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Desert Stewards Community and Environmental Project Ideas.

 

The following projects are in process of organization and funding.  We hope to have greater direction, information and progress reports as the projects manifest.

If you or someone you know would like to volunteer or provide support, please call or email to discuss.  We are grateful. 

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Coachella Valley Youth in Nature - Youth in Chuckwalla National Monument, experiencing and learning through immersion.​

 

Desert Stewards is taking active steps to partner with community groups, and naturalist youth programs as well as school and after school youth programs to foster immersion in nature and the newly designated Chuckwalla National Monument, based at Chiriaco Summit, California.  

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Project highlights:

  • Community and youth access to Chuckwalla National Monument, offroad fun riding and learning and immersion into the dynamic geologic history of the Orocopia Mountains as a result of the San Andreas Faunt tectonics.

  • Affordable, with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion of all communities and youth in the coachella valley.

  • Potential sponsorship and grant programs to offset costs, and provide educational support from groups like Cactus to Cloud Institute, UCR Palm Desert Naturalist, Boys and Girls Club, Desert Recreation District.  

  • Youth Ranger Program with a potential for job hiring after program to help monitor the Chuckwalla National Monument lands.

  • Youth connection to Indigenous nations co-stewarding the land, to learn about their history from them, and to visit and honor the land as sacred and natural.

Desert Clean - Interstate 10 Interchange Highway Cleanups

 

Chiriaco Summit, CA is located 30 miles east of Indio.  There are 5 remote highway interchanges within the Desert Tortoise Linkage Reserve Management Area.  A project is being developed in cooperation with Private land owners, CalTrans, Riverside County Hazmat, Chiriaco Summit, General Patton Museum and Desert Stewards to clean up and monitor these sites.

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Interchanges: 

  1. Cactus City Rest Area -  Current private management?  needs? communication.

  2. Frontage Rd (CalTrans, Riverside County Hazmat, BLM, private land owners)

  3. Cottonwood/Box Canyon (Caltrans, Riverside County Hazmat, BLM, Private Land Owners, SoCal Gas, Edison, MWD, NPS, Wildlands)

  4. Chiriaco Summit (Joseph L. Chiriaco Inc., IID, SoCal Gas, Edison, MWD, NPS, Wildlands))

  5. Hayfield Rd (MWD, Edison, SoCal Gas, IID)

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Project highlights:

  • Cleanup of trash, car parts, tires, hazardous waste, and other dumped items.  Quarterly or Annually as funding and need permits.

  • Implementation of signs highlighting fines for dumping and Kiosks for information about reporting crimes, and fines, as well as featuring the cooperative protection of the area within the DTLRMU.

  • Featuring information on OHV influence and suggested speed limits and sensitive animals threatened by motorized activity.  Also, Night Riding policy.

  • Work in cooperation with private and public land owners to fund and post signs on private property around the heaviest cleanup sites.

  • Organize volunteers or paid interns to provide support for the project in perpetuity.

  • Organize grant funds and donations to a cooperating agency or Non-profit to fund contract work with a monitoring company and Interns or volunteers.

  • Affect road closures, limit access, or post signs where illegal dumping is happening off of a paved or numbered dirt road.

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Transects - Ecological observations and land monitoring

 

Utility roads transecting the Desert Tortoise Linkage Reserve offer an opportunity to monitor the public and private lands .

The following benefits can be gained by scheduled and emergency monitoring and engagement with Low Speed Electric Vehicles offered by Desert Stewards ecological transportation services, as well as a hybrid or electric trucks with larger range.

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Project Highlights:

  • Private and Public Land monitoring (including ohv use, camping, dumping, scouting, land evaluation, other issues or threats.

  • Environmental observations and digital mapping (including wildlife sightings, invasive plants plant health, climate monitoring, 

  • Hydrological observation and data collection for understanding climate change and resilience of the ecosystem

  • Trail signage and Kiosks at key intersections and along the roads and trails.  Highlights are speed limits, sensitive habitat, wildlife information, discourage nighttime driving, slow signs.

  • Utility monitoring and transportation access if needed for emergency or routine checks.

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Potential Partners:  The Living Desert, BLM, Private land owners, utility companies, Desert Stewards and Non-profit conservation partner for funding.

Share it - Historical, Cultural and Environmental Education

 

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The land is sacred, and the water is life.  Many people have made this Reserve Area their home.  The progression of colonization and multicultural influences in Southern California Deserts has history from many perspectives and various degrees of sustainable life. 

Environmental preservation and stewardship are vital to maintain habitat health within the Desert Tortoise Linkage Reserve Management Unit.  This area is historically used for offroad recreation and limited Wilderness access, with OHVs including licensed and non-licensed vehicles.  Additionally, the area is used by campers mostly on BLM land with limitations, gun shooting, often close to trails.  

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  • Desert Training Center History, General Patton and wars, Camp Young, 

  • Precolonial Native history, Cahuilla, Chemehuevi, Southern Paiute, et.al. 

  • Joshua Tree National Park History (native people, displaced with ranchers and miners.)

  • Pioneer and Chiriaco History

  • Water in the Desert (CSWD, MWD pipeline and Victory Palms spring water, also CVWD)

  • Utilities (Socal Gas, Edison, IUD, MWD, ATT transcontinental cable)

  • Wildlife featured within the CVMSHCP and found within the Desert Tortoise Linkage Reserve Management Unit)

  • Plants and woodland types featured within the CVMSHCP and found within the DTLRMU.

  • Desert Tortoise and Raven awareness and protection/mitigation

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Partners:  Chiriaco Summit, GP Museum, BLM, NPS, Riverside County, Desert Stewards, CVCC

State Conservation Management

CVMC (Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy)  State Agency

CVCC (Coachella Valley Conservation Commission) Staffed by CVAG

CVAG (Coachella Valley Association of Governments)

CVMSHCP (CV Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan)

Utilitities within Desert Tortoise Linkage Reserve MU:
Caltrans, SoCal Gas, Edison, IID, ATT, MWD, CSWD

Desert Tortoise Linkage Reserve Unit Management Suggestions

1.  Speed Limit policy suggestion for BLM and Private Land owners.  Create or draft policy for speed limit, get it approved with BLM and or Private Land owners, Implement enforcements and signage notifying the public.  Cooperation with Tread Lightly?

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2.  Night Driving policy suggestion for BLM and Private Land Owners.  Is it currently policy at BlM to discourage night riding, and or speed limits?  Draft and get it approved and implement enforcement with signage notifying the public.  Also with Tread Lightly?

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3.  Trail signage

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© 2025 Desert Stewards - ATV Experience, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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