I’m a student who has lived in the Coachella Valley for my whole life, but only recently had the opportunity to visit and explore one of the Mojave Desert’s most beautiful yet little known places known as the Chuckwalla Bench. Chuckwalla Bench is part of the California Desert National Conservation Lands — public lands that are scattered throughout the southeastern corner of California.

Recent articles in this newspaper have spoken about Rock Springs Ranch, located in the Juniper Flats area south of Apple Valley.The highlight of the stories was the acquisition of the ranch by the Mojave Desert Land Trust, which intends to preserve its natural resources and introduce public access and educational opportunities.This was a great accomplishment for local conservation. During the past several years, I developed interest in the history of Rock Springs Ranch and surrounding areas within Juniper Flats, a wonderful nearby area to hike and explore.

The iconic Joshua Tree has been around for two million years but its future is uncertain with scientists warning that it could disappear by the end of the century.

Since the study inception, we have added several macroplots beyond the park boundary, of which one was used for this study, a site on land owned by Mojave Desert Land Trust (MDLT) 5 km north of the park, which contains transition zone vegetation and is similar in climate to the West Entrance macro-plot. Here, we focus on the subset of 14 macro-plots containing Joshua trees.

Other scientists funded by the nonprofit Mojave Desert Land Trust used molecular isotopes and temperature readings to conclude that, contrary to what the Cadiz geologist claimed, the spring is fed by an aquifer connected to wellfield water that would be used by the company.