A sloping piece of the Mojave Desert that rises into rugged hills next to Joshua Tree National Park was bought more than a decade ago by a company that planned to turn it into a subdivision. Instead, the 640-acre property will become a protected area for hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians, and for wildlife from bighorn sheep to mountain lions.

Jaqueline Guevara director of education and public engagement at the Mojave Desert Land Trust, presents a check to Phil Crouch of the Needles District Business Alliance and Pam Blake of the Needles Chamber of Commerce for helping to distribute the Mojave Monuments tool kits to tourists.

Mojave Desert Land Trust Conservation Director Frazier Haney told the Daily Press that HCPs are common statewide, but said the the town’s plan is the first of its kind in the High Desert. “The HCP is a federal structure,” Haney said. “The planning process itself is allowed by the Endangered Species Act, and the town has an opportunity to do something that’s very forward thinking. It could be a good thing.”

Two Joshua Tree-based charities raised enough money to land in the top 10 nonprofits during Give Big San Bernardino County, a fundraising campaign held Tuesday. The Morongo Basin Humane Society raised the third most money of any nonprofit in San Bernardino County, taking in $12,550, while the Mojave Desert Land Trust raised $6,585, making it ninth in the county.

When I arrive at Sarah Witt’s Pioneertown home, she’s already ground wild California buckwheat from her property into a fine flour. The powder will be used to coat an egg roll-like mixture of sweet potato, carrots and cannellini beans – which will then be crisped up in a skillet of hot oil. It's a recipe she first cooked for her monthly dinner potluck, High Desert Test Kitchen, in which participants prepare dishes made with ingredients found in the desert.

Tips for tapping into a flood of international tourists coming to visit newly-designated national monuments in order to vitalize Southern California’s desiccated economy were shared by some of the folks credited with promoting their creation in the Needles Chamber of Commerce quarterly general membership meeting. Held Nov. 17 in the Wagon Wheel Restaurant, the headline presenters were Danielle Segura, executive director; and Frazier Haney, conservation director for the Mojave Desert Land Trust.