The Mojave Desert

The Mojave Desert is a vast area that expands predominantly in southeastern California. The desert also reaches parts of Nevada, Arizona and Utah; it expands over more than 25,000 square miles (Desert USA). There are no defined boarders of the desert. Finding a center can be difficult, however through the use of a combination of latitude and longitude, elevation, geology, and indicator plants boarders can be established and a center to the desert can be found. Through the use of the $500,000 that The Mojave Desert Geography Council has received, we will locate the center of the Mojave Desert and use the money we have received to build a monument that is dedicated to the Gopherus agassizii, also known as the Desert Tortious, at the center of

What is discovered is that the center of the desert is the Mojave National Preserve. The preserve is a large area covering about 2,403 square miles, ranges in elevation from less than 1000 feet to almost 8000 feet, and is abundant with over 300 different species of animals (Desert USA). Within the preserve is the Kelso Depot Visitor Center, which is 35 miles south of Baker, California. This would be the ideal location for the monument that we The Mojave Desert Geography Council would like to build. Not only is the location in the center of the Mojave Desert but it is also the location of the Mojave’s National Preserve making it an ideal location to create a monument dedicated to the desert. Other locations that we have considered include Needles, Zzyzx, and Baker California, also Primm Nevada. However these locations were not picked due to the lack of significance of these locations. Kelso Depot Visitor Center within the Mojave National Preserve has much more of a historical and geographical significance then these cities. Another reason is that we are dedicating our monument to the desert and its culture and wildlife. We have decided to make the monument into the Gopherus agassizii—or Desert Tortious. Due to this, locating the monument on the preserve will enrichen the experience that tourists will have at the preserve and, if in the event of its extinction, will be a suiting location to memorialize the Desert

We have decided this due to its endangerment, and to help memorialize an animal that is native to the Mojave Desert. The Desert Tortious is a magnificent animal that can survive ground temperature exceeding 140 degrees Fahrenheit and is also known to live as long as 60 to 80 years (Endangered Species International). The animal is listed as "threatened" under the United States federal Endangered Species Act and is considered “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The tortoise is being killed by Non-native Sahara mustard which competes with the native plants for water and nutrients, poaching and driving off-highway vehicles within tortoise habitats, diseases such as the upper respiratory tract disease often found in captive tortoises, juveniles that have fragile thin shells can be attacked by ravens who eat the tortoises by pecking at their shells and eating what is inside, and even trash that they can eat poses a threat to desert tortoises (Endangered Species International). Due to its numbers decreasing by so many threats we want to commemorate the animal and give it a monument in its honor. This way it will always be remembered, no matter what happens to it in the future, as the Mojave Desert native it currently