WASHINGTON, D.C - Deputy Secretary of the Interior Lynn Scarlett will dedicate new land acquired by the Bureau of Land Management to be added to the Coachella Valley Fringe-toed Lizard Preserve in Thousand Palms, Calif. on Tuesday, September 4.
The dedication of the land will highlight efforts by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Forest Service to acquire 19 parcels of land in seven western states with $18 million from a special conservation fund set up under the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act (FLTFA) of 2000.
The Coachella Valley Fringe-toed Lizard Preserve purchase by BLM is one of the first parcels of land acquired under the Act. Approximately $850,000 of these funds are going toward the acquisition of the 321 acres in the Joshua Hills being added to the Preserve to provide critical linkage between the Preserve, a BLM Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC), and Joshua Tree National Park.
Deputy Secretary Scarlett will be available for questions following the dedication.
| Who: | Deputy Secretary of the Interior Lynn Scarlett |
| What: | Dedication of newly acquired land at the Coachella Valley Fringe-toed Lizard Preserve |
| When: | 9:30 a.m. PDT, Tuesday, September 4, 2007 |
| Where: | Thousand Palm Oasis/Coachella Valley Fringe-toed Lizard Preserve Visitor Center 29200 Thousand Palms Canyon Road Thousand Palms, Calif. |
| Media: | All credentialed media are invited to attend and photograph the event. |