CV Independent: Confusion on Public Lands: The Trump Administration’s On-Again, Off-Again Layoffs and Pronouncements Have Conservationists Baffled and Worried
The Mojave Desert Land Trust works with various governing agencies to ensure public lands have as much support as possible. The group’s public policy officer, Krystian Lahage, told the Independent that the MDLT tries to provide information about the things going on in the desert while steering clear of politics.
“The role that we envision for ourselves is kind of being a nonpartisan hub of information,” Lahage said. “We’ve always worked collaboratively with the National Park Service and BLM. We acquire land, and we convey it over to them, so we have a strong partnership.”
Lahage said the reduction in staffing and other cuts will be challenging, but the parks can still be a source of enjoyment and leisure for the community.
“We’re certainly concerned with staffing,” Lahage said. “… We don’t have to look further than the last shutdown to see what happens when our parks are left open with inadequate staffing. We had damage to infrastructure. We had damage to trails, damage to the landscape. One of the superintendents for the park said that it could take 200 to 300 years for some of that damage to be resolved. We feel right now it’s our role to stand up and fill in the gaps when possible, to make sure that these lands are still being protected.