None The Nature Conservancy in California Press Releases Search All Press Releases E.J. Remson Phone: (620) 403-9755 E-mail: eremson@tnc.org Bill Havert, CVMC Phone: (909) 790-3405 Photos Available Upon Request

Conservation Partners Acquire Half of Proposed New City Site

Rush is on to purchase and conserve the rest by late September

COACHELLA VALLEY, Calif. (July 1, 2004) – The Nature Conservancy and the Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy announced today the acquisition of 4,520 acres of sensitive desert habitat once targeted as the site for a new Southern California city. The purchase of the Joshua Hills property from Cathton Investments Inc. completes the first of two necessary steps to ensure the long-term protection of the Coachella Valley Preserve’s fragile sand dunes, palm oases and unique wildlife.

Several groups funded the $13.2-million conservation purchase, including the Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy ($6.5 million, from Proposition 40 funds), the Coachella Valley Association of Governments ($1.2 million), the City of Palm Desert ($3 million), the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation ($1.5 million) and The Nature Conservancy ($1 million). Upon completing the deal, The Nature Conservancy transferred ownership of the property to the nonprofit group, Friends of the Desert and Mountains, and the Coachella Valley Association of Governments for long-term conservation.

“Today we reached a conservation milestone,” said E.J. Remson, project director for The Nature Conservancy. “We’re closer than ever to reaching our ultimate goal of acquiring 9,000 acres and linking the Coachella Valley Preserve to Joshua Tree National Park. We’re now trying to line up funds for our second, most crucial acquisition in late September.”

“This site will never be developed thanks to the hard work, perseverance and support of many organizations and people, particularly County Supervisor Roy Wilson, Congresswoman Mary Bono, State Senator Denise Ducheny, Assemblyman John Benoit, Palm Desert Councilman Buford Crites, members of the Sierra Club and Sky Valley residents,” said Bill Havert, executive director of the Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy.

The patchwork of properties purchased today comprises roughly half of the site for the proposed Joshua Hills development, which included plans for 12 golf courses, 7,000 homes, three hotels, two country clubs, a university and various retail stores and restaurants.

Located between the Indio Hills and Joshua Tree National Park, the Cathton property is an essential sand source for the Coachella Valley Preserve’s sand dune ecosystem, which supports several unique species, including the Coachella Valley fringed-toed lizard, the Coachella Valley round-tailed ground squirrel and the Palm Springs pocket mouse. The property also includes part of the watershed for the preserve’s 11 palm oases, and it serves as a critical wildlife corridor for kit foxes, bobcats and desert bighorn sheep traveling between the preserve and the park. The area has also been identified as a critical conservation area in the forthcoming Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan.

“Preserving this property as open space is the right thing to do—it’s not right to build a city here,” said Riverside County Supervisor Roy Wilson. “By purchasing half of the Cathton
property today, we are enhancing the quality of life in the Coachella Valley.

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The Nature Conservancy is a leading international, nonprofit organization that preserves plants, animals and natural communities representing the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 14 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 83 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. In California, the Conservancy has helped to protect more than 1.2 million acres. Visit us on the web at nature.org/california.

The Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy is a state agency established to conserve the biological, cultural, scenic and recreational resources of the Coachella Valley and surrounding mountains. The Conservancy and its nonprofit and federal, state, tribal and local government partners have jointly conserved more than 35,000 acres in the local area in the last decade.