A Landmark Year for the Salton Sea and Desert Program

The Salton Sea and Desert Program has had a historic 12 months. From taking part in a pivotal position within the designation of Chuckwalla Nationwide Monument to launching our Salton Sea Management Program, the crew continues to search out new methods to preserve birds, construct group capability, and protect the ecosystems which can be important to our communities and to the birds that depend on them as they journey alongside the Pacific Flyway and throughout the hemisphere.

The Salton Sea program combines all of Audubon’s objectives of habitat conservation, local weather motion, coverage, and group constructing via the lens of the distinctive landscapes of California’s deserts. Supporting over 300 species of birds, the Sea is without doubt one of the most necessary habitats within the state of California, however the Sea can be altering quickly resulting from Twenty first-century modifications in water use patterns and drought within the Colorado River. Every member of our crew brings private ties to the Coachella Valley’s numerous ecology, and a shared love for birds, public lands, and the communities that decision this distinctive panorama residence.

After years of tireless advocacy, Chuckwalla Nationwide Monument was designated on Tuesday, January 7, 2025. Audubon performed a key position, alongside many companions and native organizations, within the safety of greater than 624,000 acres of public land.  Chuckwalla is a biodiversity hotspot, residence to Golden Eagles, Verdin, bighorn sheep, and plenty of different uncommon and endangered species. Importantly, Chuckwalla is of nice significance to native Indigenous nations, who’ve since shaped the primary Intertribal Fee in California to have jurisdiction over federal lands.

“By way of our on-the-ground outreach efforts over the previous few years, we’ve talked to 1000’s of people who find themselves excited to find out about these pure wonders proper of their backyards,” stated Rhian Reyes, campaign organizer for Audubon California’s Deserts and Salton Sea Program. “We all know that that is an funding in our communities’ future – defending a singular and resilient ecosystem, increasing entry to the outside, and acknowledging its particular previous.” 

This 12 months marked the profitable launch of our first-ever Salton Sea Leadership Program (SSLP), coordinated by Lindsay Rowe, Senior Training Coordinator for Audubon California’s Salton Sea & Deserts Program. 12 members from throughout the Coachella Valley have been chosen to be part of this primary cohort, collaborating in periods ranging in matter from conventional ecological information to native wildlife, to native points corresponding to lithium extraction. Our crew led six subject journeys in the course of the course of the program, visiting native landmarks such because the Cahuilla Fish Traps and birding on the Sonny Bono Nationwide Wildlife Refuge. This system is having a long-lasting influence even past the members themselves – academics locally reached out to Audubon about providing an identical program in excessive colleges all through the area.