How Conservationists Are Fighting to Keep the Desert Wild

Some people experience the desert only through a windshield, cruising past windmills along Interstate 10. It’s OK to pity them.

They miss the crunch of ancient dirt beneath their feet, the sound of coyote howls echoing in the distance, and the earthy scent of creosote after a long-awaited rain.

What appears to some as an empty expanse surrounding the Coachella Valley is, in fact, more than 2 million acres of preserved land — a so-called “string of pearls” comprising national monuments, conservancies, preserves, wilderness areas, and tribal lands.

Several of these areas are reaching milestone anniversaries. In 2025, the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument celebrates its designation; 2026 marks a decade for the Sand to Snow National Monument.

Looking ahead, these singular places face a series of existential threats. Climate change is disrupting the life cycles of native flora and fauna. The desert’s beauty tempts luxury developers eager to build architectural estates and resorts that encroach on important ecosystems. America’s polarized political climate continues to overshadow — and sometimes undo — environmental priorities.

Longtime desert ecologist Jim Cornett stresses that further protections are essential if this land is to endure. Some conservationists believe the Coachella Valley may be among the largest developed areas in the United States to be largely enclosed by a continuous chain of protected lands. This network safeguards wildlife corridors for species like desert tortoises and bighorn sheep.

“These lands are special, and needed by the entire country as recreational desert landscapes that are rapidly not becoming possible anymore,” Cornett says. “The sooner we protect landscapes, the better chance we have of protecting them.”

How We Got Here

The late Ed Hastey, a longtime public lands advocate and former California manager for the federal Bureau of Land Management, coined the phrase “string of pearls” in the 1970s.

It took decades of work by environmental advocates, lawmakers, tribal leaders, and ecologists to secure the state and federal designations that keep those “pearls” intact. The 1994 California Desert Protection Act expanded Joshua Tree National Monument to national park status, also adding Mojave and Death Valley national parks, while Antiquities Act proclamations created the Sand to Snow and Chuckwalla national monuments — the latter designated in January 2025, during the Biden administration’s final weeks.

Joan Taylor, a founder of the conservation-focused nonprofit  Friends of  the Desert Mountains, has been active in local preservation since the 1960s, including a successful bid to stop the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from damming Whitewater Canyon. At the time, she says, the goal was simple: buy land before developers could.

“We had willing sellers, and there was funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, from the state, and from philanthropy,” she recalls. “It was opportunistic. If land became available, we tried to get it into conservation ownership before it got developed.”

Another factor in preservation success has been rare alliances — whether driven by a love of nature or by profit. Chuckwalla, for example, took about a decade of campaigning by coalitions of environmentalists, business leaders, and Indigenous communities.

“Partly because of  the astounding natural lands that surround us and partly due to the strength of our tourist economy, there’s a fairly sophisticated approach to preservation,” Taylor says.
 

An Era of Recreation,  Conservation, and Education

Part of what makes the desert so extraordinary is its varied topography. Dusty basins below sea level give way to steep mountain slopes, while the transition zones between deserts foster species found nowhere else. “That makes for rich biodiversity, particularly in a desert environment where people don’t expect to see a lot of biodiversity,” Jim Cornett says.

The Indian Canyons of Palm Springs are cared for by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, whose history here dates back at least 8,000 years, according to archaeological findings. In Andreas Canyon alone, a tribal hiking guide reports 150 plant species within a half-mile radius. Nearby Palm Canyon is home to the largest undisturbed California fan palm oasis with more than 2,000 mature trees.

Protecting these species relies in part on the 2008 Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan. Taylor calls it one of the best habitat plans in the state — if  not the nation — for its approach to future land use. “It balances development by setting a firm boundary around urban areas and designating much of the surrounding land for preservation,” she says.

The Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy (CVMC) created the plan in partnership with the Coachella Valley Association of Governments, building toward a 723,480-acre preserve system encircling the valley. Local permittees are obligated to conserve 100,800 acres, with additional contributions from state, federal, and complementary conservation partners. As of late 2024, almost half of  the reserve system had been assembled.

Inter-agency coordination is essential to making the plan work, says CVMC acting director Diana Rosas. That extends to daily management, with input from land managers across agencies. “We don’t want to work in silos,” Rosas says. “We’re all kind of doing a little bit of  the puzzle.”

One of CVMC’s current priorities is the state’s 30×30 initiative — a goal to conserve 30 percent of California’s lands and coastal waters by 2030. The initiative is gaining ground. According to the California Natural Resources Agency, the state had already protected an estimated 25 percent of lands by fall 2024, while 853,000 acres were added in 2025 alone. In October 2024, the state of  California, working with CVMC and other partners, returned 320 acres of  ancestral land near Mount San Jacinto to the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians.

Rosas says the next challenge is balancing habitat protection with public access. “We’re trying to make sure social trails become established ones, or direct the public to existing trails, so habitats aren’t damaged.”

Ongoing Threats

Some forces, though, can’t be countered by a management plan. A warming planet does the desert few favors, with higher temperatures accelerating drought and stressing fragile ecosystems. Cornett, for example, has monitored three sites in Joshua Tree over 30 years, documenting landscape changes to chart the effects of climate and time. In all cases, the numbers of Joshua trees have declined.

“When old trees die, there’s none to replace them. And that’s a huge challenge for the park in terms of their namesake,” he says. In response, the park and its partners are piloting targeted restoration — planting nursery-grown Joshua tree seedlings in burned areas, reestablishing native fan palms at the Oasis of Mara with the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, and banking seed for future replanting.

Then there are the political threats. The Trump administration has signaled it may roll back Chuckwalla’s designation, citing a May 2025 Department of Justice opinion suggesting presidents can rescind Antiquities Act protections. In early 2025, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and National Park Service faced layoffs and budget cuts under the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). That spring, a proposal to sell off vast stretches of public lands nearly made its way into the “Big Beautiful Bill” budget.

Current and former BLM staff say dwindling resources threaten daily operations and future conservation partnerships. At Joshua Tree National Park, for instance, the February 2025 firing of six rangers left nearly one-third of ranger positions at the park unfilled. That same weekend, SFGate reported, entrance lines ballooned from a typical 20 minutes to an hour. Visitors and advocates warned that fewer rangers mean delayed trash pickup, less oversight of sensitive areas, heightened risk of  habitat damage, and slower response to wildfires.

If there’s a common refrain among environmental advocates, it’s this: more conservation and education. That means stronger protections, additional preserved habitat, and continued outreach to ensure new generations experience the desert in all its singular, strange beauty.

For Diana Rosas, who grew up in the Coachella Valley and is raising her daughter here, access to the landscape is a form of environmental justice. She says everyone should be able to explore and appreciate nature — if  they know where to go.

“Education is so important,” Rosas says. “Not only educating ourselves but also the community about resources available here in the desert, and how can we protect them for future generations.”

Out here, beyond the glass of a car window, the desert reveals itself in layers: the whisper of wind through mesquite, the shimmer of heat on a canyon wall, the sudden shadow of a bighorn scrambling on rock overhead. These are the moments preservation protects, and the reason to venture outside and see them for yourself.

Pearls of Preservation

A timeline of the designations that keep the wilderness intact.

 

1876

Agua Caliente Indian Reservation

This checkerboard of more than 34,000 acres spans from the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa mountains through downtown
Palm Springs, Cathedral City, and Rancho Mirage, representing almost 150 years of Indigenous land stewardship and cultural continuity.

1933

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

At nearly 600,000 acres, California’s largest state park protects sweeping desert landscapes, slot canyons, and rare wildlife. Its northern boundary connects ecologically with the Chuckwalla Mountains region and other protected lands.

1936

Joshua Tree National Monument

Designated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt under the Antiquities Act of 1906, this monument later became Joshua Tree National Park and laid the foundation for one of the region’s flagship conservation areas.

1964

San Gorgonio Wilderness

One of the nation’s first wilderness areas designated under the 1964 Wilderness Act, it protects alpine forests, meadows, and wildlife corridors across 96,595 acres, later incorporated into the Sand to Snow National Monument.

1980

Dos Palmas Preserve

This 15,120-acre oasis-fed preserve managed by BLM and The Nature Conservancy is designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern. It provides habitat for endangered desert pupfish, Yuma clapper rails, and other rare species.

1982

Big Morongo Canyon Preserve

Encompassing 31,000 acres, this riparian oasis at the Mojave–Colorado Desert transition zone protects one of the largest cottonwood-willow habitats in California and is an internationally recognized birding hot spot.

1984

Santa Rosa Wilderness

Protected by the California Wilderness Act, this 72,679-acre refuge safeguards bighorn sheep habitat and cultural sites in the Santa Rosa Mountains, later incorporated into the national monument landscape.

1984

Coachella Valley Preserve

Initially established through land purchases by The Nature Conservancy, this roughly 20,000-acre preserve protects oases, dunes, and habitat for the threatened Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard.

1985

Coachella Valley National Wildlife  Refuge

The 3,709-acre sanctuary near Palm Desert, set aside within the Coachella Valley Preserve by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, protects fragile dune ecosystems and the federally threatened fringe-toed lizard.

1994

Joshua Tree National Park

Elevated from monument status under the California Desert Protection Act, the park now spans 795,156 acres, with over 590,000 designated as wilderness, attracting millions of visitors annually.

1994

Mecca  Hills Wilderness

Also established by the California Desert Protection Act, this 26,242-acre wilderness features rugged canyons shaped by the San Andreas Fault and offers rare solitude amid dramatic desert geology.

1997

Mission Creek Preserve

A  4,760-acre preserve managed by The Wildlands Conservancy, it bridges the desert floor to the high country of Sand to Snow, protecting riparian habitats and providing critical wildlife passage.

2000

National Conservation Lands

This federal system created under the Clinton administration brought key local sites — including Big Morongo Canyon and Dos Palmas — under permanent conservation management, protecting them as part of a broader network in the American West.

2000

Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument

Proclaimed under the Antiquities Act, this more than 280,000-acre monument protects biodiversity, cultural sites, and wildlife corridors.

2006

Whitewater Preserve

A 2,851-acre preserve managed by The Wildlands Conservancy, it protects a riparian canyon and river corridor, offering habitat for endangered birds and other animals.

2016

Sand to Snow National Monument

Proclaimed by President Barack Obama under the Antiquities Act, this 154,000-acre monument links the desert floor to alpine summits, connecting Joshua Tree with the San Bernardino wilderness.

2025

Chuckwalla National Monument

Established by President Joe Biden, this 624,270-acre monument completes the protective ring around the Coachella Valley, safeguarding desert corridors, tribal lands, and dramatic canyons.