There’s a new fence stretching along the northeast side of Quail Springs Road in Joshua Tree from Onaga Trail to Alta Loma, and then around the corner on Alta Loma. We found it’s part of an effort to protect Coyote Hole.
Back in the 1970s, San Bernardino County acquired the Coyote Hole area in Joshua Tree, with the possible intention of using it for flood control. That didn’t—and won’t—happen. The area, which contains Native American petroglyphs, has been abused by trash dumpers and OHV users. Brendon Biggs, with the County’s Department of Public Works, told us that his office has been trying to find someone who will take the area over and protect it. A likely party is the Native American Land Conservancy, an intertribal group which, among other activities, acquires “threatened cultural landscapes.” Meetings held at the Joshua Tree Community Center on the subject have also involved local residents and conservationists, as well as Community Services Area 20, which is responsible for the adjoining Desert View Conservation area. According to Biggs, the new mile-long-plus fence along Quail Springs Road was put up to protect access to Coyote Hole by Miriam Seger, a property owner in Joshua Tree who acquired a property adjacent to Coyote Hole. Southern California Edison, which has an easement on Seger’s property, put up a pipe gate as part of the fence.
