What is the intersection between off-highway vehicle recreation and desert conservation? Join us for an educational night to learn more about enjoying responsible OHV use and how you can help protect habitat for the threatened desert tortoise. We will hear from Randy Banis, President of Friends of Jawbone, and Yanina Aldao Galvan, MDLT Lands Project Coordinator, about designated OHV routes in the California desert and how to connect with the outdoors while also supporting the desert ecosystem.

This event is free, but pre-registration is required. Please RSVP here.

About the speakers:

Randy Banis is the president of Friends of Jawbone and Friends of El Mirage, two nonprofit organizations that partner with the Bureau of Land Management, the State of California, and numerous stakeholders to help manage off-highway vehicle recreation on public lands. He is also a long-time member of the BLM's Desert District Advisory Council and currently the chairperson of its Mojave Trails National Monument Advisory Committee. Banis is the owner of Mojave Gold, a 26-year-old digital services and communications firm. He resides in Leona Valley, California, and most enjoys exploring the hard-to-reach corners of the Mojave Desert.

Yanina Aldao Galvan has been an outdoor educator since 2008 and a land steward since childhood. Originally from Argentina where she studied agricultural sciences, Yani is now a naturalized American. She has worked for Joshua Tree National Park, UCR Botanic Gardens, and serves as a council member for the Joshua Tree National Park Association. She is currently in her senior year of evolutionary ecology at the University of California Riverside, where she is conducting research on the post-fire recovery of biological soil crust.