For Immediate Release
August 25, 2015
Contact: Severn Williams, Public Good PR 415-336-9623; sev@publicgoodpr.com
Shauna Tucker, Mojave Desert Land Trust760.366.5440; shauna@mojavedesertlandtrust.org

Mojave Desert Land Trust Salutes Feinstein’s Request for 3 New Desert Monuments

Joshua Tree – The Mojave Desert Land Trust (MDLT) today announced its resounding support for a proposal to designate three new areas in the region as national monuments. Senator Dianne Feinstein recently sent a letter to President Obama asking him to use his executive authority to designate the Sand to Snow, Mojave Trails and Castle Mountains lands as monuments under the Federal Antiquities Act. Monument status would provide long-term protections for more than one million acres of these lands, which hold significant biological, cultural and historical significance.

In response to this request, MDLT Executive Director Danielle Segura issues the following statement of support: “These Mojave Desert monuments encompass what people who live in and visit the desert love and appreciate about the area. These are places of inspiration for artists, explorers, and historians. Protecting these lands means that visitors will forever have the opportunity to wander under the cottonwoods at Big Morongo or hike an undisturbed section of the Pacific Crest Trail in Whitewater Canyon. And future generations will have a chance to experience the rocky peaks in the Old Woman Mountains, the sweeping vistas at Cadiz Dunes, and view the distant horizon along the iconic Route 66. Anyone who visits can see why these are places that should be left open and intact for exploration and enjoyment today and in years to come.”

Monument status will ensure that MDLT’s commitment to protecting the extraordinary and one-of-a-kind resources in the Mojave Desert is secure and that opportunities such as critical scientific discovery, wildlife connectivity and uninterrupted landscape vistas to enjoy will remain intact.

Examples include:

• Cadiz Dunes, where visitors can experience dramatic glowing sunsets and easily access the high point with tremendous views of the vast open desert, much like it was 150 years ago. The area includes rare plants like Harwood's eriastrum and the Borrego milk vetch as well as artifacts from WW II Desert Training center.

• Route 66 connects desert residents and visitors to backcountry properties. The stretch of the Mother Road proposed for monument status looks much the way it would have during the “Grapes of Wrath.” The Route 66 corridor is one of many corridors and trails found in the proposed Mojave Trails National Monument, which would benefit all outdoor enthusiasts. The area also includes the Pacific trade route along the Mojave River run by Native American tribes.

• MDLT’s 3,330 acre Hidden Valley property, accessible from Route 66, gives a sense of the open space that is a driving force behind a thriving arts community and why the desert is such an attractive backdrop in our film industry. It is a core area for Bighorn Sheep, serving as a repository that can send out sheep to populate surrounding mountain ranges. It also serves as nesting and foraging habitat for golden eagles and for habitat connectivity for the desert tortoise between designated critical habitat units.

For more information about the benefits that will accrue to the region if President Obama supports Senator Feinstein’s request, and for a local perspective on the importance of this effort, contact Shauna Tucker at shauna@mojavedesertlandtrust.org, or 760-366-5440.

Mojave Desert Land Trust is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to protect the Mojave Desert ecosystem and its scenic and cultural resource values through acquisition, land stewardship and strategic partnerships. Since 2006 the organization has protected over 54,000 acres of desert land.