Photos: California desert gains three national monuments

David Lamfrom, director of California desert and wildlife programs for the National Parks Conservation Assn., drives toward the sunset near newly designated national monument land about 10 miles north of Nipton, Calif., in the Mojave Desert. Lamfrom worked for years to get this land protected.

Native grasslands mingle with Joshua trees in the Mojave Desert, land which President Obama has designated as a national monument.

David Lamfrom walks through the native grasslands in the Mojave Desert. He calls the Castle Mountains, now protected as a national monument, “one of California’s greatest scenic attractions.”

Joshua trees are silhouetted against the setting sun in the Mojave Desert, land which President Obama has designated as a national monument near the Castle Mountains. The three new national monuments sprawl across 1.5 million acres of terrain that includes Joshua trees and rare desert grasslands.

David Lamfrom walks out of the shadows in the Mojave Desert. “A few centuries ago, Mexican wolves chased pronghorn antelope across this very landscape,” he said.

A native jackrabbit pauses in Mojave Desert land that has been designated as a national monument. The designations preserve unique natural and cultural resources and enhance the region’s economic activity.

A cholla cactus is backlighted by the setting sun in the Mojave Desert. “This is the pinnacle of a 15-year effort to preserve the physical heart of the Mojave Desert for conservation, recreation and unparalleled inspiration,” said David Myers, executive director of the Wildlands Conservancy.

Dusks settles in over the desert landscape. The monuments designed by the president embrace volcanic spires, dunes, ribbons of wetlands wedged between steep canyon walls, grasslands, Joshua tree forests, historic roadways and petroglyphs. They are home to species that thrive despite withering heat and scant rainfall: bighorn sheep, tortoises, fringe-toed lizards and more than 250 types of birds.