Protect Joshua Tree National Park and it's wildlife

The Issue

Joshua Tree National Park and Its wildlife Threatened by Landfill. A proposed landfill just outside of Joshua Tree National Park threatens some of the most precious desert landscape in the nation. Two courts have blocked the project, but the Department of Interior is considering another appeal. If the Eagle Mountain landfill ever went forward, this part of California's fragile desert ecosystem--home to many species of concern such as the Desert Tortoise--would instead become home to huge amounts of waste.

Send a letter to Secretary Salazar asking him to protect the Joshua Tree National Park from a proposed landfill.

A proposed landfill—directly adjacent to Joshua Tree National Park—would threaten habitat for bird species of special concern in California and the federally listed desert tortoise. The dump will primarily fill pristine canyons and desert habitats that are home to the Golden Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, California Black Rail, and the endangered desert tortoise. Several Audubon chapters in California have been actively involved in opposing the proposed dump for 15 years. Now, they need your help. Two courts have ruled against the project, but the U.S. Department of Interior is threatening to appeal the most recent decision and allow the dump.

We need your help to stop the effort to dump Joshua Tree and the critical habitat that it contains. Please send an e-mail to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, and urge him to stop this misguided project.

The proposed Eagle Mountain dump would be the repository for Los Angeles County's garbage for the next 117 years, becoming the nation's largest garbage dump on 3,481 acres of federal land. Joshua Tree Wilderness areas are located to the north, west, and south, forming an amphitheater around the proposed dump, with a buffer of a mere 2,500 yards to the Park's boundary. The proposed site is in the heart of an area that a former park superintendent said "offers the most refuge for the greatest number of species from human impacts of any area in southern California." In addition, the dump site is directly across from the Eagle Mountain Elementary School. Idling trains & trucks spewing diesel, landfill gas, dust, and support facilities are expected to pump 5,000 tons of air pollution annually, affecting the school children and residents of the surrounding area. An alternative site, the Mesquite Dump, exists a few miles away. This site could accommodate the waste and has passed environmental muster, but is not even being considered.

Please send an email to Secretary Salazar and urge him to protect Joshua Tree National Park from the Eagle Mountain dump.

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