The Mojave Desert Land Trust (MDLT) fears the current federal shutdown exacerbates an already critical situation.

At present, the Department of the Interior has directed all national parks to remain open with limited staffing during this federal shutdown. Most staff are furloughed.

Visitor centers may be closed, and restrooms and trash collection may be limited, MDLT directors said. Law enforcement and fire staff will be working, but can quickly become overwhelmed.

“The ongoing federal government shutdown has the potential to do irreparable harm to our public lands," MDLT Public Policy Officer Krystian Lahage told the Daily Press.

“If we go in here and log or if we go in here and develop the roads, that can’t be undone. The fractures to the environment can’t be undone, and we lose out, not just on this resource for people, but it’s another strike for the biodiversity crisis.”

And on a warm early morning summer day, Patrick Emblidge and Clay Noss with the Mojave Desert Land Trust, are hopeful they can catch a glimpse of a desert tortoise. To do that, they're searching for holes that tortoises make, often called burrows, in a canyon near Joshua Tree, where the town's namesake tree flourishes near desert flora and grasses.

Researchers are working to save a tortoise that has been in the American Southwest for millions of years - the Mojave Desert tortoise, to be specific. It's considered a threatened species, but in California, there are now extra protections in place, as Nate Perez from NPR's Climate Desk reports.