The Coachella Valley includes blow-sand habitat – fine windblown sand deposits such as sand hummocks and dunes. Species that have adapted to this environment include various reptiles, rodents and insects. The approximately 1,900 acre Coachella Valley Ecological Reserve contains this habitat, as well as a variety of other desert habitats and their associated plants and animals.
Agricultural and urban development in the Coachella Valley is taking place at an accelerating rate, resulting in loss and modification of blow-sand habitat. The property was acquired to protect the habitat of a threatened lizard species, and to preserve blow-sand habitat and the flora and fauna native to such restricted habitat. It was designated as an ecological reserve by the Fish and Game Commission in 1983. The reserve will perpetuate a portion of this unique habitat and the desert life forms it sustains.
For more information, call the Inland Deserts Region Ontario office at (909) 484-0167.