In 1984, President Clinton signed the California Desert Protection Act into law. This Act changed Joshua Tree National Monument into a full-fledged National Park. It also changed Death Valley National Monument into a National Park and created many new Wilderness Areas, all in California. The town of Twentynine Palms, in the southern Mojave Desert, is home to the Park Headquarters for Joshua Tree National Park.

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of this event, Art and artist Chuck Caplinger were commissioned to create a mural as part of the anniversary celebration. The mural is patterned after many commemorative stamps issued by the U.S. Postal Service that commemorate important historical events. It salutes the creation of the California Desert Protection Act and illustrates some of the flora and fauna, as well some of the typical desert landscape, that are all now protected by the Act.