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The California Desert Parks

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The California Desert Parks ® 5 00 june 2 THE CALIFORNIA DESERT PARKS JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK MOJAVE NATIONAL PRESERVE A Resource Assessment National Parks Conservation Association ® STATE OF THE PARKS® Program More than a century ago, Congress established Yellowstone as the world’s first national park. That single act was the beginning of a CONTENTS remarkable and ongoing effort to protect this nation’s natural, histor- ical, and cultural heritage. Today, Americans are learning that national park designation alone cannot provide full resource protection. Many parks are com- INTRODUCTION 1 promised by development of adjacent lands, air and water pollution, invasive plants and animals, and rapid increases in motorized recre- ation. Park officials often lack adequate information on the status of I. THE CALIFORNIA DESERT and trends in conditions of critical resources. Only 10 percent of the PARKS ASSESSMENT 4 National Park Service’s (NPS) budget is earmarked for natural resources management, and less than 6 percent is targeted for cultur- al resources management. In most years, only about 7 percent of per- RATINGS 4 manent park employees work in jobs directly related to park resource preservation. One consequence of the funding challenges: two-thirds KEY FINDINGS 10 of historic structures across the National Park System are in serious need of repair and maintenance. NATURAL RESOURCES 12 The National Parks Conservation Association initiated the State of the Parks® program in 2000 to assess the condition of natural and Burgeoning Regional Populations cultural resources in the parks, and determine how well equipped the Strain Delicate Desert Systems National Park Service is to protect the parks—its stewardship capaci- ty. The goal is to provide information that will help policy-makers, CULTURAL RESOURCES 29 the public, and the National Park Service improve conditions in Prehistoric and Historic Treasures national parks, celebrate successes as models for other parks, and at Risk ensure a lasting legacy for future generations. For more information about the methodology and research used STEWARDSHIP CAPACITY 44 in preparing this report and to learn more about the State of the Parks® program, visit www.npca.org/stateoftheparks or contact: NPCA, Funding and Staffing Shortfalls State of the Parks® Program, 230 Cherry Street, Ste. 100, Fort Collins, Affect Resource Protection and CO 80521; Phone: 970.493.2545; E-mail: [email protected]. Visitor Services Since 1919, the National Parks Conservation Association has been the leading voice of the American people in the fight to safeguard our APPENDIX: METHODOLOGY 48 National Park System. NPCA and its 300,000 members and hun- dreds of partners work together to protect the park system and pre- serve our nation's natural, historical, and cultural heritage for gener- ations to come. * Nearly 300,000 members * 8 regional offices * 35,000 activists COVER PHOTO: HOWARD GROSS INTRODUCTION HOWARD GROSS Introduction In southeast California, there is a special place Desert Protection Act. This landmark legisla- where the Great Basin, Mojave, and Sonoran tion changed Joshua Tree and Death Valley deserts come together to form a region with var- from national monuments to national parks, ied natural communities and resources. To pro- increasing the size of both. Joshua Tree tect these diverse resources, Death Valley increased by 234,000 acres to its present size National Monument was established in 1933, of 794,000 acres, and 585,040 acres (73 per- followed three years later by Joshua Tree cent) became wilderness. Death Valley grew by National Monument. about 1.3 million acres to its present size of Further protection for the California deserts nearly 3.4 million acres, making it the largest came in 1994 with passage of the California national park in the contiguous lower 48 2 Introduction Colorful fields of United States, and 95 percent of the park With precipitation averaging just a few inches wildflowers bloom in became designated wilderness. The California each year, groundwater supplies most of these full force, especially Desert Protection Act also established the 1.6- surface water sources. in years of heavy spring rains. million-acre Mojave National Preserve, which The California desert’s cultural resources are lies between Death Valley and Joshua Tree. also extensive. Humans have been drawn to this The California desert parks are replete with region for thousands of years, and the landscape cactus gardens, Joshua tree forests, fields of wild- tells countless stories of survival, hardship, flowers, hidden springs, palm oases, towering renewal, tenacity, and ingenuity. Ancient stone sand dunes, rugged mountain ranges, multihued tools and chipped bones of prehistoric animals canyons, and some of the lowest and hottest val- tell of the people who lived in the region 4,000 leys in the western hemisphere. The parks are to 8,000 years ago; pottery, beads, and other home to nearly 500 vertebrate species, ranging artifacts were left behind by a variety of in size from tiny lungless salamanders to majes- American Indian peoples more recently; and tic desert bighorn sheep and mountain lions. mine shafts, ore-processing mills, water troughs, Federally protected species include the threat- ranch houses, and other evidence remain from ened desert tortoise and endangered Devils Hole ranching and mining activity in the late 19th pupfish. There are between 700 and 900 species and 20th centuries. of plants in each park, many rare and endan- Although the stark beauty of the parks’ land- gered, and some found nowhere else on the scapes seems ancient and immutable, deserts planet. These animals and plants exhibit impres- are fragile ecosystems. Both natural and cultural sive life adaptations that allow them to survive resources are protected within Joshua Tree, the desert’s extremes. Death Valley, and Mojave, but substantial Springs, seeps, and a few perennial streams threats to these resources exist. The parks lie are critical resources that provide water to the between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, two major animals and plants within the California metropolitan areas that have grown consider- desert parks. Joshua Tree contains 120 known ably in recent decades. The population of Clark water sources, while Mojave has more than County, which encompasses Las Vegas, has 200, and Death Valley has more than 400. grown to 1.7 million (nearly 200 times the HOWARD GROSS 3 Introduction 8,532 residents present in 1930) and continues of resources important to traditionally associat- to grow at the rate of 5,000 people each month. ed groups of people. A cultural anthropologist With urban growth comes habitat destruction that could be shared among the parks would and fragmentation, increased demand on the help build relationships with associated groups. region’s limited water supplies, and air pollu- Adequate storage and exhibit space for the tion from automobiles and industry. parks’ extensive museum and archival collec- All three of the California desert parks feel the tions is also needed. All three parks would also effects of skyrocketing regional population benefit from a shared historic preservation crew. growth. Adjacent development and transporta- Currently, none of the California desert parks tion corridors have isolated both Joshua Tree has a historic preservation specialist or any and Mojave. The parks are sandwiched between other staff person with adequate time to main- major highways where automobile traffic tain deteriorating, and in some cases, newly impedes wildlife movements and results in acquired historic structures. wildlife mortality. Air pollution from the Los The following report outlines the results of Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside metro- a rigorous examination of natural and cultur- politan areas is funneled towards the parks. al resources in Joshua Tree National Park, Groundwater levels are of concern because grow- Death Valley National Park, and Mojave ing populations are demanding more and more National Preserve. State of the Parks Mineral deposits water, and precipitation levels are not sufficient researchers used a comprehensive, peer- color the Furnace to replace what is being used. Decreases in sur- reviewed methodology to assess and rate the Creek Badlands of face water availability have been noted at some condition of these parks’ resources. Death Valley. of the parks’ springs and watering holes, result- ing in less water available to wildlife and ripari- an plants. Threats to cultural resources stem primarily from inadequate funding and staffing levels at NATIONAL PARK SERVICE the three parks. None of the parks have formal ethnography programs that address protection THE CALIFORNIA DESERT PARKS ASSESSMENTS NATIONAL PARK SERVICE 4 arks Assessments The California Desert P Death Valley contains RATINGS tion from nearby urban areas, diminishing examples of all five Ratings were assigned through an evaluation of water levels in critical springs and wildlife types of sand dune park research and monitoring data using water sources, and non-native annual grasses structures, and the park is home to NPCA’s State of the Parks comprehensive assess- that have invaded much of the park and California’s highest ment methodology (see Appendix). altered the natural fire regime. dunes. Overall conditions of the park’s known cul- Joshua Tree tural resources rated 58 out of a possible 100, Current overall conditions of Joshua Tree’s indicating “poor” conditions. Perhaps the great- known natural resources
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