Taking action for iconic species
Western Joshua Tree
MDLT is at the forefront of conservation efforts to save the iconic western Joshua tree. We are moving fast to save this declining species through two significant initiatives.
Help protect endangered bighorn
In California's Jacumba Wilderness, border wall construction is cutting off a migration corridor for federally Endangered Peninsular desert bighorn sheep, permanently separating these animals from fresh water and altering their life-long migration patterns. This federally protected wilderness, comprised of expansive desert washes and plentiful mountains and canyons, spans more than 31,000 acres along the national border in San Diego and Imperial Counties. Its high elevations serve as a corridor for Peninsular desert bighorn sheep, a species that was listed under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1998. It is here that the U.S.-Mexico border wall is about to be constructed.
If the wall proceeds with no protective measures in place, the Jacumba subgroup of the Endangered Peninsular desert bighorn sheep will be cut off from rare sources of water, food, shelter, and mates, their migration routes blocked. They are already facing deadly razor wire being installed at some points of the border. Add to this, the effects of wall construction, road building, and an increase in human activity. Experts believe that this will be the last gasp for this population.
Please urge your representatives to push for protective measures to ensure that these majestic and endangered animals have a way to access water and forage in the Jacumba Wilderness. Use our quick action form to contact Congress today.
Rare plants
The Mojave Desert Seed Bank is a repository of seeds of the native flora of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts. Seeds from the Mojave Desert Seed Bank are used to restore degraded habitat, for research, and for the long-term conservation of species.
Endangered Mojave desert tortoise
MDLT is leading a project to restore and protect critical desert tortoise habitat in the western Mojave Desert. Over three years we are carrying out an interagency strategy of establishing large, intact expanses of habitat by clearly delineating and signing legal travel routes in the area, and halting and restoring unauthorized cross-country off-highway vehicle activity and route proliferation that has occurred in this region.