Here in southern California, in the middle of the Mojave Desert’s vast and arid landscape, it’s just one of many natural treasures hidden from view. In long sleeves, pants, and wide-brimmed hats to guard against a harsh sun in a cloudless blue sky, a team of four led by Madena Asbell crouches in the dirt, looking for another treasure. See the Mojave Desert Seed Bank as featured on CNN.

Using its multifaceted conservation approach, MDLT permanently protected 6,385 acres of ecologically significant habitat, cleared several tons of trash, made 52 new seed collections, grew over 15,000 native plants for a Salton Sea restoration project, and delivered educational programs to nearly 1,000 young people. Our 2023 Annual Report takes a closer look at several programs that will define MDLT’s work in the decade ahead. Read more here.

MDLT Executive Director Kelly Herbinson and podcast producer and volunteer Odelia Rubin discuss the concrete steps being taken to protect the western Joshua tree and the Endangered Mojave Desert tortoise in the years ahead and how the Mojave Desert Seed Bank will make a difference against biodiversity loss. Bonus topics include Kelly's life-changing encounter with a desert tortoise, the fascinating societies of harvester ants and other species of the Hymenoptera family, and why MDLT's annual native plant sale always feels like Black Friday. Listen or read the transcript here.

Joshua Tree - A $3.19 million expansion of the Mojave Desert Seed Bank in support of California's 30x30 initiative is poised to help conservationists tackle the urgent need for native seed to conserve the California deserts' unique biodiversity. The California Wildlife Conservation Board grant was approved on May 25. Read more.

Humans have paid homage to tortoises and turtles as far back as we have recorded history. Many cultures have held beliefs that the world rests on a turtle’s back. If you’ve seen a desert tortoise, you can see why. We often speak of them as ambassadors, icons, or keystone species, but none of those terms capture the degree to which tortoises resemble wizards. Read more.

In the driest desert in North America, seeps and springs percolate in the nooks and crannies where mountain ranges meet. The Mojave Desert Land Trust stewards and protects several springs that have served as vital watering holes and homelands for animals and humans alike. Explore the rich biodiversity and see which threatened species are found in this special habitat in our new storymap.

In the Mojave Desert, seeds from parish goldeneye and brittlebush are scooped up by staff and volunteers working to build out seed banks in the hope these can be used in restoration projects as climate change pressures desert landscapes. Already this summer, the York Fire burned across the Mojave National Preserve, charring thousands of acres in the fragile ecosystem including famed Joshua trees. Read more.

Around 10% of the state’s carbon is sequestered underground in the desert’s plants and soil. But that carbon storage capacity is under threat from an unlikely source: large-scale renewable energy projects. Some facilities are poorly sited in pristine functioning ecosystems. So, how do we quickly build up sufficient renewable energy while also conserving the land that acts as a natural carbon sink? Let's take a look.

A new film shows how hundreds of local schoolchildren had the opportunity to learn first-hand about the Mojave Desert Seed Bank and native plants through the Desert Discovery Field Studies (DDFS) program this year. This film was made possible thanks to support from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians. Watch the video to learn more about MDLT's educational programs.

Native to northern Mexico and the southwestern United States, the desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) once roamed all over the vast Mojave and Sonoran deserts, marking the landscape with their distinctive dark brown and greenish-tan shells. Unfortunately for the species' long-term survival, human beings have been destroying their habitat in a number of ways, from paving new roads and operating military bases to constructing utility plants and grazing livestock. Read more on Salon.com.

Learn how participants of the WISDOM program monitor and protect the night sky in a new video featured in the California Academy of Sciences' new permanent exhibition, California: State of Nature. Watch the video and other featured videos on their Dynamic Desert YouTube playlist.

Species rely on each other, with everything from moths to owls to woodrats dependent on Joshua trees for survival. Thousands of species also share the same Mojave Desert habitat as Western Joshua trees. And Joshua tree woodlands lock away carbon, keeping it from getting into our atmosphere. So by protecting Joshua trees and their habitat, Herbinson said, “We’re also protecting that tightly knit web of an ecosystem at the same time.” And, she notes: “We are part of that ecosystem. We rely on that ecosystem functioning.” Read more here.

I remember driving from the coast to Arizona as a kid and winding through the Joshua tree forests bisected by Interstate 15. My sister and I sat quietly taking them in from our respective backseat windows, surprised by the desert holding something so immense—like they had consequence. Read more here.