Senate Concurrent Resolution 5, recognizing January 11, 2025 as World Desert Day, was adopted unanimously by the California State Senate on Jan. 20, 2025.

Senator Susan Ochoa Bogue, presenting SCR 5 on the Senate floor, said deserts “while they appear barren, deserts are brimming with life,” and asked colleagues to support education and conservation efforts for California’s three desert regions. She noted that the Mojave Desert “occupies more than 25,000 square miles across Southeastern California, as well as portions of Nevada, Arizona, and Utah” and listed species including the Mojave Desert tortoise and roughly 250 species of birds in the region.

The resolution text, as read on the floor, calls for the legislature to support “ongoing efforts to educate our residents about their role in conserving desert biodiversity.” After the presentation the Senate held a roll call vote; the clerk reported “Aye, 32. No, 0,” and the president announced the resolution was adopted.

Following the vote, Senate leaders invited representatives from the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Palm Desert to the chamber. Senator Ochoa Bogue introduced Kat Satcher and Dr. Anna Young and acknowledged the Living Desert’s “more than 50 years” of work on local and international conservation projects. The senator said the institution is engaged in “over 80 projects” including habitat restoration and an effort to reintroduce two subspecies of pronghorn into historic Southern California desert environments.

The resolution is a nonbinding recognition; no new funding or regulatory changes were attached to SCR 5 on the floor.