Amargosa Vole Conservation Project

argosa vole (Microtus californicus scirpensis) is a highly specialized, critically endangered small mammal subspecies that lives only in isolated wetland patches surrounded by the Mojave Desert east of Death Valley National Park. All of its habitat lies within the Bureau of Land Management’s Amargosa River Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) and Wild and Scenic River (WSR) management areas. Compared to other North American mammals, the vole, which requires habitat dominated by bulrush and a permanent water source, occupies one of the rarest available habitat types in the Mojave Desert. Our research team is working to identify the major threats to recovery for the vole and through our captive breeding program, plans to return healthy populations to the region in 2015!