Southern California deserts need protection, Congress says as it crafts legislation for off-roading, wilderness land
Under the proposed bills, Joshua Tree National Park would gain 4,518 acres, plus the privately established Joshua Tree Visitor Center. Death Valley National Park would grow by 35,292 acres, including 1,600 acres donated by the Mojave Desert Land Trust.
Here's why you shouldn’t damage Joshua trees (if it's not already obvious)
“It’s heartbreaking to see these remarkable plants cut down,” Mojave Desert Land Trust Director of Plant Conservation Programs Madena Asbell said in an email. “Knowing that a tree is alive and it is so much older than any one of us, and that with one simple, thoughtless act it can be destroyed, is hard to see. This is our natural heritage, and it belongs to all of us."