the California Desert CONSERVATION AREA PLAN 1980 as amended U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Desert District Riverside, California the California Desert CONSERVATION AREA PLAN 1980 as Amended IN REPLY REFER TO United States Department of the Interior BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT STATE OFFICE Federal Office Building 2800 Cottage Way Sacramento, California 95825 Dear Reader: Thank you.You and many other interested citizens like you have made this California Desert Conservation Area Plan. It was conceived of your interests and concerns, born into law through your elected representatives, molded by your direct personal involvement, matured and refined through public conflict, interaction, and compromise, and completed as a result of your review, comment and advice. It is a good plan. You have reason to be proud. Perhaps, as individuals, we may say, “This is not exactly the plan I would like,” but together we can say, “This is a plan we can agree on, it is fair, and it is possible.” This is the most important part of all, because this Plan is only a beginning. A plan is a piece of paper-what counts is what happens on the ground. The California Desert Plan encompasses a tremendous area and many different resources and uses. The decisions in the Plan are major and important, but they are only general guides to site—specific actions. The job ahead of us now involves three tasks: —Site-specific plans, such as grazing allotment management plans or vehicle route designation; —On-the-ground actions, such as granting mineral leases, developing water sources for wildlife, building fences for livestock pastures or for protecting petroglyphs; and —Keeping people informed of and involved in putting the Plan to work on the ground, and in changing the Plan to meet future needs. The overriding concern expressed by all of you during Plan development was, “Will it be implemented? Can BLM do what the Plan says it will do?” That is up to you. The CDCA Plan, in response to public concern and Congressional mandate, provides a way for respon- sible citizens to share in the use and enjoyment of desert resources that belong to all the people of the United States. It is a statement of management guidance designed to be useful today and it contains an amendment process so that it is adaptable to tomorrow. It will be effective if responsible citizens make it work. It will require the commitment of time, energy, money, and understanding from you, from all of us, if it is to become a reality on the ground. I do not know if what will happen, but I do know that the only way it can be done is with the full involve- ment of all the people: State and county agencies, businesses, user groups, and concerned individuals, all working together to do the job. Managing the public lands in the California Desert in a spirit of service, productivity, and concern for the public interest is the foundation upon which the implementation of the Desert Plan is based. To do this, the dedicated professional men and women of the Bureau of Land Management are committed to work for you and with you, the owners of the public lands in the California Desert Conservation Area. Sincerely, James B. Ruch California State Director Bureau of Land Management TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION-THE CALIFORNIA DESERT CONSERVATION AREA IN PERSPECTIVE 3 PART I-THE CALIFORNIA DESERT CONSERVATION AREA PLAN . .9 Chapter 1-General Guidelines . .11 Chapter 2-Multiple-Use Classes . .13 Multiple-Use Class Guidelines . .15 Chapter 3-Plan Elements . .21 Cultural Resource Element . .22 Native American Element . .26 Wildlife Element . .28 Vegetation Element . .37 Wilderness Element . .47 Wild Horse and Burro Element . .51 Livestock Grazing Element . .56 Recreation Element . .69 Motorized-Vehicle Access Element . .75 Geology, Energy and Mineral (G-E-M) Resources Element . .84 Energy Production and Utility Corridors Element . .93 Land-Tenure Adjustment Element . .97 Chapter 4-Areas of Critical Environmental Concern and Special Areas . .101 Areas of Critical Environmental Concern . .101 Special Areas . .105 PART II-IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLAN . .107 Chapter 5-Implementation Process . .109 CDCA Advisory Committee Recommendations . .109 Intergovernmental Coordination . .111 Chapter 6-Support Requirements . .113 Chapter 7-Plan Amendment Process . .119 Chapter 8-Budgetary Requirements . .123 CONCLUSIONS . .131 ADDENDA . .135 Addendum A-Development of the Desert Plan . .137 Addendum B-Interim Management Guidelines . .143 Appendix A . .147 Appendix B . .157 INTRODUCTION the California Desert CONSERVATION AREA PLAN IN PERSPECTIVE Introduction Although a land which is now desert, was the cradle of past, are now often protected against erosional forces civilization, man generally considers these arid regions only by natural soil crusts, called “desert pavement,” and bleak and lifeless and seeks greener places to live. The what little stability that the sparse desert vegetative cover Spanish explorer De Anza, traveling across the southern provides. Any surface disturbance of these features part of what is now California, named the region of his leaves the thin desert soil exposed to severe climatic ordeal, “The Land of the Dead.” Scores of grim tales of factors. death and bare survival characterize the history of the In the older deserts of the world, wind and water have California Desert. Yet, even as the sprawling Los Angeles scoured features of the landscape into flat, low-relief and San Diego metropolitan areas loom on its western surfaces. In the California Desert, a variety of land forms, edge, there are growing numbers of people who find including valleys, bajadas, pediments, alluvial fans, behind the region’s forbidding aspect a delightful and sur- rough-hewn mountain ranges, washes, sand dunes, and prising diversity of natural forms and processes. Many dry lakebeds, testify to its relative youth as a desert. have come to feel an affection for the Desert which is, in These land forms mix with varying soil conditions and the words of one writer, “born of a face perceived, but climatic variations to form a number of ecosystems, in never fully seen.” which desert plant and animal life face formidable chal- Within the area we know as the California Desert, sci- lenges from both the human and natural environment in entists recognize three deserts: the Mojave, the Sonoran, their fight for survival. and a small portion of the Great Basin. Subtropical high Desert organisms face a tough task to maintain water pressure belts, the “rainshadow” effect of the coastal balance. Most plants are annuals which avoid the problem mountain ranges, and other topographical features create of aridity by remaining in the form of seeds until rains bring the conditions by which some geographers define a them to life. During their short span of growth, they pre- desert: an area in which evaporation and transpiration sent the stunning displays of wildflowers which are well- exceed the mean annual precipitation. known in some parts of the California Desert. The California deserts were cooler and moister places Desert perennials often use novel physiological and in the past. Prior to the end of the last Ice Age, Joshua anatomical adaptations to endure this hostile environ- trees, pinyon pines, sagebrush, and junipers extended ment. Some plants have “dual” root systems, with wide lat- across broader expanses than they do today. A subse- eral roots to catch surface water and deep “tap” roots to quent drying trend caused these plant communities to search out underground moisture. Short-rooted succu- retreat to higher elevations, leaving small enclaves of lents store water in their stems and ration it during dry white fir forests on mountaintops and species like the cre- spells. Plants like the drought-deciduous ocotillo shed osote bush to dominate the lowlands. This trend toward their leaves entirely during these periods to reduce water increasing dryness is evident in rainfall records kept since loss through evaporation. Some agave and yucca plants the last century. Today, parts of the Sonora Desert receive are able to reduce water losses by taking in carbon less water than any other place in the United States. dioxide needed for photosynthesis at night. In addition to aridity, extreme temperatures are a trait Some desert animals also display these special struc- of the Desert. The lack of insulating humidity causes wide tural adaptations. The desert tortoise is able to store water fluctuations in daily seasonal temperatures varying from in sacs under its shell. Some desert arthropods can take 14°F at Deep Springs Valley in January to nearly 117°F at water directly from the air when the relative humidity is Death Valley in July. over 80 percent. More often, however, the desert animal’s This harsh climate imposes several constraints on adaptation is behavioral; it limits activity to the coolness of natural processes. Desert soils, formed during the humid 3 Introduction night, dawn, or dusk. Much desert activity occurs around destiny, the city of Los Angeles brought water across more seeps, springs, and other surface-water sources which, than 200 miles of the Desert from the Owens Valley, pre- although rare, are extremely important to the carefully bal- saging a number of large water projects. anced natural ecosystems. Between two world wars, the freewheeling days of the An understanding of the relationship between natural prospector waned as corporate entities developed large processes and landscape cannot be complete without a operations. The reign of the railroads reached a national recognition of the human presence. Man is not an alien in and local zenith and then faltered as roads were laid the environment. His structures and activities change and across the Desert. Highway settlements and resorts become a part of the system.