The California Desert Protection Act (S. 21), introduced by Senator Alan Cranston (D-CA), would enlarge both Death Valley National Monument and Joshua Tree National Monument and would designate them as National Parks. It would create a 1.5 million acre Mojave National. Park and would establish Bureau of Land Management (BLM) wilderness areas encompassing more than four million acres. These measures would protect California's shrinking and threatened desert ecosystems.

The desert lands protected by S. 21 contain extraordinary variety and scenic beauty, all of which is extremely fragile and highly susceptible to permanent damage from activities such as off-road vehicle use, mining, and grazing. Areas covered by S. 21 vary from towering mountain ranges to extensive sand dunes. These lands contain thousands of archaeological sites and tremendous biological diversity, providing habitat for more than 2,000 species of wildlife and plants, including the threatened desert tortoise and the rare desert bighorn sheep. The protection afforded by S. 21 is urgently needed to retain a portion of the desert in its natural condition for future generations.

The House of Representatives passed similar Iegislation by an overwhelming majority at the end of 1991. The League has included cosponsorship of S. 21, the California Desert Protection Act as a pro-environment action. Currently, 27 Senators have cosponsored S. 21.