01/16/2022
Beyond Fond - Missed Opportunities
Some have asked what motivates me to share all of this. I assure you it is not the publicity, though it may be a byproduct of disclosure. No, the answer is simply that this information is too momentous and involves all of us. And however old-fashioned it may sound, I believe it is the right thing to do. Too much time and learning opportunities have passed us, but particularly for our greatest assets of all. Our children.
Rather than being kept in the dark I'd like for you to imagine for a moment an alternate version where we weren't:
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All 3rd Graders in our area are introduced to the world of gemstones, in particular, diamonds. In class hands-on study is followed by a trip to the crater of the volcano where they become young volcanologists and miners mining "blue ground" (hard rock mining in a daimondiferous kimberlite pipe). The opportunity to mine "blue ground" by hand is relatively unheard of, even amongst miners, but we chose to put our children first in this unprecedented educational investment.
5th and 6th classes Math and Science syllabuses are centered around geological examples, such as volcanology, plate techtonics, subduction zones, pyrochlastic atmoshperics, environmentally sound mining techniques, and Kimberlite pipes. Frequent field trips culminate with each student actually harvesting, cleaning and classifying rough diamonds themselves. Supplemental activities include introduction to Environmental and Ecological Impact Reporting.
By 9th grade our classes lead the nation in Geology and our students overall performance is up 25% in Math and Science and we continue to have more than a few national science fair contenders.
Our high school Seniors end up being the most most sought out young scientists in the making our country has to offer. University scholarships and internship programs help our local academic high achievers to take the world by storm.
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Back to Reality
Ouch.
However, it is not too late for the next class of 3rd graders, if we can manage to brush aside our differences and realize a better alternate future. Divided, like they have us, we are all guaranteed to be mushrooms. Kept in the dark, and fed a lot of crap, forgive my language.
Pictured here are two examples of Kimberlite with diamonds. Kimberlite can be found here in this area in various colors; brown, gray, blue and red and pink.
I may have been the first to physically locate the diamond pipes, but mineral testing at one point downstream by interested parties must have preceded my finds and their concerted efforts have fueled the ugliest and coldest examples of capitalism to rule the day. In doing so, we have made it easier for encroachments upon our civil, property, and water rights. Never will all the criminal and civil violations be accounted for, I am afraid. I do however have faith God will address the rest.
The construction and rail line proposals, illegal bull-dozing of homes, land grabs, fences, signs, forest closures, city police on electric dirt bikes, bamboo abatement teams, jurisdictional disputes, and a rogue non-profit all have something in common besides costing us a lot. They are all part, or have knowledge of, a larger project plan. One that does not consider our villages at all. A plan that I encourage and expect an independent investigation team to review, and one that I will be eager to cooperate with.
Another group with early reservations, The Santa Monica Mountain Conservatorship has also laid claim to a lot of acreage in the Big Tujunga creek and wash area, which is of course home to some of the most diverse and hardy high desert wildlife and plant life on Earth. Also noteworthy, much of their newly aquired land just by luck of the draw is referred to as rich "yellow ground" in the diamond mining business. "Yellow ground" is where diamond ore and diamonds wash down, where they can also be mined at a great profit. The activity and public access restrictions in "their" areas, or what were unincorporated wildlife lands, continues to increase whenever the opportunity arises, such as a nearby fire. Then the signs with the same habitat preservation lingo inevitably are posted. The non-profit's primary objectives according to their website is to make the transition from rural to urban more balanced one. "Development" is their goal so why the big façade of environmentalism and habitat preservation? Some of their more clandestine tactics of course are not mentioned such as employing Mexican Nationals to drive convoys of siren and Mariachi band blaring recreational vehicles through lands they have acquired, or intend to acquire, intimidating anyone in their path. It sounds ridiculous and trust me, even more in person. You might recognize their daylight "staff", and I hesitated at first to say this but, "creeping around" in their fleet of unmarked white trucks. I have had more than a few encounters with them while hiking our outlands, and they are always in different makes and models of white trucks that seem to stay just beyond a stone's throw away, luckily for them. Their intrusions include stalking hikers and identifying and cutting off tributary spring waters local activists have tried to channel down to the parched wash below. Evidenced by their regular presence and intimidation efforts in the wilds behind the Archery Range and closed Correctional Camp where they have cut up thousands of feet of plastic irrigation hose local environmentalists put together to bring some life down below.
Up until humans grabbed the reigns of resource management from Mother Nature, the ravines above were the source of spring water tributaries. The rushing waters from Angeles National Forest disappear within just a few hundred feet of crossing into Tujunga, channeled off to places unknown.
