General Site Information

Last week, our 17 SCA Massachusetts AmeriCorps members visited their 10 school placements and 4 internships to observe, introduce themselves, begin to get to know the students, and play games.

From December until March, the members will be spending their weeks teaching science and environmental education to 3 year olds up to 14 year olds, engaging the students in service learning projects, and leading afterschool programs. As one of our cooperating teachers said, "the corps members get to teach the way we [the teachers] which we could teach" with hands on lessons, outdoor experiences, games, and of course costumes!

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Jawbone is situated under the Southern Sierra Nevada mountains in the Mojave Desert.

Notable Features:

-Robbers Roust is situated on the North eastern side of Jawbone. It is a huge rock formation that serves as a Roust for large birds. It was also a former hiding place for Outlaws.

-Sage Canyon is one of the few places that has water in Jawbone. It is filled with lush vegetation and Cotton wood trees.

-Scodie Peak is the tallest mountain near Jawbone and extends out of the desert into the Sierras.

Most of where we work has Joshua trees in abundance as well as interesting rock formation. There are ravens, kangaroo rats, and Rabbits in abundance with the occasional howl of coyote in the mix.

Jawbone is a beautiful place to work and visit with all its extreme weather and gorgeous sun rises.

The Rand Mountains Management Area (RMMA) is designated as a limited-use area that is comprised of approximately 65,000 acres of public land. The RMMA is located 35 miles south of Ridgecrest and immediately north of the California City boundary. The RMMA has been a popular OHV recreation area since the 1960’s and was a desired location for competitive race events through the 1970’s, with a peak of 25 events and 10,845 participants in 1975. The RMMA has seen a steady decline of OHV use and disturbance since 1980 when the California Desert Conservation Act (CDCA) was passed. There is currently 129 miles of designated routes for motorized vehicles within the RMMA. Each operator of a motorized vehicle is required to obtain a free permit before riding within the boundaries of the RMMA. The management area contains 110 square miles of crucial Desert tortoise habitat, which is part of the Kramer-Fremont Desert Wildlife Management Area. Resource inventories conducted in the 1980’s determined there was a decline in Desert tortoise population from 250 tortoises per square mile in 1981 to 179 per square mile in 1987. The BLM and other Federal agencies have implemented a number of management plans to improve habitat and protect the Desert tortoise. These include the CDCA, the Rand Mountain-Fremont Valley Plan, the Rand Mountains Education and Permit Program, and the Endangered Species Act. Other sensitive species that reside in the RMMA are the Mojave ground squirrel (Spermophilus mohavensis), burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia), desert kit fox (Vulpes velox), golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), and prairie falcon (Falco mexicanus). Dominant plant communities within the management area are creosote bush scrub, creosote bush-rocky slopes, Joshua tree woodland, and alkali sink scrub. The management area supports 154 species of annual and perennial plants including creosote bush, Joshua tree, winterfat, cheesebush, four-wing saltbush, and California buckwheat. The RMMA is used for various recreation and commercial activities including OHV riding, hunting, mining, and grazing. The nearby mining town of Randsburg has a couple of restaurants, antique shops, and a general store that caters to tourists and recreationists. ~ (courtesy of the BLM Ridgecrest Field Office)

This wilderness encompasses the eroded hills, canyons and bajadas of the Scodie Mountains Unit within the Sequoia National Forest -- the southern extremity of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. A unique mixing of several different species of plants and animals occurs within the transition zone between the Mojave Desert and Sierra Nevada Mountains. Desert plants such as creosote bush, Joshua tree, burro bush and shadscale may be found in close association with pinyon pine, juniper, canyon oak and digger/grey pine. The varied vegetation provides habitat for a great diversity of wildlife over a small geographic area. Species of note include raptors, the yellow-eared pocket mouse, a variety of lizards and a number of migrant and resident bird species. This wilderness is part of a National Cooperative Land and Wildlife Management Area and the BLM Jawbone Butterbredt Area of Critical Environmental Concern , which was designated to protect outstanding wildlife and Native American values.

Dates: Sept. 18, 2012 to May 13, 2013 Project Leader: Andrew Mazur Project Email: amazur@thesca.org Phone: 208-608-6326 Address:300 S Richmond Ave Ridgecrest, CA 93555