Introducing a New Effort to Protect California Deserts
photo: Bob Wick
Local organizations are working together to preserve public lands in Riverside and Imperial Counties between Palm Springs and the Colorado River for future generations. These protections will honor and recognize the Indigenous cultural histories of the Cahuilla, Quechan, Serrano, Chemeheuvi, and Mojave peoples, increase access to world-class nature for local residents and visitors, protect fragile desert wildlife and facilitate connectivity, and help boost local economies.
Friends of the Desert Mountains strongly supports the Protect California Deserts campaign’s draft proposal to protect public lands in Riverside County and a small portion of Imperial County.
The draft proposal would:
Recognize the local work of Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers;
Expand Joshua Tree National Park in the Eagle Mountain area;
Establish a new National Monument stretching from the Mecca Hills in the west to the Mule Mountains and Milpitas Wash in the east;
Designate public lands outside of the National Monument as wilderness;
Designate Mission Creek as a Wild and Scenic River;
Require an inter-agency study of recreation needs on public lands in the region; especially under-resourced but popular day-use sites; and
Protect World War II-era training sites.
The draft proposal will benefit Riverside and Imperial counties in several ways, including:
Protecting crucial plant and wildlife habitat and migration corridors.
Safeguarding Indigenous sites, landscapes of importance, and other critical cultural resources.
Protecting important historic sites and landscapes.
Enhancing equitable and sustainable recreation access to federal public lands.
Boosting local economies by attracting visitors.
