The San Bernardino County Planning Commission was to hold a Special Meeting re the Royal Rangers proposed camp on October 15. However, this meeting has been postponed to an as yet undetermined date in December.

 As soon as more definite information becomes available it will be published on this website.

The Royal Rangers Adventure Camp

The Royal Rangers Revised EIR

More than three years ago, after the Planning Commission recommended denial, the Board of Supervisors allowed the Royal Rangers an opportunity to revise their plan, meet with the public locally for input and to gain support, and resubmit a down-scaled plan within 75 days. 

After nearly a year, a public meeting was held in Twin Peaks where the Assembly of God applicants presented some proposed changes, but the project was again soundly rejected by local residents, especially when several dubious statements made by Royal Ranger representatives were proved to be false. Now, more than two years later, another public meeting was held (on July 23, 2009, with standing room only), this time in Crestline where it was admitted that no additional design changes had been made to the project since the revision in 2007, which the public had decried. 

The deadline for public responses to the new Draft EIR was initially set for August 12 but has now been extended to September 11. This at least makes it somewhat more possible to study it, and the Sierra Club Mountains Group (SCMG), the San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society (SBVAS), the Save Our Forest Association (SOFA), Friends of Twin Peaks, and other community and environmental minded organizations are now very, very busy doing so.

SOFA requested at least a six-month extension, but according to the Mountain News, SB County deputy director of land use services Jim Squire said "this was not an option." One can not help but wonder why, when the Royal Rangers were allowed to extend their deadline for more than three years, after they were told in April 2006 to return to the Board within 75 days.

This new recirculated EIR analyzes a camp project purportedly downsized from a maximum occupancy of over 1000 all the way down to 350 persons.

But rather surprisingly, when the project details are examined, much of the camp facilities and area appear to be the same size as the original design. It seems that the project is actually designed to accommodate around double (or more) of the 350 maximum. Apparently, the proposed 350-person on site limit will be entirely dependent upon a voluntary program of self-imposed controls managed by the Royal Rangers themselves. This pseudo-reduction of capacity is reminiscent of earlier misleading claims the Royal Rangers made in 2007 when they announced to the public that the 38 ft high, oversized turreted “fort” in the original proposal had been removed after public criticism. It turned out it had been slightly moved, and simply renamed to an “environment education center.” Size, height, log-façade, and turrets were either the same or larger than in the original specifications. The rooms and interiors were (and remain) the same, with only the number of “installed” beds per room reduced. The same is the case with the amphitheater. The number of seats has been changed from 1,040 to 350, the actual size of the amphitheater has not been changed. These strategies are misleading and beg the question, “What are the real intended occupancy numbers being planned?” 

 There are many, many more questions raised by the revised project, including issues regarding water usage, sewage capacity, possible evacuation route overloads, traffic signals at the intersection of Highway 18 and Lake Gregory Drive to mitigate the expected increase in traffic to and from the camp.

The proposed camp is within the Strawberry Creek Wildlife Corridor #20. This wildlife corridor is especially important as it connects to two other corridors, the Waterman Canyon #19 and the Grass Valley Wildlife Corridors #16.

Another important factor to consider is the cumulative effect of development in an area that is already suffering from recreational overuse.

Copies of the EIR are available at County Building in Twin Peaks, the Crestline, Lake Arrowhead and Running Springs Libraries, and the County Advance Planning Office at 385 N. Arrowhead Ave, First Floor, in San Bernardino.

Links:

SB County Land Use Services: Projects

Alpenhorn News

Mountain News

San Bernardino Mountains Wildlife Corridor map

What's a wildlife corridor and why is it important?

Cumulative effects modeling