West Mojave Plan FEIR/S - Desert Managers Group

SEA within EAFB was not specified, and a small unspecified acreage of BLM managedlands is also included. The County would have no permitting or land use authority overlands outside the unincorporated area.The recommended SEA was designed to protect watersheds supplying the Rosamond andRogers Lake playas as well as the desert buttes in the eastern Antelope Valley. The SEAcontains riparian habitats, mesquite bosques, playa lakes, and seasonal pools. Portions ofthe SEA overlap the proposed Alkali Mariposa Lily Conservation Area and the Big RockCreek Conservation Area, where gray vireo, San Diego horned lizard, short-jointbeavertail cactus, and a number of riparian birds are found.Wildlife corridors and habitat linkages between the San Gabriel Mountains and theAntelope Valley desert areas are included within the proposed SEA. The buttes supportnesting birds of prey, including prairie falcon. The SEA would protect occupied habitatand the ecosystem processes of sand transport for the Mojave fringe-toed lizard.• Joshua Tree Woodland: A proposed SEA of 4,732 acres would include undisturbedportions of existing SEA Number 60 (Joshua Tree woodland habitat) and make boundarycorrections. All of the land is within uncorporated Los Angeles County, and is privatelyowned, with the exception of the California Aqueduct.This proposed SEA would include remnant stands of Joshua tree woodland, and containspotential habitat for burrowing owl and known foraging habitat for several species ofraptors, including prairie falcon, golden eagle, and ferruginous hawk.• San Andreas Rift Zone: The proposed San Andreas Rift Zone SEA extends from thewesterly foothills of the Tehachapi Mountains in a southeasterly direction along the SanAndreas Fault to include the foothills of Liebre Mountain and Sawmill Mountain, most ofPortal Ridge, Leona Valley, Ritter Ridge, Fairmont and Antelope Buttes, AnaverdeValley and Lake Palmdale. A separate area surrounds Barrel Springs. It covers 89,698acres, including 68,722 acres in unincorporated Los Angeles County, 15,285 acres inAngeles National Forest, 5,476 acres within the City of Palmdale and 215 acres withinthe City of Lancaster. The state Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve is includedwithin the SEA. Three small BLM managed parcels on Portal Ridge are also included.The County would have no permitting or land use authority over lands outside theunincorporated area.The proposed SEA would combine and modify the existing SEAs for Ritter Ridge,Fairmont and Antelope Buttes and Portal Ridge/Liebre Mountain.The SEA would include occupied habitat for the red-legged frog, southwestern pondturtle, short-joint beavertail cactus, San Diego horned lizard, burrowing owl, least Bell’svireo and potentially other target species of the West Mojave Plan. An important linkagebetween the Angeles National Forest and the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reservewould be included. Uncommon or rare wetland communities, wildflower fields, andnative grasslands are also present.Chapter 3 3-18