Feinstein’s legislative efforts highlight the conflicts across the American West between the global environmental goals served by clean energy development and local conservation concerns.
“I strongly believe that conservation, renewable energy development and recreation can and must co-exist in the California Desert,” Feinstein, a Democrat, says in a statement. “This legislation strikes a careful balance between these sometimes competing concerns.”
Her bill would put aside 941,000 acres as the Mojave Trails National Monument along Route 66 in San Bernardino County, and 134,000 acres as the Sand to Snow National Monument in San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
