The white-margined penstemon (Penstemon albomarginatus Jones), a rare Mohave Desert species, and the Hualapai Mountains land exchange in Mohave County, Arizona

Abstract

The white-margined penstemon (Penstemon albomarginatus Jones) is a rare Mohave Desert species with an unusual tripartite distribution with disjunct localities in Arizona, California, and Nevada. The Arizona population is the largest single population occurring with a range of 15 miles by 5 miles in Dutch Flat near Yucca, Arizona in Mohave County. The land ownership pattern in Dutch Flat was a checkerboard of public and private land, a legacy of railroad lands. Although the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) designated the white-margined penstemon Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) in 1993 for conservation of this Arizona BLM sensitive species, the checkerboard pattern of public and private lands within the ACEC made its conservation management difficult. Rural development was increasing impacts to the Dutch Flat area as the private land was being sold off in 40 acre parcels. The Hualapai Mountains Land Exchange between the Santa Fe Pacific Railroad and the BLM provided a tool for consolidating a portion of the ACEC into a solid block of public land, thereby increasing its manageability for the conservation and survivability of the white-margined penstemon.

Parent Publication

• Southwestern rare and endangered plants: Proceedings of the Third Conference

Citation

Anderson, John L. 2001. The white-margined penstemon (Penstemon albomarginatus Jones), a rare Mohave Desert species, and the Hualapai Mountains land exchange in Mohave County, Arizona. In: Maschinski, Joyce; Holter, Louella, tech. eds. Southwestern rare and endangered plants: Proceedings of the Third Conference; 2000 September 25-28; Flagstaff, AZ. Proceedings RMRS-P-23. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 27-37.