October 13, 2007 - The Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument in the Coachella Valley will now be listed as a Globally Important Bird Area under the American Bird Conservancy’s U.S. Important Bird Area program. After consulting with local ornithologists, including College of the Desert’s Kurt Leuschner, the American Bird Conservancy made their determination based on the large number of bird species of special interest in the area.

“Among the resident or breeding bird species of interest included on American Bird Conservancy’s Green List are White-headed Woodpecker, Black Swift, California Thrasher, Wrentit, Oak Titmouse, Gray Vireo, Black-chinned Sparrow, Lawrence’s Goldfinch, and Mountain Quail,” said Dr. Robert M. Chipley, Director of the American Bird Conservancy’s Important Bird Areas Program. “Zone-tailed Hawk and Peregrine Falcon are also found in the National Monument.”

The Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument, which borders the Coachella Valley to the south and west, encompasses 272,000 acres including 81,070 acres of wilderness. The remaining acreage is a mixture of federal, state, tribal, and private lands, ranging from a few hundred feet above sea level to the top of the San Jacinto Mountains (over 10,000 feet).

The Monument has many natural and cultural resources. Biotic communities on the Monument include creosote scrub, rocky hillside, chaparral, pinyon-juniper woodland, oak woodland, and pine forest. More information on the flora and fauna of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument can be found at the Monument’s Visitor Center located at 51500 State Highway 74 in southern Palm Desert, about four miles south of Highway 111.