Saddle Peak Hills Wilderness is the smallest designated wilderness area created by the
California Desert Protection Act of 1994
The California Desert Protection Act of 1994 is a federal law () sponsored by Senator Dianne Feinstein, passed by the United States Congress on October 8, 1994, and signed into effect by President Bill Clinton on October 31 of the same year, tha ...
.
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History
A 1980 Bureau of Land Management report recommended the area as unsuitable for wilderness designation, as the mineral resources identified in the study were likely to be commercially viable. These included copper, lead, silver and talc, all of which had been historically extracted in the area.[
The area was given wilderness status on 21 October 1994.][
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Geology
The area contains considerable deposits of talc
Talc, or talcum, is a clay mineral, composed of hydrated magnesium silicate with the chemical formula Mg3Si4O10(OH)2. Talc in powdered form, often combined with corn starch, is used as baby powder. This mineral is used as a thickening agent a ...
.[
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Ecology
Vegetation
Vegetation consists mostly of creosote bush
''Larrea tridentata'', called creosote bush and greasewood as a plant, chaparral as a medicinal herb, and ''gobernadora'' (Spanish for "governess") in Mexico, due to its ability to secure more water by inhibiting the growth of nearby plants. In S ...
and allscale scrubs. No sensitive or significant plant species are known to occur within the wilderness area.[
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Wildlife
The area is not known to support any listed, sensitive or rare species.
The sandy substrate in an area of approximately 3 square miles (1,920 acres / 7.8 square kilometres) provides habitat for the Mojave fringe-toed lizard
The Mojave fringe-toed lizard (''Uma scoparia'') is a species of medium-sized, white or grayish, black-spotted diurnal lizard in the family Phrynosomatidae. It is adapted to arid climates and is most commonly found in sand dunes within the Moja ...
, a highly adapted sand-dwelling species.[
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See also
* List of U.S. Wilderness Areas
* Wilderness Act
The Wilderness Act of 1964 () was written by Howard Zahniser of The Wilderness Society. It created the legal definition of wilderness in the United States, and protected 9.1 million acres (37,000 km²) of federal land. The result of a lon ...
Notes
References
IUCN Category Ib
Protected areas established in 1994
Protected areas of California
{{California-protected-area-stub