Palomar Mountain News

“We’re geared up, loaded for bear!”

That’s a quote from one of our neighbors who was on the phone yesterday with Brian Freye, the contact person for the environmental surveys for SDG&E. Their property is one in orange on this map. These letters have become a pretty obvious line across Palomar which could turn into the path of destruction for these transmission lines to Orange County and beyond. After a bit of Q&A, Brian heard loud and clear (but very professional and nice) that we are a community already poised with amazing resources to fight this with the State of California and everyone in-between. We have a core team of volunteers working around the clock toward a goal of preserving this mountain. But, we need your help! Keep reading for some of the needs that have surfaced so far to attack this project from many angles:

1. Do you have property close to our ‘Orange Line‘? Do you think you might have received a letter from SDG&E? They were sent out the end of February.
2. Hello Observatory and Caltech! Could 500,000 kV lines across Palomar Mountain cause any interference with the work you do as one of the largest observatories in the world? Would the fact that these towers need to light up at night for safety for airplanes be a detriment to your need for ‘Dark Sky’? Please let us know.
3. Drone Photographers and AI photoshop help – We have some key locations along the ‘Orange Line’ where some some photos could be taken in the direction the lines might run. Drone photography might be the best. Then if we had someone that could photoshop or use AI to show a visual of how this line could possibly change the landscape, that would be fabulous. This photo above was taken on the the lower side of State Park Road where a straight line for the towers could take us right across the south side of the mountain, west, to and through Nate Harrison Grade to stay above the residential areas in Pauma Valley.
4. Nate Harrison Grade – The archeologist for the cabin study site has been notified. Do you own property on Nate Harrison? How about Pauma Valley or Pala? Did you receive a letter? It is possible that the line is heading your way. Please let us know.
5. Press Releases, interviews on mtn with camera crews – David Ross with the VC Roadrunner and Escondido TA published a intro to our project in Thursday’s paper. Wednesday he interviewed George Ravenscroft for a large article this coming week and on-going updates are promised in his papers. I did have an interview with Coast News a couple days ago. Do YOU have a contact with TV stations and other newspapers? Let’s get those crews up here now that we are to have clear weather next week.
6. Palomar is on an earthquake fault line – A Geologist Engineer is working on addressing that issue. Please stay tuned.
7. Endangered species – A mountain neighbor has volunteered to compile the research for all known endangered species on Palomar. He actually works with the Skipper Butterfly Foundation. Will share with all.
8. “People are Talking” we plan an-ever growing collection of why you think the line should be stopped. Just send it my way and we’ll plan to weave the comments in with our marketing. Thanks to all.
9. 500,000 kV lines have proven to pose such a huge fire risk. So many fires have been started from electrical lines. For the possibility of these towers along the rim of Palomar, coupled with our 100 mile per hour winds we’ve experienced on our own property, and lightening here on the mountain, this makes no sense at all. It certainly didn’t work out well for the town of Paradise, CA with CalFire stating the cause was a “faulty electric transmission line”. Do you have input to share on this subject?

Today I just realized we have only had knowledge of this project for nine days so think we’ll pause here at nine bullet points… for a quick minute. Mike Pique was here for about 6 hours today working together researching and verifying information. We have so many more directions and connections that many volunteers are working on and will have more for you soon.

Meanwhile, what do you think of this video below? I found it interesting how land and trees are clear-cut for these 500,000 kV towers. This installation looks like a pretty simple project being on level land and not across our steep topography with huge canyons, granite boulders and our old-growth forest where erosion could be a bit of a challenge too.

No, we don’t need this on Palomar Mountain. You with us on that?

Bonnie Phelps, Realtor and volunteer along with some pretty sharp folks to Save Palomar Mountain!

Comment below or let’s connect! 760-533-1742