Conservation agency in jeopardy

[Kadie]

Conservation agency in jeopardy
Advocates say that governor’s planned cuts would hinder efforts to balance growth, nature throughout valley

By Benjamin Spillman
The Desert Sun
September 15th, 2004


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A Palm Desert-based group credited with preserving thousands of acres of wildlife habitat and open space from Whitewater to the Salton Sea could be disbanded in the name of government efficiency.

The Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy, a group that has secured $25 million in state bond money since 2000, would effectively be dissolved if the state enacts a recommendation of the California Performance Review.

The review, essentially a 2,500-page report prompted by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s desire to "blow up the boxes" of government bureaucracy, recommends stripping the conservancy of its status as a state agency.

But that threatens to disrupt the Coachella Valley conservancy’s efforts to purchase and preserve open space before it’s gobbled up by development, supporters of the group say.

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http://www.thedesertsun.com/news/stories2004/local/20040915020345.shtml