The California Desert Protection Act, sponsored by Senator Dianne Feinstein, was signed into law on October 31, 1994, eight years after former California Senator Alan Cranston introduced the effort.  This landmark legislation designates two national parks  Death Valley and Joshua Tree  and one national preserve the Mojave.

Celebrating its fifth anniversary, the measure has been a wonderful success.   Recently, Senator Feinstein was successful in protecting even more of this magnificent natural resource.

For the year 2000 budget, Senator Feinstein requested that Congress provide funding under the Land and Water Conservation Fund to purchase environmentally sensitive private properties now owned by the Catellus Development Corporation in the desert.

To encourage our nation's westward expansion, in 1864 Congress gave the railroad industry every other section of land in a 50 mile swath in what is now the Mojave National Preserve and Joshua Tree National Park.   Most of this remaining checkerboard arrangement of land is now owned by Catellus.

Because of an agreement by the Wildlands Conservancy to provide $26.1 million toward this important goal, Catellus agreed to sell these lands at well below market value. Catellus provided a significant in-kind contribution to allow the purchase of 437,000 acres of California desert in and around the Mojave National Preserve.

The new agreement will protect 200,000 acres of habitat critical for the endangered desert tortoise, 150,000 acres for bighorn sheep and the largest cactus gardens in the world at Bigelow Cholla Gardens. The land also includes rights-of-way for 165 jeep trails and dirt access roads leading to 3.7 million acres of land used for hunting, hiking and camping.

The FY 2000 Interior Department appropriations bill includes $15 million for this purchase with a pledge of an additional $15 million to complete the deal in 2001.  The transaction is already one of the biggest land acquisitions in California history and one of the most substantial gifts ever to the American people.

"As a native Californian, I am very proud of our state's natural heritage," Senator Feinstein said.  "The protection of the California desert is extremely important to me and the people of California.  This area of the country contains some of the most extraordinary resources in the nation. The scenic, recreational, cultural and scientific value of the California desert must be preserved.   We cannot afford to lose these resources, which deserve protection as part of the national park and national wilderness system."

About the California Desert

The California desert contains some of the most outstanding scenic, cultural, ecological, scientific and recreational resources in the nation. Comprising 25 million acres, the California desert is incredibly diverse.  There are sand dunes, extinct volcanoes, 90 mountain ranges, the world's largest Joshua tree forest and over 100,000 archeological sites. These varied land forms provide habitats for more than 760 different wildlife species. 

For more information on the California Desert, click here.

What the Act Protects

The California Desert Protection Act protects 7.7 million acres now managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the National Park Service.  The legislation:

• Designated nearly 3.5 million acres of BLM land in the California desert as wilderness;
• Added 1.2 million acres of land to Death Valley National Monument and redesignated the monument a National Park;
• Adds 234,000 acres to Joshua Tree National Monument and redesignated the area a National Park;
• Established a new 1.4 million-acre Mojave National Preserve;
• Created the Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Parks and the Mojave National Preserve;
• Transferred 20,500 acres of Bureau of Land Management land to the State of California to expand the Red Rock Canyon State Park.

The Mojave National Preserve

The Mojave National Preserve has been called the "crown jewel" of the California Desert Protection Act.   This 1.4 million acre area lies at the confluence of three great deserts: the Mojave, Sonoran, and Great Basin deserts. Because it is at the junction of three major desert ecosystems its biological resources are extremely varied.  The area contains 11 mountain ranges, four dry lakes, cindercones, badlands, innumerable washes, mesas, buttes, lave beds, caves, alluvial fans, and one of California's most complex sand dune systems. The geographic diversity is rivaled by the diversity in the park's plant life which ranges from creosote bush to pinyon pines and juniper woodlands in the higher elevations.  For more information, visit the Mojave National Preserve website.

Death Valley National Park

Death Valley National Park has more than 3.3 million acres of spectacular desert scenery, interesting and rare desert wildlife, complex geology, undisturbed wilderness, and sites of historical and cultural interest. Bounded on the west by 11,049 foot Telescope Peak and on the east by 5,475 foot Dante's View, Death Valley's Badwater is the lowest point (-282 feet) in the Western Hemisphere. For more information, visit the Death Valley National Parkwebsite.

Joshua Tree National Park

The Joshua Tree National Park is comprised of two deserts and two large ecosystems primarily determined by differences in elevation. Few areas in the world more vividly illustrate the contrast between high and low desert. Below 3000 feet (910 meters), the Colorado Desert, occupying the eastern half of the park, is dominated by the abundant creosote bush.  Adding  interest to this arid land are small stands of spidery ocotillo and cholla cactus.  The higher, slightly cooler, and wetter Mojave Desert is the special habitat of the undisciplined Joshua tree, extensive stands of which occur throughout the western half of the park. The park also contains some of the most interesting geologic terrain found in California's deserts. For more information, visit the Joshua Tree National Park website.