Recent Accomplishments

With the help and dedication of our supporters, Mojave Desert Land Trust has been able to purchase and protect some important wild lands.  If you’re not already a member, please consider joining our efforts today.  Here are just a few of the ways that your membership makes a difference:

Desert National Parks – Mojave Desert Land Trust continues to acquire inholdings within Joshua Tree National Park and Mojave National Preserve.  Purchasing these lands defragments large natural areas and protects intact ecosystems within the parks’ boundaries.  We have acquired over 22,000 acres within these parks.  Membership helps protect our public lands and the natural resources within them.

Cady Mountains – Located in southeastern California (about 40 miles east of Barstow) in a designated Wilderness Study Area.  Mojave Desert Land Trust purchased 3,300 acres of land that were at risk in this Wilderness Study Area.  This beautiful, healthy, and intact ecosystem provides habitat for bighorn sheep, tortoise, and burrowing owl, three of the species most threatened by solar development projects.  In light of projections that 400,000 - 700,000 acres may be taken by renewable energy in the California desert, Mojave Desert Land Trust is trying to stay one step ahead of these significant impacts.  Our work has never been more important and membership is the key to our success.

Quail Mountain Project - Mojave Desert Land Trust has successfully completed the acquisition of 955 acres of pristine wildlife habitat along the northern boundary of Joshua Tree National Park. The acquisition will permanently preserve a section of wildlife corridor required for the movement of bighorn sheep, badger, mule deer, mountain lion and dozens of bird species, in addition to providing pristine habitat for the recovery of the threatened desert tortoise.  With the help of our Volunteer Land Stewards, we continue to restore this fragile habitat before it is moved inside the boundaries of Joshua Tree National Park for long-term protection.  Membership helps us cover the expenses associated with caring for the lands we acquire.

Old Woman Mountains Wilderness – Mojave Desert Land Trust has acquired 2,222 acres within the Old Woman Mountains (located east of Amboy Road).  This wilderness area is an important wildlife linkage between Joshua Tree National Park, Mojave National Preserve, and several BLM Wilderness Areas.  Rugged mountains, steep canyons, sandy washes, and natural springs come together to form a strikingly beautiful landscape that hosts a diverse population of animals, such as bighorn sheep, mule deer, desert tortoise, and numerous species of birds.  This area provides outstanding opportunities for solitude and contains features of scientific, educational, scenic, and historical value.  Membership helps us realize our goals to protect desert wilderness.

Kelso Dunes – Mojave Desert Land Trust has acquired 600 acres within this unique and dynamic region of the Mojave Desert.  The Kelso Dunes are a critical part of the sand dune ecosystem within Mojave National Preserve (MNP) and provide habitat for a wide variety of creatures, including the fringe-toed lizard.  An important linkage between MNP and the Cady Mountains to the west, this section of land had been heavily subdivided and marketed by internet based speculators.  This important acquisition not only preserves a valuable ecosystem; it preserves a number of Native American cultural sites that have been identified throughout the area.  Membership helps to preserve the scenic, cultural, and biological resource values of the Mojave Desert.

Land Stewardship Program - Maintaining and restoring property are important to the mission of Mojave Desert Land Trust, and our Volunteer Land Stewards are instrumental in our ability to permanently protect the lands we acquire.  By participating in our monthly group monitoring and restoration events, Land Stewards experience the beauty of our desert national parks, while learning valuable land restoration techniques.  These techniques include applying vertical mulch to promote re-vegetation and discourage access to unauthorized roads; defining hiking trails to minimize impact on surrounding lands; and building water bars to help restore the natural flow of water that sustains plants and animals.  In 2011 MDLT’s Volunteer Land Stewards helped us to restore 1,319 acres and monitor 999 acres.  Membership helps us cover the expenses associated with caring for the lands we acquire.

Chuckwalla Designated Wildlife Management Area (DWMA) – The Chuckwalla DWMA is located approximately 30 miles east of the Salton Sea, and was designated as critical tortoise habitat for the recovery of the threatened tortoise species.  Within this area, there are thousands of privately held parcels that, if developed, will degrade the habitat available for the tortoise.  By acquiring these parcels, we are knitting back together an important wildlife area to enable better management of the lands by the BLM.  Within this DWMA, we acquired 915 acres in June 2011 and 735 acres in September 2011, with a goal to preserve more than 6,000 acres.  Membership helps us protect sensitive habitat for the threatened desert tortoise.

Painting © Diane Best