Sen. Dianne Feinstein Remembered As "The True Desert Champion"

In the Mojave Desert Land Trust office hangs a letter from Sen. Dianne Feinstein. In it, she recalls driving down Route 66 in the 1960s thinking people took California’s desert areas for granted as it was littered with old cars and discarded mattresses. She looked past the trash and marveled at the flora and fauna.

California Desert Protection Act of 1994

Later, as California’s first woman senator, Feinstein became a champion for preserving the state's desert landscapes. In 1994, she sponsored the California Desert Protection Act that elevated Joshua Tree and Death Valley from monuments to national park status. The act also established more than 1.4 million acres of land as the Mojave National Preserve.

The creation of the national parks opened up Joshua Tree and Death Valley to federal funding and increased staff on the park roster to include biologists, rangers, and Department of Interior staff.

Cody Hanford, the joint executive director of the nonprofit organization Mojave Desert Land Trust, said Feinstein "is the true desert champion, and it started with the original protection."

He added that the act enabled “people all over the country and all over the world [to] appreciate those places and with that appreciation comes that affinity, brings protection and resources.”

On the 20th anniversary of the law, Feinstein called it one of her proudest accomplishments in the Senate.

“When I look back on it, the really true remarkable thing is, you know, basically saying the desert really matters," Hanford said. "The desert is an area worth protecting. It is as special and biodiverse and has cultural importance and just as much as anywhere else in the state, and of course anywhere else in the country."

Recent legislation to protect California deserts

In 2016, Feinstein asked then-president Barack Obama to designate Mojave Trails, Sand to Snow and Castle Mountains as national monuments, which he did, protecting those areas from activities like mining and logging.

In 2019, Feinstein authored the California Desert Protection and Recreation Act, which would expand protections for over 700,000 acres of desert land. The legislation also expanded Joshua Tree and Death Valley national parks.

“This bill is the completion of a 25-year effort to better manage the California desert,” Feinstein said at the time. “It fulfills the promise I made to off-roaders and environmental groups that we wouldn’t stop with the 1994 bill. More importantly, it shows that by working together we can expand protections for this region while ensuring it remains open for all visitors to enjoy.”

In her honor, Hanford said, he is going to keep advocating for desert lands.

“We're fighting for future desert national monuments, there's a national monument called Chuckwalla National Monument that we're actually helping pushing forward this year,” he said.