U.S. Takes Control of Desert Land

More than 200,000 acres of the Mojave Desert have been turned over to the federal government in a deal that is part of an ongoing effort to preserve a sprawling checkerboard of empty former railroad land from Barstow to the Colorado River.

Described as one of the largest transactions of its kind in state history, the recent $25-million sale of Catellus Development Corp. holdings to the federal Bureau of Land Management includes plots in several wilderness areas as well as habitat for the threatened desert tortoise.

But it omitted highly sought after tracts that environmentalists are desperate to get into public ownership--blocks of Catellus land scattered within the borders of the new 1.4-million-acre Mojave National Preserve.

Purchase of those parcels, as well as another huge expanse of Catellus desert property, has become entwined in politics, tied by the Republican-controlled Congress to the long-controversial proposed expansion of nearby Ft. Irwin.

“It’s very, very precarious,� Wildlands Conservancy Executive Director David Myers said of the rest of the deal.

His private, nonprofit group was instrumental in the sale of the 225,000 acres, contributing $15 million of the $25-million purchase price. The remaining $10 million was appropriated by Congress.

Federal lawmakers have approved $30 million in government spending to buy the Catellus land. However, in a resolution passed last year, they conditioned $15 million of the funding on settlement of the Ft. Irwin issue.

The driving force behind the resolution was Republican Rep. Jerry Lewis of Redlands, who opposed the creation of the Mojave preserve six years ago and doesn’t see much need for the federal government to buy the former railroad holdings, which include unpopulated scrubland and mountain areas.

“He still believes that putting this huge amount of money into land that under no circumstances will be developed in anybody’s lifetime is not a good use,� said Lewis aide Jim Specht. “On the other hand, Ft. Irwin is probably his top priority for desert land use.�

U.S. Army officials have long wanted to expand the fort, the Army’s major training center for ground combat. They say that much of Irwin’s 642,000 acres is not usable for war games and that more space is needed to practice with new long-range military equipment.

But the extra 150,000 acres the Army is eyeing is roamed by the threatened Mojave population of the desert tortoise and is also home to the milk-vetch, an endangered plant found in only three Southern California locations.

A group of scientists is trying to determine what effect the proposed expansion would have on the tortoise and if that impact could in any way be offset.

Linking the additional desert appropriations to the fort issue has infuriated environmentalists. When the matter surfaced last fall, the conservancy briefly threatened to pull out of negotiations.

Other groups are concerned that if the deal for the remaining land falls through, it eventually will be sold for development, as have former railroad tracts in the Arizona desert.

“If Jerry Lewis continues to stop it, the opportunity will get lost and we’ll wind up with the Arizona model,� said Elden Hughes, chairman of the Sierra Club’s California Desert Committee. “I consider that a disaster.�

Catellus, formerly the real estate arm of Southern Pacific Railroad, owned more than 800,000 acres scattered across the Mojave in 640-acre blocks earmarked more than a century ago for settlers who never came.

In a deal struck with the conservancy, the company has agreed to sell about 437,000 acres to the federal government at an average of $111 an acre, or a total of about $49 million from Congress and the conservancy.

Last week’s transaction was the first phase.

The 80,000 acres that Catellus owns within the boundaries of the National Park Service’s Mojave preserve will be the last it conveys under the agreement.

“There had to be some sort of incentive . . . to make sure the entire transaction occurred,� said Bill Dennis, a Catellus senior vice president. “We’re selling at a considerable discount and one of the reasons for that is the size� of the deal.

The Park Service says that it is aware of desert wildland evaluations as low as $38 an acre, but Dennis said an independent appraisal conducted last year set the worth of the company’s property at $155 an acre. Catellus will use the $19-million difference between the sale price and the appraisal as a tax deduction.

“The pricing was the subject of intense negotiation,� Dennis said. “Some people would say these are remote lands worth nothing. On the other hand, there are some very unique aspects of the California desert that can’t be duplicated anywhere in the world. And to some people, that’s priceless.�

In addition to the Catellus land, the wildlands conservancy hopes to buy up to 24,000 acres in small private holdings in the Mojave preserve and Joshua Tree National Park and transfer them to the government.

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Preserving the Land

The federal Bureau of Land Management recently assumed ownership of 225,000 acres of the Mojave Desert. The land, former railroad holdings carved into checkerboard parcels, is located within the shaded areas.