New peer-reviewed published research calls into question the environmental science underpinning the Cadiz Inc. groundwater extraction project in the Mojave Desert.

A new report indicates that the national monument designations in San Bernardino County are attracting more visitors and stand to generate greater turnover and job opportunities. The report looks at Sand to Snow, Mojave Trails and Castle Mountains national monuments. Located next to Joshua Tree National Park and Mojave National Preserve, these national monuments help piece together federally protected public lands and offer further public access and recreational opportunities.

The Mojave Desert Land Trust has acquired 400 acres within the Mojave National Preserve. The purchase helps piece together public land within the preserve - the third largest national park unit in the lower 48 states. The acquisition of three separate parcels from a private family trust helps protect the integrity of the ecosystem, enhancing National Park Service management of natural resources. It also secures public access to public land, including sportsmen as Mojave National Preserve allows hunting.

Mojave Desert Land Trust has acquired 80 acres of pristine desert inside Joshua Tree National Park. The property helps piece together public land within the Park. At an elevation of around 3,600 feet, the land has panoramic views and has been relatively untouched. The owner’s wish was for the property to eventually become public land.

New travel guides have been launched that piece together the Mojave Desert’s national and state parks, and national monuments. The guides will help those seeking adventure, solitude and cultural experiences in the desert. With record numbers of visitors to Joshua Tree National Park resulting in long waits and full campgrounds, there is even more incentive to get out into the surrounding diverse and rich landscapes. The new Adventure Kits launched by the Mojave Desert Land Trust aim to provide visitors with all the knowledge they need in the vast terrain stretching from Death Valley to Anza Borrego State Park.

The Mojave Desert Land Trust (MDLT) has become an official fundraising friends’ group for Joshua Tree National Park. A Philanthropic Partnership Agreement was signed that enables MDLT to raise funds and/or in-kind goods and services to support greater public understanding, conservation, and enjoyment of the Park's resources and values. MDLT and the Park already have a Memorandum of Understanding focused on collaborative efforts to acquire private land within and adjacent to the Park.

Mojave Desert Land Trust issues the following statement in response to a token rebuttal by Cadiz Inc to scientific research into the impact of groundwater pumping in Mojave Trails National Monument. This research was published in the prestigious scientific journal Environmental Forensics, following rigorous scrutiny, including blind peer-review. The article, “Understanding the source of water for selected springs within Mojave Trails National Monument, California”, shows that the largest spring in the southeastern Mojave Desert would be threatened by the Cadiz Inc proposal to pump desert groundwater.

Peer-reviewed findings published in The Journal of Environmental Forensics show that the largest spring in the southeastern Mojave Desert would be threatened by the Cadiz Inc proposal to pump desert groundwater. The first comprehensive chemical analysis of spring sources in the Southeastern Mojave Desert highlights factual flaws and omissions in the environmental science behind the Cadiz Inc project.

Rich Weideman has been appointed the Interim Executive Director of the Mojave Desert Land Trust. Weideman has spent 33 years in the National Park Service (NPS), most recently as Assistant Director of Partnerships and Civic Engagement in Washington D.C. Weideman replaces Danielle Segura, who has left to take up the position of Vice President, Director of Development at the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.

After four years at the helm of the Mojave Desert Land Trust, Executive Director Danielle Segura is departing to take up a new position as the vice-president, chief development officer of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.

Corporate citizenship leaders from 40 Fortune 1000 companies have joined the Mojave Desert Land Trust in a desert stewardship event organized by Benevity. In just two hours, a 20-yard-long dumpster donated by Burrtec was filled with trash including old tires, household debris, broken glass, building waste, clothing and shell casings.

In response to Executive Order 13783, “Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth”, the Department of the Interior has launched a 45-day public comment period on conservation designations made through the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan Land Use Plan Amendment (DCREP). This EO directs federal agencies to review all actions that could “potentially burden the development or use of domestically produced energy resources.”

The Mojave Desert Land Trust has acquired a 145.32-acre property inside an area of the Mojave National Preserve that is dotted with private land. The purchase helps piece together public land within the preserve, which is the third largest national park unit in the lower 48 states. The acquisition from a private landowner helps protect the integrity of the ecosystem, reducing the number of private parcels and enhancing National Park Service management of natural resource values in the area. It also secures public access to public land, including sportsmen as Mojave National Preserve allows hunting.

MDLT has acquired a 630-acre property that will help secure a major wildlife corridor between Joshua Tree National Park and the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center. The property features pristine land with desert tortoise and pinyon-juniper habitat, while also offering public access opportunities.

The Mojave Desert Land Trust (MDLT) has acquired a property bordering Joshua Tree National Park that could provide access to hiking and climbing opportunities inside the park. The "Desert Knoll" property is in an ideal location for future public access opportunities given its location between the city of Twentynine Palms and Joshua Tree National Park’s North Entrance. Desert Knoll is a 20-acre parcel that boasts high quality desert tortoise habitat adjacent to additional habitat inside the park, as well as native jojoba, cholla cactus, and catclaw acacia populations. Vehicle access is via a single-lane dirt road off Utah Trail.

The Department of Interior has finally released its report on proposed boundary and management changes to the 27 national monuments under review since April 2017. The report outlines changes to ten of the monuments. The remainder, including Mojave Trails, remain under review. Castle Mountains National Monument, not included in the original list, was later recommended for review by Interior Secretary Zinke.

The Mojave Desert Land Trust (MDLT) is working to acquire a property in south Joshua Tree on the border of the national park. Because of the geological and botanical properties of the area, MDLT has named the property “Juniper Canyon.” Juniper Canyon features 630 acres of pristine desert lands abundant with desert tortoise and pinyon-juniper habitat near the remote Covington Flats entrance to Joshua Tree National Park.

The Mojave Desert Seed Bank has come a long way since the first fishhook cactus seeds were collected from one of MDLT’s protected properties 18 months ago. Now with over 320 collections, the seed bank has launched a membership program. Founding members, including outdoor champions Patagonia and renowned naturalist Robin Kobaly, were honored on Sunday.

The Mojave Desert Land Trust has issued a statement in support of the landmark bicameral Environmental Justice Act of 2017, introduced by U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and U.S. Rep. Raul Ruiz, M.D. (D-CA) on October 23, 2017. This bill enables those most disproportionately at risk to bring lawsuits directly against an entity or agency based on the Civil Rights Act, places a greater requirement on polluters to consider the ambient and cumulative impacts on air quality, and obliges agencies to report to Congress on certain metrics related to regulated pollutants.