The issue of fixed anchors in wilderness challenges modern interpretations of the Wilderness Act. The Wilderness Act can be interpreted to allow or preclude the placement of fixed anchors in designated wilderness areas depending on whether the interpreter chooses a literal or general interpretation of the law's meaning. Place-based management options, supported by descriptive and evaluative study results, may be more closely aligned to Wilderness Act directives than nationwide, blanket policy. This research is focused on understanding the role of fixed anchors in designated wilderness in order to develop management options that protect wilderness values without hindering wilderness users. The unique nature of each wilderness area and climbing resource, in combination with distinct preferences and motivations of different climber populations, lends itself to managing fixed anchors through place-based policy that considers the landscape and the preferences of individual visitors.Joshua Tree National Park [JTNP] was chosen as the location for this case study because it has committed to establishing fixed anchor management that accommodates rock climbing and protects wilderness resources. JTNP has prohibited the placement of fixed anchors in wilderness since February 1993. By combining resource inventories, spatial modeling, and wilderness climber profiles, study results reveal that wilderness visitor destination choice is not dependent on the location of fixed anchors, but the quality, difficulty, and distance to destinations. These results can be used as the basis for a wilderness fixed anchor permit system and demonstrate that fixed anchors can fit within the confines of the Wilderness Act. Place-based management options, relative to national policies, can minimize administrative burdens and limit the geographic extent of unintended regulatory effects. The Wilderness Act's minimum administrative requirement mandate promotes this type of management style. This study of the benign fixed anchor at JTNP illustrates the power of the scientific method to neutralize wilderness recreation conflict and support streamlined wilderness management, while at the same time highlighting the shortcomings, and strengths, of the Wilderness Act as it is applied to a new era of wilderness recreation management.

Climate change and exotic plant invasions are significant anthropogenic threats to desert community structure and resilience . In the Mojave Desert, the invasive grass red brome (Bromusrubens L) is increasing fire frequency and extent in response to climatic factors. The resilience of this ecosystem will be affected by how plant and animal communities respond to fire. To better understand these dynamics, we studied the environmental factors underlying changes in invasive grass fire regimes in the Mojave Desert and its structural and functional effects on plant and animal communities. Following fire, reestablishment of native vegetation can be preempted by repeated burning associated with the abundant exotic grass red brome. Red brome density is correlated with various climate and landscape variables, but to establish causality, we experimentally assessed germination and growth of red brome. Red brome responded positively to fall precipitation, finer-textured soils, fertile-islands soils, and soils from burned landscapes. Red brome germination is maximized in wet fall periods when adequate water and optimal temperatures overlap . To evaluate landscape responses of pre- and post-fire plant communities and the potential for repeated burning we analyzed vegetation greenness (NDVI) data from 1985-2011 in response to temperature and precipitation. Landscape analysis indicated that the dominance of exotic grasses increases on post-fire landscapes. Following wet fall and winter seasons, high red brome productivity increases fire potential. Without mitigation, the establishment of an invasive-plant-driven fire regime is likely and may drive state transitions from arid shrublands to arid annual grasslands. Potential revegetation of post-fire landscapes will depend at least in part upon the physiological response of surviving vegetation to post-fire landscapes. Plant physiological responses to post-fire landscapes were generally neutral or positive, suggesting that revegetation of post-fire landscapes is not precluded by resource loss associated with fire and may even be enhanced by post-fire conditions. This will likely translate to increased reproductive potential of surviving plants. Alterations to small mammal populations will likely play a role in the reestablishment of vegetation (both native and exotics) as small mammals have strong top-down effects in arid ecosystems. Diversity and species richness responded negatively to burned landscapes as Merriam's kangaroo rat (Dipodomys merriami) increased in abundance while other species practically disappeared from burned landscapes. Merriam's kangaroo rat affects propagule sources through direct consumption, and seed dispersal. Increases in abundance and dominance of Merriam's kangaroo rat will likely alter plant recruitment.

Focusing primarily on the ecological relationships of the Joshua tree in Joshua Tree National Park, this teaching unit includes ten pre-visit, in-class lessions; Ranger-led lessons at Joshua Tree National Park Education Center; and ten post-visit, in-class lessons. Lessons are for students in grades three and four and formatted using the breakthrough lesson strategies, based on the constructivist educational theory. The teacher background section addresses classification, structure, range, xerophytic adaptations, ecological relationships, and natural history of the Joshua tree.

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