Mohave Ground Squirrel Historic Range [ds558]

The Mohave ground squirrel (Spermophilus mohavensis) is found only in the western Mojave Desert of California (Best 1995). This dataset shows its historic range which totaled about 20,000 km2 (Gustafson 1993). It has been found from the area of Palmdale and Victorville in the south to Owens Lake in the north. The eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada forms much of the western boundary of its range, while in the east its distribution extends to the Mojave River Valley and to the Fort Irwin military reservation. This region has experienced rapid growth over the past few decades. Urban development in the Antelope Valley, Indian Wells Valley, and along the Mojave River from Victorville to Barstow has resulted in a human population in excess of 700,000. Three large military bases conduct extensive training and testing operations. Much of the western Mojave Desert is used for motorized outdoor recreation, mining, and livestock grazing. There is an expanding transportation infrastructure, including highways, railroads, airports, pipelines, and electric transmission lines. Recent government policies have stimulated great interest in siting renewable energy facilities in this region, especially wind farms and solar installations.

This information represents one person's best assessment as of 2008 and will undoubtedly change as we learn more. This is not CDFG official data, but was supplied by a private individual, who's ultimately responsible for the accuracy.