Current protection statistics show that deserts are relatively more protected than shrub steppe or grassland ecoregions, but all eight ecoregions examined require additional protections and more ecologically sustainable management practices to meet widely recognized conservation goals. Since World War II, roads have exploded onto the American landscape. The scientific literature has overwhelmingly reported serious negative impacts roads have on native biodiversity. One consequence of roads and associated human activities is habitat fragmentation, which leads to local extinctions of some species and overall ecosystem degradation. Roads promote the spread of exotic species and are a major source of air and water pollution causing serious declines in aquatic biodiversity.
Roads cause direct mortality of many species and modify animal behavior.
More important than these direct impacts, roads provide human access to otherwise natural ecosystems resulting in even more serious consequences to native biota and natural processes. Throughout the arid west, groundwater depletion and water diversion has changed the natural landscape in dramatic ways by altering the natural hydrologic regimes of these regions. Entire natural communities have been lost or altered as a consequence. Mining of fuels and minerals has left a significant imprint on natural habitats throughout the west. Surface and open pit mining for coal and other materials has impacted extensive regions as vegetation and topsoil are stripped to gain access to resources.