Desert Parks Partners
The California Desert Parks Need Your Help!
Joshua Tree National Park ~ Death Valley National Park ~ Mojave National Preserve
Desert Parks Partners is a coalition of desert towns, organizations, and residents working to increase the National Park Service’s capacity to fulfill its mission in the California desert national parks. We invite you to help ensure that future generations can enjoy our desert parks.
Background
California's desert national parks —Joshua Tree and Death Valley national parks and the Mojave National Preserve— are the core of one of our nation's most expansive and unique ecosystems. Comprising 5.8 million acres, these parks make up the largest concentration of national park lands in the lower 48 states. They overflow with cactus gardens and Joshua tree forests, hidden springs and palm oases, impressive rock formations, sand dunes that dwarf skyscrapers, rugged mountain ranges, fields of wildflowers, and multihued canyons.
Though deserts are often perceived as barren landscapes, these ecosystems sustain a considerable diversity of flora and fauna, including 100 year-old tortoises, 12,000 year-old creosote bushes, bighorn sheep, and other uniquely adapted plant and animal species. These parks also preserve human history in the desert spanning thousands of years. And these parks are economic engines for the desert region, with visitors spending over $95 million annually and supporting nearly 2,000 jobs in desert communities.
Inadequate Funding Puts Desert Parks at Risk
Federal funding for the desert parks hasn’t kept up with inflation and other rising costs, such as that for fuel and employee health care. For example, operations funding for these three parks increased 6.3% from 2001 to 2006, but inflation over the same time period was 13.4%. This 7% decrease in park funding since 2001 exacerbates a troubling situation because Joshua Tree National Park’s 2001 Business Plan showed the park to already be 30% underfunded that year.
On the ground, underfunding means the desert parks have too few rangers, scientists, interpreters, and maintenance workers to fully protect and manage the park’s natural and cultural treasures, ensure a quality visitor experience, and prevent park roads, campgrounds, and historic structures from deteriorating.
How You Can Help
Below are two ways you can help the California desert parks:
- Ask congress and the administration to provide the funding needed to ensure so that present and future generations can enjoy these parks.
- Become involved with a Desert Parks Partners committee.
