PRESS RELEASE
October 3, 2001

The National Park Trust Preserves
Critical Habitat and Backcountry Corridors 
Joshua Tree National Park

WASHINGTON, DC - Through financial support of the National Park Trust (NPT), a high-priority inholding was acquired and donated to the National Park Service. The 80-acre property located within Joshua Tree National Park contains a segment of the Rockhouse and Thermal Canyon Trail network. The National Park Service has designated these routes as backcountry trail corridors and this property contains a critical segment that travels through a narrow box canyon. The property also contains a remnant of an old mining camp, and is excellent habitat for the chuckwalla, a large, shy lizard.

The property is located in a wild, rugged, and remote corner of the park affording visitors wonderful opportunities for solitude and a sense of discovery. The acquisition and donation of the property to the park allows the National Park Service to protect in perpetuity these important, and increasingly rare park values. 

"As the population of the Coachella Valley continues to grow and expand toward the park, the value of NPT's donation to Joshua Tree and the American public will only grow over time. The NPT donation will protect public access to this beautiful section of the park," said Park Superintendent Ernie Quintana. 

Joshua Tree National Park, located near Palm Springs, California, became a national monument in 1936 and then a biosphere reserve in 1984. In 1994 it was established as a national park to protect and preserve a representative area of the Colorado and Mojave deserts and their natural and cultural resources for the benefit of this and future generations. Alarmingly, of Joshua Tree's 794,000 acres, 57,000 (or 7.2%) of those acres are privately owned and some are threatened by development and/or non-compatible uses.

"We launched our Western Initiative last year in order to focus national attention on the difficult problems facing our western parklands and help find solutions to those problems," said NPT President Paul Pritchard. NPT is currently working to protect other high-priority inholdings in Mojave National Preserve and Joshua Tree National Park.

For more information on how you can help, contact Barbara Zurhellen, NPT's Western Regional Director, at 541-955-4534 or barbara@parktrust.org.

The National Park Trust is the only land conservancy dedicated to preserving America's national system of parks, wildlife and historic monuments.

For more information contact: 
National Park Trust (NPT)
(202) 548-0500
npt@parktrust.org
http://www.parktrust.org