MDLT and Americorps “Free the Trees” at Newly Acquired Bobcat Valley Property

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 14, 2017
Contact: Jacqueline Guevara, Director of Education & Public Engagement, Mojave Desert Land Trust
Phone: 760-366-5440 x 226
jacqueline@mdlt.org

Mojave Desert Land Trust and Americorps “Free the Trees” at Newly Acquired Bobcat Valley Property

Joshua Tree, CA – This morning, the Mojave Desert Land Trust (MDLT) conducted a “Free the Trees” ceremony to celebrate the acquisition of the newly designated Bobcat Valley in Joshua Tree.

Bobcat Valley comprises five land parcels totaling fifty acres and serves as a crucial wildlife linkage corridor for bobcats. The property also houses rich Joshua Tree forests and desert tortoise habitats. Prior to MDLT’s acquisition, this abundant desert land was slated for razing and development.

When the property was purchased, all the Joshua Trees onsite were tied with ribbons to mark them for removal. To celebrate the Mojave Desert Land Trust’s acquisition and protection of Bobcat Valley, the Mojave Desert Land Trust and their team of Americorps volunteers cut the ribbons to “free the trees.”

When community members in the residential neighborhood adjacent to Bobcat Valley learned that this precious property was scheduled for demolition, they reached out to MDLT to find a way to save the land. After three years of effort, MDLT and its community partners celebrated the property’s protection.

“The Bobcat Valley project shows how local community values often overlap with environmental good,” said Frazier Haney, Conservation Director at MDLT.

“We cherish our relationship with the local lands and the people who live on them.”The acquisition and the ceremony represent the continued success of MDLT to acquire property to protect the wildlife corridors in Joshua Tree, where the organization’s headquarters are located. MDLT has been working in the wildlife corridor the crosses Highway 62 since 2009. They launched their Protect 62 campaign last Fall to raise funds to protect more of the lands in Joshua Tree as a gateway to the park experience and to preserve the valuable local ecological resources outside of the national park.

The Mojave Desert Land Trust (MDLT) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with the mission to protect and care for lands with natural, scenic, and cultural value within the Mojave Desert. For more information, visit www.mdlt.org