoise, Nelson Bighorn Sheep, and ground squirrel are all endangered species and live in San Bernardino County and on the Calico Project. The tortoise was removed before from Bright Source Ivanpah, Ca. Project already. This is strange timing with the reduction in mitigation approvals and this solar projects bill passing. California is clearly a Blue State and they have pushed for alternative energy for years. But this also pushes out endangered species and environmentalists which have been a political talking point on California Democratic Campaigns. It goes against the Democrats policies, and they have full control California State Government. We have been helping a number of firms in acquiring mitigation land in Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties. This would have clearly been a mitigation land site. There is vast available land in Northern Los Angeles County and San Bernardino County where solar projects can thrive along with the tortoise. We can help pinpoint locations where mitigation and solar can co-exist.