Trails into the rugged backcountry lead to the habitat of desert bighorn sheep, feral burros, golden eagles, and nesting prairie falcons. The refuge is operated by the state Departments of Fish and Game and Parks and Recreation, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Dos Palmas Preserve, near Indio, owned by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, offers a lush desert oasis with a restored wetlands that accommodates endangered desert pupfish. The preserve attracts an array of wildlife, such as hooded orioles, warblers, snowy egrets, ospreys, American avocets, and horned lizards. The western fringe of the Imperial National Wildlife Refuge, located mostly in Arizona, is also in this bioregion.
Imperial County is one of California's top-ranking agricultural counties and a producer of cotton.
Military installations include the Chocolate Mountains Naval Aerial Gunnery Range and the Naval Desert Test Range. The Colorado Desert is the western extension of the Sonoran desert that covers southern Arizona and northwestern Mexico. It is a desert of much lower elevation than the Mojave Desert to the north, and much of the land lies below 1,000 feet elevation. Mountain peaks rarely exceed 3,000 feet. Common habitat includes sandy desert, scrub, palm oasis, and desert wash.