The Mojave Desert Land Trust in Joshua Tree announced Wednesday that it has acquired the Palisades Ranch on the Mojave River north of Victorville from the Western Rivers Conservancy. Once slated for 1,300 homes and a golf course, the ranch is within a transition zone which includes important riparian habitat for 39 federally and state-protected wildlife species.
“This new scientific study highlights the need for further review of the environmental science underpinning the Cadiz Inc. groundwater pumping project,” noted Joshua Friedes, Executive Director of the Mojave Desert Land Trust, which funded the study.
“Participants also heard from newly-appointed Mojave Desert Land Trust Executive Director Joshua Friedes, who spoke of the trust’s desire to build partnerships of its own in the community.”
Jon Christensen, a UCLA professor and board member of the land trust, said Friedes joins the land trust at a key moment: “The Mojave Desert is more popular than ever. And Joshua has the experience and vision to help us dramatically expand support for conservation in the California Desert among the diverse communities who enjoy the desert and care about its future.”
According to the Mojave Desert Land Trust, a nonprofit conservation group located in Joshua Tree, the Cadiz project would greatly affect the springs that migratory birds, bighorn sheep and native desert plants all rely on to survive.
“A recent study funded by the Mojave Desert Land Trust, a nonprofit conservation group that opposes the Cadiz project, found the proposed groundwater pumping would imperil the largest spring in the southeastern Mojave Desert, which nourishes bighorn sheep, migratory birds and dozens of species of native plants.”
A new film screened in Redlands highlights the impact the Land and Water Conservation Fund has had on Latino and urban communities throughout the United States and emphasizes why Congress needs to permanently reauthorize the program before it expires at the end of September and why it should be fully funded. LWCF has supported more than 41,000 national, state and local parks and projects across the nation and its absence would have a significant impact on outdoor access and the conservation of public lands.
Staff Sgt. Rose Reed could have used a few more hands to carry all of the school supplies she picked up at the annual Back to School Bash here Friday, Aug. 10, 2018. The busy mom of four children, including a new high school freshman and two elementary school students, was among the more than 1,000 people who flocked to Victory Field on the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, California, for the event hosted by Marine Corps Community Services and the Combat Center School Liaison.
Mojave Desert Land Trust has acquired 80 acres of privately held land inside Joshua Tree National Park that it intends to transfer to the national park. The parcel, which sits at an elevation of about 3,600 feet, has panoramic views and is covered with creosote, cacti, saltbush, and ephedra. It is about one mile from Pinkham Canyon Road near the southern boundary of the park. To date, Mojave Desert Land Trust has acquired 115 parcels of land totaling nearly 7,800 acres; about 75 percent of those parcels have been conveyed to Joshua Tree National Park. There are still 192 privately-owned parcels within Joshua Tree National Park.
Out on the Mojave Desert Land Trust’s Section 33, a 624-acre parcel of desert apportioned by railroad checkerboarding in the 1850s, the trash is everywhere. in every line of sight. Styrofoam, plastic bags, candy wrappers—some of it thrown from the highway, some blown in from the nearby middle school (“It’s amazing how much trash they make up there,” marveled Adam Henne, a volunteer coordinator with MDLT).