Have you ever been to a desert? Some deserts are incredibly filled with life and diversity. It's no forest or prairie, but life finds a way. Desert by definition is someplace that gets little rainfall and lacks as much vegetation as other areas.
I have lived near deserts/semi-deserts, they are desolate and miserable places where some life survives despite all odds. Keeping a small number of national parks as deserts is of course important, but that does not need to be more than 1% of the area that is taken by deserts today.