‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’ will compromise our most remarkable landscapes
STATEMENT
For immediate release
July 2, 2025
Contact: Krystian Lahage, Public Policy Officer
Phone: 760-366-5440. Email: Krystian.lahage@mdlt.org
‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’ will compromise our most remarkable landscapes
Statement by Kelly Herbinson, Executive Director, Mojave Desert Land Trust, in response to the passage of the ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill Act’:
“The passage of this bill is part of systematic efforts to compromise and degrade America’s most remarkable public lands to fund tax cuts for the wealthy. The passage of this bill would cut funding for essential workers on the ground who are needed to keep our national parks and favorite places safe from natural disasters and other challenges. Many of these national public lands and recreation areas are already underfunded and understaffed. The One Big, Beautiful Bill Act impacts will be compounded by even more disastrous FY 2026 budget proposals by this Administration to make the biggest funding cuts to the National Park Service in its 109-year history and to gut the country’s main conservation tool, the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Our public lands need more resources—not less—as the results of increasing wildfires and drought impact our communities. Bipartisan leadership and public support are necessary to protect the communities that call these places home.”
The Mojave Desert Land Trust (MDLT) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with the mission to protect and care for lands with natural, scenic, and cultural value within the Colorado and Mojave Deserts. Since its founding in 2006, MDLT has conserved over 125,000 acres, conveying more tracts of land to the National Park Service than any other nonprofit. MDLT established a conservation seed bank to ensure the preservation of native species and operates an onsite nursery at its Joshua Tree headquarters which has grown over 130,000 native plants for restoration projects and community landscaping. MDLT educates and advocates for the conservation of the desert, involving hundreds of volunteers in our work. For more information, visit mdlt.org.