MOJAVE DESERT LAND TRUST
We take on the greatest challenges facing the California desert, permanently protecting land, restoring habitat, and preserving native seeds. We defend the dark night skies, water, and critical species that make up a thriving desert ecosystem. We recognize this work is only possible through collaboration with the wider community and by inspiring the next generation of desert stewards. We believe in the transformative power of this landscape, and that everyone deserves access. We're determined to maintain the California deserts as an intact and biodiverse ecosystem for generations to come.
Our mission is to protect the Colorado and Mojave Desert ecosystems and their natural, scenic, and cultural resources.
Our vision for the California desert includes dark night skies, clean air and water, broad views and vistas, and an abundance of native plants and animals.
The Mojave Desert Land Trust has cultivated a multi-faceted conservation strategy that uses land acquisition, restoration, stewardship, plant cultivation, and education to ensure the long-term preservation of the California desert. Our service area spans nearly 26 million acres - the Colorado Desert and the entire California portion of the Mojave Desert. Since our founding in 2006, MDLT has protected approximately 120,000 acres of ecologically significant land and grown over 120,000 native plants for restoration and community use.
In conversation with Executive Director Kelly Herbinson
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.
