Tracking desert tortoise in the Colorado Desert
The desert tortoise population is in steep decline — in some areas, the population has decreased by 90%. Each year the Mojave Desert Land Trust heads out to areas of critical tortoise habitat looking for signs of hope for this threatened species.
Ay te Voy: Navigating a career in conservation
Corina Godoy felt she had a calling to work in conservation. Along the way, she didn’t see many people who looked like her. Undeterred and embracing her passion, she forged ahead, knowing that she would have to clear her own path.
Preserving a symbol of the desert
For the past six years MDLT has conducted two annual desert tortoise surveys on some of our lands. The surveys we conduct are meant to determine the tortoise’s presence or absence from the area over consecutive years. This helps MDLT, as well as the California Department of Fish & Wildlife, understand the conditions and health of Gopherus agassizii populations and habitat.