The Mojave Desert Land Trust will host a rally this afternoon to show its support for California’s desert national monuments. The rally, “Monuments for All” is set for 5:30 p.m. today, Monday May 8, at the Mojave Desert Land Trust’s office in Joshua Tree (60124 Twentynine Palms Highway), and will feature live music, speakers, and a question-and-answer period.

The Mojave Desert Land Trust, whose work mainly involves buying wild lands from willing sellers for conservation purposes, has taken a lead role in advocating for protecting Mojave Trails.

Danielle Segura with the Mojave Desert Land Trust said the executive order threatens the health and well-being of the Mojave Desert and surrounding communities, and the land trust will do all it can to protect the monuments.

Frazier Haney, conservation director at Mojave Desert Land Trust, said federal officials could rewrite Obama's 2016 proclamation establishing the monument to make it easier for the groundwater project to go forward.

“This executive order directly threatens the health and well-being of the Mojave Desert and surrounding communities. Just over a year ago three new national monuments were established in the California desert, protecting the unique ecological and cultural heritage of the land, as well as giving surrounding communities an opportunity to benefit economically from increased tourism,” said Danielle Segura, Executive Director, MDLT.

Danielle Segura, executive director of the Mojave Desert Land Trust, said she worries that Southern California's Mojave Trails, Sand to Snow and Castle Mountain national monuments - all created in February 2016 - could be threatened. "And here at the Mojave Desert Land Trust, we fought hard to protect these desert lands, and we're prepared to fight against any latest attacks on them," she said. "These are public lands and they benefit our local community."