Joshua Tree National Park Expands by 20,000 Acres, Shifting Management to NPS

The Joshua Tree National Park Expansion Act is straightforward: it officially adds about 20,149 acres of land to the park’s boundary, transferring administrative control over that acreage from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to the National Park Service (NPS). This expansion is based on a specific map dated June 2024 (Map 156193,676), and it means a significant chunk of high-desert land will now be managed under the stricter conservation guidelines of the NPS, rather than the multiple-use mandate of the BLM.

More Desert, More Protection

This bill is primarily a conservation play. By moving 20,149 acres into the National Park system, the legislation ensures this land is managed for preservation, not potential resource extraction or other uses allowed under BLM rules. Think of it this way: if you’re a weekend hiker or a family trying to escape the city, this means more protected wilderness and fewer worries about seeing new development or industrial activity encroaching on the park’s edge. The NPS will now be responsible for everything from maintaining trails to protecting the iconic Joshua trees on this newly acquired land.

The Land Acquisition Fine Print

For anyone owning property near the park, Section 2 is important. The Secretary of the Interior is now authorized to acquire land inside this new boundary. This can happen through donation, purchase (if the owner is willing to sell), exchange, or transfer. However, there’s a key distinction for state or local government land: the Secretary can only acquire it via donation or exchange, which suggests the federal government can’t simply buy it outright without the state’s active agreement. For private landowners, this opens the door for the NPS to negotiate purchases to eliminate 'inholdings'—private land surrounded by park land—which often simplifies park management.

The Visitor Center Gets a New Name

Beyond the land management changes, the bill includes a notable administrative update in Section 4: the Cottonwood Visitor Center at Joshua Tree National Park is officially being renamed the Dianne Feinstein Visitor Center. This is a purely symbolic change, an honorific, meaning that anyone planning a trip to the park will need to get used to the new name on maps and signs. All federal records, documents, and maps must be updated to reflect this change going forward.

Tidy-Up Time: The Technical Fix

Finally, Section 3 handles a quick bit of housekeeping. It makes a technical correction to a previous law, the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act. Specifically, it clarifies a dollar amount—$156,149,375—by adding the letter 'A' after the figure every time it appears in that section. This is the kind of detail that policy analysts love, confirming that the funding figure is noted exactly as intended in the original legislative text, ensuring accurate accounting for that conservation funding.