Natural History Wanderings

We recently closed escrow on a ten-acre parcel within the Anza-Borrego Desert State Wilderness area (formerly Sheep Canyon Wilderness Area). This remote parcel, accessible only by foot, sits at about 2,600 feet in elevation and is near Deering Canyon and the Valley of the Thousand Springs. The family we purchased the property from bought it sight unseen fifty years ago. At the time title gave the location as Coyote Canyon Jeep Trail, which does not exist anymore.

It was a complex sale as it needed to go through probate, got rejected by the San Diego Registrar, required the family to file in person once the office was re-opened and needed notarized signatures from four parties (one in Australia!). After some time, escrow finally closed, and now this land is protected forever.

We still have a long way to go to make the Park ecologically and geographically whole. Over 14,000 acres of critical inholdings remain scattered throughout the Park. This land is rich in natural, scenic, paleontological, and geological resources and includes important cultural sites and prime habitats for endangered plants and animals.