Tuesday, over 50 corporate citizenship leaders from Fortune 1000 companies joined the Mojave Desert Land Trust (MDLT) for a stewardship event organized by Benevity. The desert cleanup took place on an MDLT property, a wilderness corridor located within the Sand to Snow National Monument.

Tuesday, over 50 corporate citizenship leaders from Fortune 1000 companies joined the Mojave Desert Land Trust (MDLT) for a stewardship event organized by Benevity. The desert cleanup took place on an MDLT property, a wilderness corridor located within the Sand to Snow National Monument.

Over 50 corporate citizenship leaders from Fortune 1000 companies joined the Mojave Desert Land Trust (MDLT) for a stewardship event organized by Benevity. The desert clean-up took place on an MDLT property, a wilderness corridor located within the Sand to Snow National Monument.

Mojave Desert Land Trust, The Wildlands Conservancy, Friends of Big Morongo Canyon Preserve and others will sponsor celebrations from February through April. The desert monuments permanently protect some of the most spectacular wild lands and critical plant and animal habitat in the country, including Joshua Tree National Park, Death Valley National Park and the Mojave Preserve.

Let's face it: Joshua Tree National Park has been discovered. More than 2.5 million people visited Joshua Tree in 2016, an all-time record, and the Park and its surrounding communities are feeling the strain. Nearby towns do benefit economically from high numbers of visitors, but there are also negative effects ranging from unavailable local housing (as houses get bought up by prospective AirBNB operators) to delays in emergency services to houses near the Park; those hour-long lines to get through the gate can mean an ambulance, or even just the emergency plumber, won't get to your place anytime soon.

The Mojave Desert Land Trust, in partnership with local chambers of commerce from the California Desert, has released a marketing toolkit to help local businesses and governments get the most out of tourism opportunities created by the new California Desert national monuments. President Barack Obama designated the Mojave Trails, Sand to Snow and Castle Mountains national monuments, in early 2016, permanently protecting these public lands.