Press Enterprise Op-ed - Desert's Protective Blanket Turns 10

Press Enterprise
(Riverside, CA)

Desert's protective blanket turns 10

November 12, 2004

In the decade since the California Desert Protection Act was signed into law - preserving 7.7 million acres and establishing
the Mojave National Preserve and creating the Joshua Tree and Death Valley national parks, more than 24 million people have visited this beautiful landscape.

I have no doubt that many of these visitors have been awed by the desert's majesty and serenity. That was certainly the way I
felt upon first viewing the desert. It has been my reaction every time I return.

According to the National Parks Conservation Association, this dramatic increase in visitors has created more than 2,500 jobs
since the bill was signed into law, and over $ 95 million is being pumped into the local economy each year.

This is a major reason why the Desert Protection Act now enjoys broad support not just from hikers, campers and
environmentalists, but also community and business leaders, and private property owners.

And the desert has become a mecca for millions of people around the world who love its stark beauty and varied natural landscape.

Indeed, the desert offers some of the world's last remaining dinosaur tracks, Indian petroglyphs, abundant spring
wildflowers, extinct volcanoes, wild burros, and threatened species including the bighorn sheep and the desert tortoise - an
animal known to live for as many as 100 years.

Joshua Tree, encompassing parts of both the Mojave and Colorado deserts, contains magnificent rock formations, forests
blanketing the high country, abundant yellow creosote bushes and rugged Joshua trees. The Death Valley landscape, marked by a diverse range of salt playas, alpine forests, and jagged rocks, is a land of extremes - one of the hottest, driest, and lowest
places on Earth.

And the Mojave National Preserve, with its granite, limestone, and metamorphic rocks, has remarkable geological diversity and
the largest Joshua Tree forest in the world.

I am especially pleased that the act is a living bill - one that we keep adding to through a unique public-private partnership
has been formed to expand protected areas by acquiring private holdings from willing sellers.

This effort has resulted in the sale of nearly 600,000 acres from Catellus Development Corp. and other private sellers to the
Wildlands Conservancy, making this the largest conservation land acquisition in United States history.

In total, this acquisition of private land protects:

* More than 100,000 acres of private land within Joshua Tree National Park and the Mojave National Preserve.
* Almost 200,000 acres in 18 wilderness areas.
* More than 200,000 acres of habitat for bighorn sheep and desert tortoises.
* Access to hundreds of miles of private dirt roads and backcountry areas for hunting, hiking, camping and exploring.

There is no question that the effort to protect the desert will continue to face challenges, especially over questions about
water rights and how the desert is used.

But I will remain vigilant in ensuring that intent of the Desert Protection Act is preserved so that the desert can continue to
sustain the pioneers who choose to live on its frontiers and at the same time be a place of enjoyment for the millions who visit
it each year.