Desert Managers Group (DMG)

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Vision and Mission

Vision Statement

To work together to conserve and enhance the California Deserts for current and future generations.

Mission Statement

The mission of the Desert Managers Group is to:

  1. Develop coordinated and complimentary management guidelines, practices, and programs.
  2. Coordinate and integrate efforts in the California deserts to:
    • Conserve and restore desert resources
    • Provide high quality recreation, public education, and visitor services
    • Provide for safety of desert users
  3. Develop and integrate the databases and scientific studies needed for effective resource management and planning.
  4. Promote compatibility in the application of each agency's mission.

 

Area of Interest
Map of Desert Managers Group Area of Interest
Partners
Department of Defense

Department of Defense
www.defense.gov

DOD Coordinator
Fon Duke  2701 Barstow Road, Barstow, CA 92311
  fduke@mojavedata.gov - 760-252-6161
Department of the Interior

Department of the Interior
www.doi.gov

DOI Coordinator
Russell Scofield  PO Box 2205, Yucca Valley, CA 92286
  ascofiel@blm.gov - 760-365-0955
State of California

State of California

California State Counties
US Department of Agriculture

US Department of Agriculture
Stakeholder Participation Guidelines

DMG meetings are working interagency staff meetings and are not required to be open to attendance by stakeholders. However, the DMG has adopted the attached Guidelines in hope that involving stakeholders in the process will foster a common understanding of desert wide issues and lead to more effective management programs. The guidelines are intended to promote and facilitate constructive stakeholder involvement in the Desert Managers Group (DMG) process.

Because of the difficulty in maintaining accurate and complete e-mail lists, stakeholders will not receive direct e-mail notification of DMG meetings. Notice of DMG meetings will be posted on the DMG Website (www.dmg.gov) at least 30 days prior to a meeting. Stakeholders may also call the Department of the Interior (DOI) or Department of Defense (DOD) Coordinators' office at 760-252-6161 or 760-365-0955 for information about upcoming DMG meetings and events. Summaries of DMG meetings will be posted on the DMG Website approximately two weeks after each meeting.

Stakeholders who want to attend a DMG meeting must contact either the DOI or DOD Coordinator prior to the meeting. Please provide at least one week's notice so that we may better accommodate your participation and attendance.

Thank you for your interest in the DMG. If you have questions or comments please contact the DOI or DOD Coordinator at the phone numbers or e-mail listed in the Guidelines below.

Stakeholder Participation Guidelines (Adobe Acrobat PDF)

 

Accomplishments
  • The US Geological Survey (USGS) published Monitoring ecosystem quality and function in arid settings of the Mojave Desert: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigation Report 2008-5064.
     
  • Interagency visitor orientation centers were established in the gateway communities.

  • Facilities were shared and duplicative facilities were eliminated.
     
  • Coordinated definitive natural and cultural resource inventory mapping.
     
  • The completed management plans better reflect multi-agency and ecosystem-wide perspectives.
     
  • More coordinated and effective efforts on species management, including Desert Tortoise recovery. 
     
    • DMG and US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) developed www.deserttortoise.gov, which provides scientific and lay information about the federally threatened desert tortoise.
    • Continuation of Desert Tortoise Information and Youth Education Program.  Key accomplishments include:
      • Radio and TV public service announcements distributed into the Desert, Los Angeles, and San Diego media markets.
      • Public outreach and education material on www.deserttortoise.gov
      • Brochures and newsletters
      • Primary school education kits which are tied to State education standards
      • The Mojave Max Emergence Contest annual contest for students in eight southern California counties
      • Media outreach through press kits and releases
      • Public events
    • Implemented a standardized, interagency, range-wide monitoring program for desert tortoise
       
  • Scores illegal dumps, ranging in size from small piles of trash to large illegal landfills were cleaned up using grants and cost share agreements for California EPA. 
     
  • Establishment of the Conservation Land Acquisition Work Group (CLAWG) to plan and coordinate conservation land acquisitions.  The DMG developed the CLAWG Map, which is used to spatially plan and coordinate acquisitions.  The map contains resource and acquisition data from throughout the California Desert.
     
  • FWS completion of the environmental assessment A Management Plan to Reduce Predation on Juvenile Desert Tortoises in the California Desert.
     
  • Coordination of alternative energy development by:
    • Coordinating participation in the State’s Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP) and solar PEIS
    • Developing a best management practices guidebook for solar applicants in the California Desert
    • Coordinating among permitting agencies to develop mitigation strategies
    • Serving as a focal point among agencies and cooperators for exchange of information and data related to renewable energy siting within the California Desert.
       
  • Controlled over 1,000 acres of tamarisk
     
  • Removed and placed in adoption almost 5000 burros from the California Desert
     
  • Established the Mojave and Low Desert Weed Management Areas
     
  • Established www.californiadesert.gov as a seamless online visitor’s center for the California Desert. 
     
  • Designed a smart phone application that allows visitors to document desert tortoise sightings.  The app both serves as an educational tool for the users and data source for scientists.
     
  • Hosted numerous events including:
    • The Millennium Cultural Conference
    • Three science symposia
    • Two habitat restoration conferences
    • Two illegal dumping prevention and enforcement workshops
    • Interagency training on a variety of topics
    • The Climate and Deserts Workshop-Adaptive Management of Desert Ecosystems in a Changing Climate.
       
  • Coordinated and facilitated research projects in the desert
     
  • Averted the need for endangered species act protection for desert cymopertus through coordinated monitoring
     

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