California Desert Protection Act of 2010

Bill Summary

Title I: California Desert Conservation and Recreation

Sec 101: Amendments to the California Desert Protection Act of 1994

Title XIII: Mojave Trails National Monument. 

• Establishes a national monument managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) protecting 941,000 acres of federal land between Joshua Tree National Park and the Mojave Preserve along historic Route 66 in San Bernardino County....  

Title XIV: Sand to Snow National Monument

• Establishes a national monument covering approximately 134,000 acres of federal land between Joshua Tree National Park and the San Bernardino National Forest in San Bernardino and Riverside counties....

Title V: Wilderness

• Designates approximately 250,000 acres in five BLM Wilderness Study Areas near Fort Irwin as wilderness as well as portions of Death Valley National Park (90,000 acres) and the San Bernardino National Forest (4,300 acres). 
• Releases approximately 126,000 acres in the Cady and Soda Mountains that were designated wilderness study areas in the 1994 California Desert Protection Act, thereby allowing vehicular access to these areas.

Title VI: Vinagre Wash Special Management Area

• Designates a “special management area” covering a total of 76,000 acres in eastern Imperial County in order to conserve, protect and enhance plant and wildlife management as well as nationally significant ecological, recreational, archeological, and cultural resources.  The area also contains approximately 49,000 acres of potential wilderness and approximately 12,000 acres of former private land donated to the federal government for conservation.... 

Title VII: National Park System Additions

• Adds approximately 74,000 acres of land to the National Park System, including:
  
  • Death Valley: Approximately 41,000 acres...
  • Mojave Preserve: Almost 30,000 acres...
  • Joshua Tree: Approximately 2,900 acres...

Title XVIII: Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Areas

• Designates four existing, administratively designated off-highway vehicle areas in San Bernardino County as permanent off-highway vehicle recreation areas.  Land management would remain as it exists today, but the BLM would be given discretion whether to require a new site specific management plan or simply modify its existing desert-wide management plan....