The Los Angeles Times featured an article recently by veteran staff writer Louis Sahagun entitled Rockhounds fight for access to their jewel in the desert: Mojave Trails National Monument. Mr. Sahagun has been reporting on the fate of casual collecting, or rockhounding, in the monument since it was designated by presidential proclamation on February 12, 2016. Located in California's Mojave Desert, it is the second largest land-based U.S. monument in the lower 48 states. Its 1.6-million-acre footprint now encloses what many casual collectors, or rockhounds, regard as the crown jewel of collecting areas in Southern California. These areas produce a wide variety of gem minerals and two TL minerals. The most popular destinations are located in Afton Canyon, the Cady Mountains (best known for fluorite and agate), Marble Mountains (best known for trilobites), and Lavic Siding.

The Cadys may be the collecting area most beloved by specimen collectors and lapidary artists. It covers about 12 x 30 miles in the northern corner of the monument and produces agates and jaspers world-renowned for their distinctive colors, patterns, dramatic inclusions, and fabulous sculptural forms (e.g., pseudomorphs, botryoidal, sagenitic). Mineralogists and geologists study them as products of rock-forming conditions unique to the Mojave Desert.

 

Mojave Trails National Monument is surrounded by wilderness areas, with the Mojave National Preserve to the north, Twentynine Palms Marine Corps base and Joshua Tree National Park to the south (west and east, respectively). The monument provides a buffer in the region, protecting surrounding wildlands and unique geological and culturally significant landscapes within its boundaries. Some of the most important collecting areas among many located throughout the monument are labeled: they include Afton Canyon, the Cady Mountains, Lavic Siding, Kelbaker Road, Chambless, the Marble Mountains, and Siam Siding. Source: BLM; annotations: L. Thoresen.

Interest in the minerals of the Mojave Desert dates back to the early 20th century. Generations of mineral enthusiasts ever since have gravitated to the dramatic desert landscape to explore its unique geology and thrill at discovering for themselves its beautiful and varied minerals.

This long tradition of casual collecting may come to end soon.The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced recently that it had initiated a process for drafting a monument management plan (MMP) for Mojave Trails. While it is within BLM’s authority to allow rockhounding to continue within Mojave Trails, it would be a departure from a tradition established by the National Park Service, which manages 89 of 131 U. S. monuments. Collecting of any kind is forbidden on federal lands managed by the Park Service.

BLM manages 29 monuments. BLM's own definitions and rules recognize casual collecting as a low-impact, recreational activity (43 CFR sec. 8365.1-5; 49.1; 49.810). Rockhounding advocates are asking BLM to write into the monument management plan its multiple-use mandate based on its own existing rules for casual collecting under authority of the Federal Lands Policy and Management Act (FLPMA/1976) as well as California’s Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP/2016).

The agency's decision on allowing casual collecting in Mojave Trails will be a bellwether for other monuments under BLM management. Louis Sahagun's most recent article throws light on what the public stands to lose, if BLM decides to define casual collecting as mining and not a recreational activity. (Mining is forbidden in all monuments.) A show of public interest either way may influence BLM's decision. Writing a letter to the editor of the LA Times in response to Louis Sahagun's article is a great way to show your interest.

Read SDMG's comment letter to the BLM on its management plan for Mojave Trails».

Sign up to SDMG's mailing list to receive updates on Mojave Trails (check all the boxes that apply to your interests; don't forget, you will receive a verification email from Constant Contact containing a link to activate your enrollment). Questions on this topic can be directed to editor@sdmg.org.

Cite this article: L. Thoresen. 18 July 2023. Mojave Trails National Monument: Southern California’s crown jewel of casual collecting. San Diego Mineral & Gem Society, Inc. Available online at: https://www.sdmg.org/articles/202307/mojave-trails-crown-jewel-of-collecting-areas/.