Ashley Breeding

DESERT magazine

"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children." – Chief Seattle

When you live in a beautiful place like the Coachella Valley – where the endless sky reflects the same ripe colors of the infinite landscape, and nature’s scents and sounds permeate the air and soul – it’s easy to take for granted that the desert will always be here, exactly as it is now.

After all, for years we’ve wandered these dusty trails, showered beneath spring’s waterfalls, and smelled the prickly pear and petrichor. We’ve crossed paths with bighorns and coyotes and rosy boas, and have found our own spirits in the wild. It’s as if we expect Mother Nature to carry on in all her gentle splendor. But she’s an emotional creature, and we’ve been neither kind nor respectful. From droughts and superstorms to wildfires, floods and slowly disappearing wildlife, she’s trying to send us a warning. Are we listening?

Fortunately, some have been. The 2008 Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan, comprising federal, state and desert agencies, aims to conserve more than 1.2 million acres of open space from Cabazon to Chiriaco Summit, and protect 27 plant and animal species it says are currently threatened — some of which are unique to the valley’s diverse landscape.

“As early as the 1970s, endangered species were found in places where people wanted to develop in the Coachella Valley,” says Colin Barrows, conservation coordinator at Friends of the Desert Mountains, a conservation nonprofit. “Developers would be sued by whatever agency was trying to protect those areas.” The conservation plan was created to identify these sensitive habits early on and protect them for all 27 species.

“Take the fringe-toed lizard, for example,” says Barrows. The orange-spotted reptile with spiky toes, which inhabits sand dunes from Snow Creek to Indian Hills, is at the top of the conservation plan’s endangered list, along with peninsular bighorn sheep, burrowing owls, desert tortoises and various desert plants. “The lizards require soft, loose sand in which to burrow,” explains Barrows, “and only 4 percent of this precious habitat floor remains.”

The other 96 percent have been developed or are too fragmented to support the species’ population. Because fierce winds regularly toss sand from one end of these dunes to the other, it’s essential to preserve entire corridors, Barrows says. “This will ensure that the lizards are protected in perpetuity.”

Our fringe-toed lizard would be extinct now if not for a 1986 Habitat Conservation Plan targeting the species, Barrows says. The same is now true for several other species that live on or below the valley floor, like the burrowing owl – and is not limited to species named under the 2008 plan.

“Historically, species most prone to risk were those that inhabit the valley floor, where it is easier and cheaper to develop,” says Barrows. “But it’s possible that protections under the plan and growing threat of climate change are shifting those risks up the slope.”

More:Dusty days and airborne sand plague valley drivers and lungs, but delight other desert dwellers

Video:Habitat changes and the fringe-toed lizard

In other areas throughout the valley, where developments like golf courses and restaurants have already progressed, the conservation plan allows development to continue in exchange for a fee from developers that is used to support protected locations. Cameron Barrows, an associate research ecologist at the University of California Riverside, calls the Coachella Valley’s “recent historic and future economic prosperity” a “direct result” of the two conservation plans.

“As long as developments avoid designated ‘lands to be preserved,’ they can move ahead without nearly the extensive and costly environmental reviews and potential legal road blocks that they would otherwise face,” the ecologist explains.

Some local individuals and groups joined their efforts early on. Others have more recently assumed an active role in helping to preserve, protect and honor the valley’s native species while also encouraging others in the community to do the same.

Climate change is a major factor that impacts local wildlife and resources. At Friends of the Desert Mountains, Barrows and his team strive to preserve the ecosystem myriad ways, including strengthening community involvement, acquiring and preserving wildlands, offering educational programs that promote environmental stewardship, and by supporting ecological research.

Since 1987, the organization has purchased more than 60,000 acres of private land. Most is transferred to conservation agencies, like the National Park Service or Bureau of Land Management. “If it can’t be transferred, we hold onto it,” Barrows says. Today, Friends of the Desert Mountains still owns 16,000 acres acros the Southern California deserts.

A hotter, drier climate directly affects flora and fauna that cannot adapt. “Our data tells us that local temperatures are getting warmer and rain is becoming less predictable,” asserts Barrows. Friends of the Desert Mountains partners with researchers and volunteers to figure out where in the landscape these changes are happening, and why.

They’ve identified 10 plant species whose health is declining as temperature rise, including the flowering yellow brittlebush that grows at low elevations and the fragrant, “nutty” pinyon pine in the mountains. Now in their second year of research, experts are beginning to predict where the species could be relocated to help them thrive.

“When a plant can’t survive past a certain temperature, we expect it will move up the mountain where it’s cooler,” Barrows explains. “But manmade climate change is happening fast – maybe faster than the plants can actually move.” His team hopes to one day propagate these plants at the higher elevations they require, replacing them with more heat-tolerant plants.

“The pinyon pine, for instance, exists anywhere from 3,500 to 7,000 feet,” Barrows says. “San Jacinto is over 12,000 feet. So, in theory, there’s room for these to move.”

Additionally, Friends of the Desert Mountains deploys its Weed Warrior Program volunteers to remove invasive species like fountain grass, sahara mustard and tamarisk (some tamarisks can hog hundreds of gallons of water per day!), which are introduced to the desert from other warm areas, through landscaping, hikers’ shoes, mountain-bike chains and even agricultural products.

More:Hunt for scorpions with Friends of the Desert Mountains

Killers:Left alone, invasives will take food, water of natural habitat so volunteers eliminate threat in wildlands

“In most cases, these invasive species are well-adapted to our environment but don’t have the natural predators here that keep their population low,” Barrows says. “With nothing munching them down, they spread like wildfire.”

These overgrown species not only pose a wildfire threat, but they outcompete native species – both plant and animal – for their most essential life source: water.

While scientists are trying to determine if the desert’s warming climate is conducive to the survival of these invasive species, they do know that human emissions help some, like bromegrass, to grow and expand their range.

“We see a lot of bromegrass in Joshua Tree,” says Barrows. “This is a huge problem because it has the potential to turn a cigarette butt or car spark into a raging wildfire.”

The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians has worked extensively with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to restore native populations. In 2010, they developed the Tribal Habitat Conservation Plan, which protects 21 of the plant and animal species named by the Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan.

“These species were chosen because they have habitat on the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation, says Kate Anderson, director of public relations for the Tribe. “Their status is listed as sensitive, threatened or endangered, because of climate change or urban encroachment.”

One of the Tribe’s primary focuses is on peninsular bighorn sheep, which have been federally listed as endangered since 1998, says Janene Colby, an environmental scientist at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). “Since then, they’ve been protected under state law.”

More:Lambing season has good signs so far for the Coachella Valley's Peninsular bighorn sheep

More:Bighorn sheep are dying in the California desert, and experts aren't sure why

The sheep mostly caught diseases from domestic sheep, but loss of habitat to development, fragmentation from roadways and infrastructure, and loss of vegetation due to invasive plant species and climate change are also serious threats. Thinning herds also make those left more vulnerable to predators like mountain lions, increasing their vulnerability.

While the Tribe has long worked to protect the bighorn, conservation efforts have intensified over the last decade. Partnering with federal agencies and the Coachella Valley Association of Governments, the Tribe rehabilitates endangered peninsular bighorns in two recovery regions: the San Jacinto Mountains and more than 20,000 acres of Tribal land, as well as part of the Santa Rosa Mountains.

A few years ago, the Tribe began monitoring herds with state biologists. By placing variable high-frequency collars on sheep, scientists can collect data that helps them better understand the sheeps’ habitat and behavior, explains Justin Conley, the Tribe’s environmental planner. “This information also helps land managers mitigate any further threats – like hiking trails – to the sheep’s habitat, including human activity that disturbs their population.”

Scientists measure population growth by how many ewes (female sheep) and lambs there are in a herd. Mamas and babies roam together in groups, while rams move between groups and join them during the breeding season. Anything above a 30 percent ratio (four lambs to 20 ewes, for example) is progress. Until recently, growth was trending upward.

However, the six-month lambing season ends in June, and so far, only four lambs have been documented in the San Jacinto Mountains, says Anderson. “This is a little disconcerting, but there is still time left for the adult ewes to give birth,” she adds. The Tribe recently purchased new equipment that will allow them to continue monitoring the sheep each week.

Scientists still hope that desert peninsular bighorn sheep will be delisted in the next 10 years.

“It’s a slow process, and the population remains extremely vulnerable,” says Conley. It’s not only up to scientists to continue these efforts, but to all of us who share the bighorns’ habitat. Obeying park hours, staying on trails and being respectful of the bighorns’ space, especially around water, are crucial to the survival of these precious creatures, Conley says.

The Agua Caliente also provide manpower to remove the invasive grasses and trees that, “if left unchecked,” Conley explains, “could not only reduce the amount of water available in the streams but take over riparian areas and degrade the habitat.”

In the east valley, the nonprofit Coachella Valley Wild Bird Center has been rehabilitating native wild birds that have been injured or orphaned since 1995. For 10 years before her Indio center opened, founder Linda York ran the operation out of her home. “Our goal is to release them into their natural habitat when they’re better,” she says.

A former volunteer at the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens, York eventually got a permit and followed her passion for caring for our fine-feathered friends.

The Coachella Valley sees close to 100 different species of birds throughout the year, where manmade water sources make the naturally arid environment more hospitable for everything from golden eagles and egrets to red-tailed hawks and roadrunners. There are 11 species included in the Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan, like the yellow warbler and Southwestern willow flycatcher.

Nestled to the south of a 12-acre pond in Indio, the center takes in about 1,200 birds a year. “During super hot seasons, we see about 1,600,” York says. That includes the endangered burrowing owl, which York says is losing its underground habitat to development. “Every square inch of this desert is being built on,” she says. “Humans are creating issues that impede their happiness and survival.” Others, like the native California black rail and Ridgeway’s raile, are also threatened.

More:Most songbirds are harmless. This one is ferocious

More:Burrowing owls find their own way to stay cool in the California desert

Photos:Burrowing owls escape weather extremes underground

People bring all types of birds to the center from San Bernardino, Riverside and Imperial counties. “They’re all endangered if you put it into perspective,” York says. The causes are many: overdevelopment; windows, which birds fly into and break bones; babies knocked out of their nests by the desert winds.

“Even people trying to do a good thing by feeding the birds can make them sick,” says York. “Oftentimes people will put food or water out but won’t change the feeders. The water collects mosquitos and bacteria, and the feeders can ferment if they’re not changed every day.” York also recommends opting for plain birdseed over the sunflower variety, to avoid attracting rats. “And never give a hamburger ball to a roadrunner,” she says. “They’re high in fat, have zero nutrients, and the big birds feed these to their babies after you feed them.”

Another important step you can take to protect fragile winged creatures is to mark your windows. “Whether or not they can see the window there depends on how the sun hits your window,” says York, “but if birds keep hitting your window, then you know it’s a problem.” Sticking a decal on the interior side will help deter them, saving their lives.

“Above all,” York says, “we need to mellow out and not take wildlife for granted. So many species are threatened now. We simply need to give up certain conveniences and find a way to co-exist.”

On 5 acres of Lucerne Valley’s low desert, 15 wolf rescues – five of them pups saved from a wildfire – amble around outdoor enclosures at Wolf Mountain Sanctuary.

“We natives believe wolves are the apex of the forests, and life,” says Tanya Littlewolf Mountain, an Apache woman who, over 30 years ago, founded the nonprofit for malnourished, neglected and abused wolves.

Both climate change and human development threaten wolf habitats, but Littlewolf Mountain says that many of her rescues come from people who purchased them as pets. “People spend a lot on these animals, and then when the wolves are about 6 months old, they realize, ‘Oh my God, it’s not a dog. This isn’t what I wanted,’” she says.

“My grandfather told me that caring for wolves was my summons in life,” says Littlewolf Mountain, whose loved ones call her “Mama Wolf.” She was raised by her Apache grandfather on a reservation in New Mexico, where she says she always felt connected to the wolves because they “accepted her” when others didn’t.

“I believe I am part of them, they are part of me, and we are one,” she says. “When you look into the eyes of a wolf, you see your soul.”

Fairytales tell children to fear the wolf, but they are actually extremely healing creatures, Littlewolf Mountain says. Her grandfather always told her, “Wolves will heal your heart.”

At the sanctuary, Littlewolf Mountain and her wolves work with people who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, including military veterans and victims of domestic violence. Many who encounter the wolves, she says, feel emotionally healed by their presence.

Her wolves have also sensed sickness in a few of her guests. “I have a ‘healer’ wolf that kept rubbing on a friend,” she explains. “I told my friend, ‘You need to go to the doctor.’ It turned out, she had a lump that was turning into breast cancer.”

(We don’t recommend you rely on the wolves to give you a proper cancer screening!)

Another guest, who the healer wolf kept nuzzling in the lower belly, heeded Littlewolf Mountain’s advice and also saw his doctor. “He had prostate cancer that was just starting,” says. “The wolves know. They try to tell us. We need to listen.”

More:When healers howl

Littlewolf Mountain’s hope is to move her sanctuary to a mountainous region in northern New Mexico where the surroundings mimic her pack’s natural habitat and where they’ll have wild streams and more space to roam. “I’m ready to go home,” she says.

She’s been saving donations to a “Moving Wolf Mountain” GoFundMe account, but is hundreds of thousands of dollars shy of the $2 million she needs. Most of the donations she collects from visitors go toward feeding and caring for the animals.

A visit to Wolf Mountain Sanctuary is sure to reveal your own soul, and you’ll leave feeling profoundly connected to Mother Nature and all her creatures. Perhaps if we all made an effort to experience this connection, we’d feel a responsibility to take better care of it — so that we afford future generations the same privilege.

Plants

Mecca aster

Coachella Valley milkvetch

Triple-ribbed milkvetch

Orocopia sage

Little San Bernardino Mountains linanthus

Insects

Coachella Valley giant

sand-treader cricket,

Coachella Valley

Jerusalem cricket

Fish

Desert pupfish

Amphibians

Arroyo toad

Reptiles

Desert tortoise

Flat-tailed horned lizard

Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard

Birds

Yuma clapper rail

California black rail

Burrowing owl

Southwestern willow flycatcher

Crissal thrasher

Le Conte’s thrasher

Least Bell's vireo

Gray vireo

Yellow warbler

Yellow-breasted chat

Summer tanager

Mammals

Southern yellow bat

Coachella Valley

round-tailed ground squirrel

Palm Springs pocket mouse

Peninsular bighorn sheep