From the field! The Dos Palmas Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) in southern County of Riverside is a home to the desert pupfish (Cyprinodon macularius). This isolated population is a relic left behind in Salt Creek by the drying of ancient Lake Cahuilla and more recently the degradation of the Salton Sea. While a natural population persists in some reaches of Salt Creek, a series of ponds have been converted by the BLM to serve as desert pupfish refugia, supporting a large breeding population. Males become bright blue with yellow tails throughout the breeding season, while females and juveniles retain drab, patchy colors.

The BLM coordinates with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Bureau of Reclamation, and local water agencies to ensure that high quality pupfish habitat is sustained. Pupfish refugia prove their value time and time again as natural habitats dry up seasonally, due to drought, man-made water shortages, or unforeseen hydrological abnormalities. Summer months mean pupfish rescues, trapping survivors out of shrinking pools and transporting them in coolers to safer, more secure habitat.