Outdoor Recreation Advocates Call for Mojave Trails National Monument
Suzanne Potter, Producer
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Outdoor recreation advocates are in Washington this week to ask President Obama to create four new national monuments - including one that would protect close to 1 million acres of the Mojave Desert.
They're part of the Live Monumental campaign sponsored by KEEN Footwear, the culmination of a two-month-long RV road trip across the United States, rallying support and gathering signatures for petitions to be delivered to the nation's capital.
David Lamfrom, director of California Desert and National Wildlife programs for the National Parks Conservation Association, said the proposed Mojave Trails National Monument is about 80 miles east of Los Angeles, between Twentynine Palms and the Nevada border.
"The Mojave Trails is an incredibly pristine range of mountains and lowlands that connects Joshua Tree National Park to Mojave National Preserve," he said. "It's also home to one of the longest uninterrupted stretches of Route 66."
National monument status would protect the landscape while allowing for ATV trails, hiking and existing mining operations.
Keith Cozzens, spokesman for KEEN Footwear, said his company chose to feature Mojave Trails in this campaign in part because it has great archeological value and provides habitat for several endangered species.
"It's home to 550 million-year-old fossils," he said. "It's also a habitat for bighorn sheep, desert tortoises, among a bunch of other species."
KEEN and local advocates are asking the president to use his powers under the Antiquities Act to declare Mojave Trails a national monument. Earlier this year, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., introduced legislation to create several national monuments in the area but has been unable to move the bill forward.
The petition is online at keenfootwear.com/livemonumental.
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Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.
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