�y��vlog

As Tortez contemplates Chuckwalla’s richness, another member of the hiking group, Stephanie Dashiell, an environmental consultant who is manager of the national monument campaign, spots a thorny ocotillo growing high on a cliff.

It is high desert; ocotillos, scrubby junipers and sagebrush bushes dot the earth between the pinyon pines that give her unincorporated community its name.

“The ocotillos weren’t in leaf, and one more had died. There was another drought year here.”

Lupines, ocotillos and yellow brickellbush have carpeted the desert floor near Joshua Tree National Park.

Many desert plants, like ocotillos, Washington fan palms and Joshua trees, are also declining from warming temperatures, less precipitation and thirstier animals.