Mojave National Preserve is a United States National Preserve located in the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...

San Bernardino County, California San Bernardino County (), officially the County of San Bernardino, is a County (United States), county located in the Southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of the ...

, USA, between

Interstate 15 Interstate 15 (I-15) is a major Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the western United States, running through Southern California and the Intermountain West. I-15 begins near the Mexico–United States border, Mexican border i ...

and

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...

. The preserve was established October 31, 1994, with the passage of the California Desert Protection Act by the

US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washingto ...

, which also established

Joshua Tree National Park Joshua Tree National Park is an American national park in southeastern California, east of San Bernardino and Los Angeles and north of Palm Springs, California, Palm Springs. It is named after the Joshua trees (''Yucca brevifolia'') native to t ...

and

Death Valley National Park Death Valley National Park is an American national park that straddles the California–Nevada border, east of the Sierra Nevada. The park boundaries include Death Valley, the northern section of Panamint Valley, the southern section of Eureka ...

National Parks A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual ...

. Previously, some lands contained within the Preserve were the East Mojave National Scenic Area, under the jurisdiction of the

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...

. At , within the contiguous United States it is the third largest unit of the National Park System and the first largest

National Preserve There are 21 protected areas of the United States designated as national preserves. They were established by an act of Congress to protect areas that have resources often associated with national parks but where certain natural resource-extracti ...

. The preserve was created within the Pacific West Region of the National Park Service and remains within that jurisdiction today. Natural features include the

Kelso Dunes Kelso Dunes, also known as the Kelso Dune Field, is the largest field of Aeolian processes, aeolian sand deposits in the Mojave Desert. The region is protected by the Mojave National Preserve and is located near the town of Baker, California, B ...

, the Marl Mountains and the Cima Dome, as well as

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

formations such as Hole-in-the-Wall and the Cinder Cone Lava Beds. The preserve surrounds

Providence Mountains State Recreation Area The Providence Mountains State Recreation Area is located in the Providence Mountains, within the Mojave National Preserve in San Bernardino County, California. It is also home to the Mitchell Caverns Natural Preserve. Geography The Recreation ...

and Mitchell Caverns Natural Preserve, which are both managed by the

California Department of Parks and Recreation The California Department of Parks and Recreation, more commonly known as California State Parks, manages the California state parks system. The system administers 279 separate park units on 1.4 million acres (570,000 hectares), with over 280 ...

. Impressive

Joshua tree ''Yucca brevifolia'' is a plant species belonging to the genus ''Yucca''. It is tree-like in habit, which is reflected in its common names: Joshua tree, yucca palm, tree yucca, and palm tree yucca. This monocotyledonous tree is native to the ar ...

forests are found in parts of the preserve. The forest covering Cima Dome and the adjacent Shadow Valley is the largest and densest in the world. In August 2020 a wildfire destroyed 1.3 million Joshua Trees around Cima Dome. The

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

of Kelso is found in the preserve, with the defunct

railroad depot A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a Rail transport, railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passenger train, passengers, freight rail transport, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one r ...

serving as the Visitor Center. The preserve is commonly traversed by 4 wheel drive vehicles traveling on the historic

Mojave Road The Mojave Road, also known as Old Government Road (formerly the Mohave Trail), is a historic route and present day dirt road across what is now the Mojave National Preserve in the Mojave Desert in the United States. This rough road stretched f ...

. Climate in the preserve varies greatly. Summer temperatures average , with highs exceeding . Elevations in the preserve range from at Clark Mountain to near Baker. Annual precipitation varies from near Baker, to almost in the mountains. At least 25% of precipitation comes from summer thunderstorms. Snow is often found in the mountains during the winter. The preserve currently faces challenges based on its lack of funding, as of 2018 the preserve had a deferred maintenance of $118,036,341. This lack of funding has primarily lead to infrastructure disrepair which, in combination with the reckless driving prevalent among visitors, has caused a significant threat to the

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

Desert Tortoise The desert tortoise (''Gopherus agassizii''), is a species of tortoise in the Family (biology), family Testudinidae. The species is native to the Mojave Desert, Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexic ...

population within the preserve. In addition to the tortoise's threatened population, the

Prairie Falcon The prairie falcon (''Falco mexicanus'') is a medium-large sized falcon of western North America. It is about the size of a peregrine falcon or a crow, with an average length of 40 cm (16 in), wingspan of approximately 1 meter (40&nb ...

and the

Bighorn Sheep The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of sheep native to North America. It is named for its large horns. A pair of horns might weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspec ...

are both at a risk within the preserve. A common solution provided to help save this population is to install wildlife crossings over the main roads within the preserve, though this is currently not possible with the funding provided.

Mojave Wilderness

The

California Desert Protection Act of 1994 The California Desert Protection Act of 1994 is a federal law () sponsored by Senator Dianne Feinstein, passed by the United States Congress on October 8, 1994, and signed into effect by President Bill Clinton on October 31 of the same year, that ...

(CDPA) designated a

wilderness area Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

within Mojave National Preserve of approximately . The National Park Service manages the wilderness in accordance with the

Wilderness Act The Wilderness Act of 1964 () was written by Howard Zahniser of The Wilderness Society. It created the legal definition of wilderness in the United States, and protected 9.1 million acres (37,000 km²) of federal land. The result of a lon ...

, the CDPA, and other laws that protect cultural and historic sites in the wilderness.

Administrative history

Upon the preserve's establishment, Mary Martin was designated as its superintendent, she served from 1994 to 2005, when she was moved to the

Lassen Volcanic National Park Lassen Volcanic National Park is an American national park in northeastern California. The dominant feature of the park is Lassen Peak, the largest lava dome, plug dome volcano in the world and the southernmost volcano in the Cascade Range. L ...

. Dennish Schramm then served from 2005 to 2010. Stephanie Dubois served from 2010 to 2014. Todd Suess served from 2014 to 2020, though he continues to work for the National Park Service as the Chief of Biological Resources. The current superintendent is Mike Gauthier who has served since 2020.

Features

Beale Mountains The Beale Mountains are located in the Mojave National Preserve in eastern California. The range is one of the smallest mountain ranges in the United States, and is only about 2.5 miles long. The mountains are located northeast of the Kelso Mountai ...

Cima, California Cima (Spanish for "Summit") is a small unincorporated community in the Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County, California, in the United States. It lies in a mountain pass on the divide between the Ivanpah Valley and the Mojave River basin, at ...

* Cima Dome & Volcanic Field National Natural Landmark * Clark Mountain * Devils Playground * Granite Mountains *

Ivanpah, California Ivanpah ( Chemehuevi: "Clean Water") is in the Mojave National Preserve in San Bernardino County, California. There are several residences in the area, but no real village. Ivanpah is located on the bajada below the northeast side of the New Y ...

* Ivanpah Mountains *

Kelso, California Kelso is a ghost town and defunct railroad depot in the Mojave National Preserve in San Bernardino County, California, USA. It was named after railroad worker John H. Kelso, whose name was placed into a hat along with two other workers to decide ...

* Kelso Depot *

Kelso Mountains The Kelso Mountains are located just north of the small community of Kelso and the Kelso Dunes, in the Mojave National Preserve in southeastern California. The town of Baker, near Interstate 15, lies approximately 18 miles (29 km) to the nort ...

* Kelso Wash *

Lanfair Valley Lanfair Valley is located in the Mojave Desert in southeastern California near the Nevada state line. It is bounded on the north by the New York Mountains and Castle Mountains, on the east by the Piute Range, and on the south by the Woods Mountai ...

* Marl Mountains * Mid Hills *

Mojave phone booth ''Mojave Phone Booth'' is an independently produced 2006 film directed by John Putch. The film is based on a Mojave phone booth, real phone booth in the Mojave Desert that once accepted incoming calls, but has since been removed. The film is compos ...

New York Mountains The New York Mountains are a small mountain range found in northeastern San Bernardino County in California, USA. The range's northeastern area lies in southeastern Nevada. The range lies just south of the small community of Ivanpah, and north ...

Old Dad Mountain Old Dad Mountain is a summit, southwest of the Cinder Cone Lava Beds, west of the Kelso Mountains, north of Jackass Canyon, northeast of the Devils Playground and east of Soda Lake, in San Bernardino County, California San Bernardino County ...

* Providence, California *

Providence Mountains The Providence Mountains are found in the eastern Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County, California, U.S. The range reaches an elevation of at Edgar Peak and is home to the Mitchell Caverns Natural Preserve in the Providence Mountains State Re ...

Vanderbilt, California Vanderbilt was a short-lived gold mining town located in San Bernardino County, California, United States. It existed between 1893 and 1895. At its peak it may have had a population of about 400 people. Location Vanderbilt was located at 35° 19' ...

Vontrigger Hills The Vontrigger Hills are a low mountain range in the eastern Mojave Desert, in eastern San Bernardino County, California. Vontrigger Hills are located in the southeastern Mojave National Preserve, approximately north of the small settlement of G ...

Climate

The following climate data is for a higher elevation area in the preserve. See also Climate of the Mojave Desert.

References

External links

*
Photo tour of Mojave National Preserve
- ''from

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...

''
Mojave National Preserve Conservancy

Mojave Desert Land Trust
{{authority control Mojave Desert National Preserves of the United States Protected areas of the Mojave Desert Protected areas of San Bernardino County, California Protected areas established in 1994 National Park Service areas in California Geography of San Bernardino County, California Nature reserves in California 1994 establishments in California