Wild Lands & Rivers
Pinto Mountains Proposed Wilderness Additions
Size: 24,404 acres
Management Agency: Bureau of Land Management
Description:
The rugged Pinto Mountains rise sharply up from the northern edge of the Pinto Basin, a gigantic alluvial plain in Joshua Tree National Park. Roughly half of the Pinto range is inside the park and is managed as wilderness, while the other half is unprotected and overseen by the Bureau of Land Management on the park’s northern boundary.
The 24,080-acre proposed wilderness hosts a variety of rare and fascinating species, including American badger, Bendire's thrasher, California leaf-nosed bat, desert tortoise, Nelson's bighorn sheep and pallid bat. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has designated the proposed wilderness as “Critical Habitat” for the future survival of the desert tortoise.
Joshua Tree National Park is one of the most popular and ecologically important wild places not only in California, but in the United States. The fact that the Pinto Mountains are half protected and half unprotected leaves the park’s sensitive animal populations, visual qualities and nonmotorized recreation opportunities at risk.
Portions of the Pinto Mountains have long been worked by miners. However, the proposed wilderness is comprised of the most rugged and least disturbed portion of the range outside of the park.