The July #conservationlands15 social media takeover today is exploring the BLM’s wild and scenic rivers.

What makes a river wild and scenic? Rivers or sections of rivers within the National Wild and Scenic River System must be free-flowing and have at least one ORV or outstandingly remarkable (unique or rare) value, such as scenic, recreational, geologic, fish, wildlife, historic, cultural or other feature.

Pictured here, the BLM’s Amargosa Wild and Scenic River in California is known for its wildlife value. The Amargosa vole is an endangered mammal isolated to the wetlands associated with the Amargosa River. Biologists last year determined that the endangered Amargosa vole had an 82% chance of going extinct within the next five-years, if immediate management actions were not taken. So the BLM California, researchers at UC Davis, and a group of partners created the multi-agency Amargosa vole team to rescue the tiny rodent living precariously in the rare marshes of the Mojave Desert.