CALIFORNIA DESERT PROTECTION ACT 
CALIFORNIA DESERT CONSERVATION AREA PLAN 
FEDERAL ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT 
FEDERAL LAND POLICY MANAGEMENT ACT 
MINING IN THE PARKS ACT

Changes made by the CDPA:

Death Valley National Park (formerly Death Valley National Monument)

• Enlarged to 3.3 million acres
• Redesignated as a national park 
• 95% of lands designated as wilderness
Joshua Tree National Park (formerly Joshua Tree National Monument)
• Enlarged to 794,000 acres
• Redesignated as a national park
Mojave National Preserve (formerly East Mojave National Scenic Area)
• Now a unit of the National Park system as the Mojave National Preserve
• Half of the preserve designated as wilderness
Remainder of the California Desert
• 69 wilderness areas (3.6 million acres) created on public lands managed by the BLM

The CDPA also requires amendments to General Management Plans for both Death Valley and Joshua Tree national parks because of new wilderness status and added acreage. Also, amendments to the CA Desert Conservation Area Plan required by Wilderness Act and CDPA because of wilderness areas established on BLM lands.

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The CDCA Plan which was developed over 4 years established long-range, general guidance for management of all BLM-administered lands (12 million acres) in the California Desert.

The goal of the CDCA Plan is to provide for the use of public lands and resources of the CDCA, including economic, educational, scientific, and recreational uses, as well as protection of environmental, cultural, and aesthetic values of the Desert and its future productivity.

The CDCA Plan established multiple use class guidelines (MUCs) and designated the East Mojave area as a National Scenic Area in January 1981.

The ESA broadened federal authority to protect all "threatened" and "endangered" species. The Fish and Wildlife Service is the implementing agency. Coordination among all federal agencies is required. The ESA also works in conjunction with state endangered species programs.

The ESA:

1. Closes down the U.S. market for endangered species.
2. Section 9 of the ESA prohibits the "take" of endangered species "Take" is defined in the ESA as: to hunt, shoot, wound, capture, trap, pursue, harm or collect, or to engage in any such conduct relative to listed species.  The FWS has further defined the term 'harm' to mean habitat modification if it impairs essential behavioral patterns, i.e. breeding, feeding and sheltering. 

 

 

Endangered: any species which is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range.

Threatened: any species which is likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range.

Critical habitat: Habitat approved in the Federal Register as critical habitat under section 4 of the ESA. (1) The specific areas within the geogrphical area occuppied by the species at the time it is listed, on which are found those physical or biological features (a) essential to the conservation of the species and (b) which may require special management or protection. (2) Specific areas outside the geographical area occuppied by the species at the time it is listed that are considered essential to the conservation of the species.

Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP): A comprehensive planning document that is a mandatory component of an incidental take permit pursuant to section 10(a)(2) of the ESA.

Under FLPMA, previous laws governing the disposal of public lands are repealed. Public lands are retained by the Federal Government for multiple use and sustained yield management.  Congress was given the power to withdraw, dedicate, or, designate Federal lands for specified purposes.  FLPMA gives the BLM authority to manage public lands for long-term benefits.

Section 601 of FLPMA requires the BLM to develop a plan to provide for long-term protection and administration of the public lands in the California desert. This plan, called the California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan, involves multiple use and sustained yield management.

FLPMA also requires:

• An inventory of public land and resources to be done through a Federal and State coordinated land use plannning process for present and future use.   The Secretary of the Interior shall prepare and maintain this inventory on a continuing basis. 
• Establish comprehensive rules and regulations after public input. 
• Establish goals and objectives as guidelines for public land use planning. Management is based on multiple use and sustained yield.
• Manage public lands to protect the quality of scientific, scenic, historical, ecological, environmental, air and atmospheric, water resource and archaeological values.  Preserve and protect certain lands in their natural condition.  Provide food and habitat for fish, wildlife, and domestic animals.  Provide for outdoor recreation, human occupancy and use. 
• Establish uniform procedures for disposal of public land, acquisition of non-federal land for public purposes, and the exchange of such lands. Each disposal, acquisition, and exchange shall be consistent with the prescribed mission of the department or agency involved, and Congress shall review disposals in excess of a specified acreage.
• Develop regulations and plans for protection of areas of critical environmental concern (ACECs).
• Manage public lands in a manner which recognizes the Nation's need for domestic sources of minerals, food, timber, and fiber including implementation of the Mining and Minerals Policy Act of 1970 as it pertains to public lands.

• Authorizes new regulations to protect the natural features of NPS areas as valid mineral rights are exercised.
• Closes natural areas under NPS jurisdiction to further mining entry or location of mining claims.
• Requires a confirmation of all unpatented mining claims with the superintendent.
• Requires that acquisition costs and environmental consequences of mining all valid and patented claims be determined.
• Makes recommendations on claims that should be acquired or boundary changes necessary to exclude significant deposits to reduce the cost of acquisition.