Blog
A Brief Walk Through Deep Time
By Darrel Cowan The oldest rock in the region of the proposed Amargosa Basin National Monument is about 1.7 billion years old. We informally call this geologic unit the “basement,” because it sits under the entire region and all the younger sedimentary formations you...
25th Anniversary of National Conservation Lands Program
As July comes to a close, we are still celebrating the 25th anniversary of the creation of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) National Conservation Lands (NCL) program. This landmark program was born on July 12, 2000 out of a forward-thinking idea that the BLM...
The Threat of Selling off Public Lands in the Amargosa Basin
A Breakdown of Senator Mike Lee’s (R-UT) public land sell-off budget amendment and what it means for the lands and communities on the California side of the Amargosa Basin. On June 14th, 2025, Senator Mike Lee of Utah introduced an amendment as part of the process of...
Studying Bobcats: A Story From the Field
By Janet Foley Wanting to help, and not hurt, wildlife, my student, who will be nameless, decided that she knew all about trapping bobcats. She had no prior experience with bobcats, but abundant confidence, and she felt that the tried and true method, consisting of...
Settling Into Summer & Looking Small
You might surmise that it will be another scorching summer in the Amargosa Basin, and a record-breaking one at that. While nearby Death Valley usually grabs the headlines, we receive our fair share of summer sunshine and all the cracked earth, desiccated vegetation,...
Matt Kingsley
WELCOME FAB’S NEWEST BOARD MEMBER: Matt Kingsley! For Thirty-five years, Matt was employed as a Federal Wildland Fire Fighter. He served as Fire Staff Officer for the Inyo National Forest and Bureau of Land Management’s Bishop Field Office. Most recently, Matt was...
April 2025 Newsletter
Our April newsletter is out! Please click here to read it.
Statement Regarding Interior Secretary Order #3418 and Threats to National Monuments
For Immediate Release February 5, 2025Contact: Cameron Mayer, Executive Director,Friends of the Amargosa Basin(562) 233-7874 Shoshone, CA - Friends of the Amargosa Basin has issued the following public statement from its Executive Director Cameron Mayer...
Two New National Monuments in California
For Immediate Release January 7, 2025Contact: Cameron Mayer, Executive Director,Friends of the Amargosa Basin(562) 233-7874 Friends of the Amargosa Basin thanks the Biden administration for designating Chuckwalla and Sáttítla Highlands National Monuments. Shoshone,...
Statement on the Public Meeting Held for the Proposed Sáttítla National Monument
For Immediate Release December 10, 2024Contact: Cameron Mayer, Executive Director,Friends of the Amargosa Basin(562) 233-7874 Friends of the Amargosa Basin thanks the USDA and stands with the Pit River Tribe in urging the Biden administration to designate the...
Volunteer Spotlight: Mina Nada
How did you get involved with Friends of the Amargosa Basin? I first got involved with Friends of the Amargosa Basin through my friend Cameron Mayer, whom I met during grad school. When Cameron reached out about an opportunity to participate in habitat restoration...
Spring Brook Winter Restoration
Work in the vicinity of the Shoshone wetlands and the Spring brook that runs through them resumed on October 17, 2023, when Cameron Mayer with Friends of the Amargosa helped Christiana Manville of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) monitor the plants that...