For Immediate Release
March 16, 2016
Contact: Shauna Tucker,  Mojave Desert Land Trust
Phone: 760.366.5440
Email: Shauna@mojavedesertlandtrust.org

Joshua Tree, CA— Mojave Desert Land Trust (MDLT) has kicked-off the spring season with a new Brown Bag Lunch Lecture Series. The free, public series features guest speakers who work to protect the California Desert. The public is invited to bring a lunch and enjoy networking with informative and lively conversations about desert conservation, land stewardship, wildlife, and more. To add to a robust community calendar, the lectures will float from month to month through May and pick up again in the fall.

At the first meeting of the Brown Bag Lunch Lecture Series on Thursday, February 18th, Monica L. Mahoney, MDLT's new Director of Programs and Community Initiatives, introduced herself, her art and her vision for the future. Mahoney’s artistic beginnings in San Bernardino County and her work in the arts, ecology and landscape architecture give her a unique perspective of the desert. Mahoney gave a slide presentation on how she utilizes art as a creative catalyst for understanding and celebrating arid ecosystems and outlined the programs she is developing at the land trust to reach diverse audiences.

On Saturday, March 26th from Noon to 1:30 pm, the Brown Bag series continues with the second presentation by Madena Asbell, MDLT’s Native Plant Nursery Manager. Asbell will discuss her horticultural experience and the MDLT nursery's role in desert conservation and the community. She will share plans for the new nursery and give a walking tour of the nursery grounds following the lunch presentation.  Asbell is the former Director of Horticulture at the Theodore Payne Foundation in Sun Valley, CA where she oversaw the Nursery, Seed Program and Demonstration Gardens. She has worked with California native plants in southern California for the past 15 years, including nursery management and landscape design, and she has taught classes and conducted workshops on native plant propagation, garden maintenance, habitat gardening, and native pollinators. Her interests include native plant conservation and plant-animal relationships, with a particular fondness for the flora of the Mojave Desert and Eastern Sierra. She earned an MFA in photography from CalArts in 1998.

The community is encouraged join us on March 26th and to save the date for Wednesday, April 20th, for the third presentation in the series – a meet and greet with Greg Hill. With over 30 years of experience with the Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service, and former Wilderness Coordinator for the BLM California Desert District's 72 Wilderness Areas, Hill has a wealth of knowledge about America’s treasured public lands. He will give a presentation called "America's Greatest Gift: A History of America's Public Lands."Come discover how over 200 years of public lands history, policy, and management have evolved and shaped the desert landscapes that surround the Morongo Basin.

Brown Bag Lunch Series Calendar:
Saturday, March 26 from Noon to 1:30 pm join Madena Asbell, Native Plant Nursery Manager for a discussion about the new native plant nursery operations followed by a walking tour of the nursery. 
Wednesday, April 20 from Noon to 1:00 pm Join Greg Hill, former Wilderness Coordinator for the BLM California Desert District's 72 Wilderness Areas for a talk called "America's Greatest Gift: A History of America's Public Lands."

Stay tuned for the May date and speaker to be announced!

Location: MDLT Headquarters • 60124 29 Palms Hwy • Joshua Tree, CA  92252

Free and open to the public. Bring your lunch and relax in MDLT’s inviting conference room. Beverages will be provided.

To reserve seating at the Brown Bag Lunch Lecture series RSVP Dawn Frazier: Dawn@mojavedesertlandtrust.org  or call 760-366-5440

For more information on events and programs go to the MDLT website: www.mojavedesertlandtrust.org

Mojave Desert Land Trust is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to protect the Mojave Desert ecosystem and its scenic and cultural resource values through acquisition, land stewardship and strategic partnerships. Since 2006 the organization has protected over 57,000 acres of desert land.