Did you know that Anza-Borrego Desert State Park has a sister park in Mongolia? Ikh Nartiin Chuluu (Big Sunny Rocks) Nature Reserve (Ikh Nart, for short) is a 67,000-acre park in the desert-steppe ecosystem of eastern-central Mongolia. The partnership between Ikh Nart and Anza-Borrego started with the bighorn sheep. Ikh Nart is a refuge for the Argali, the largest mountain sheep in the world. Anza- Borrego biologists made multiple trips to Mongolia to advise Mongolian wildlife biologists and help with the management of the Argali populations in the park. In 2008, the sister park relationship was made official with recognition from both governments.

Early on, the naturalist and rangers who visited Ikh Nart realized they needed to include Dr. Joan Schneider, then Associate State Park Archaeologist, in the partnership because of the many archaeological features that they had observed within Ikh Nart. Joan started the collaborative archaeological research project at Ikh Nart and helped implement many protective measures for the cultural resources.

Over the years, Anza-Borrego Foundation and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park staff have supported the development of a management plan for Ikh Nart; created and erected signs around the park to notify people that they were entering a Mongolian Protected Area; developed and provided multilingual interpretative materials; sponsored travel and hosted Mongolian park staff and archaeologists at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and at professional conferences; and conducted collaborative fieldwork with Mongolian archaeologists in Ikh Nart so that a more-complete understanding of the rich cultural resources there and their protection could be developed. The U.S. Embassy Ambassador’s Cultural Preservation Grant, obtained by Joan, also supported these accomplishments.

After two years of COVID restrictions, a group of researchers, state park volunteers, Joan Schneider, and I travelled to Mongolia in May 2022 to continue archaeological work in Ikh Nart. Dr. Arlene Rosen (Professor at the University of Texas, Austin) with Dr. Jennifer Farquhar (a recent PhD at the University of Pittsburgh, with her fieldwork carried out in Ikh Nart) are leading the present research efforts supported by a National Science Foundation grant. Over four weeks, American and Mongolian archaeologists worked together to gather data that might help us better understand paleo-climate and human adaptation to climate change in the Gobi-Steppe. While in Ikh Nart, Joan and I were able to meet with Ikh Nart staff to discuss management issues at the park and present new printed copies of the original Sister Park Proclamation.

Through donations, Anza-Borrego Foundation is able to continue to support Ikh Nart Nature Reserve with the salary for an Ikh Nart park ranger who focuses on protecting cultural resources and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park staff travel to Ikh Nart so that this unique and important international relationship can continue to flourish. The Anza-Borrego Desert State Park-Ikh Nart Sister-Park Relationship is the only one in California State Park System. For more information, please contact me at hayley.elsken@parks.ca.gov.