Staff Sgt. Rose Reed could have used a few more hands to carry all of the school supplies she picked up at the annual Back to School Bash here Friday, Aug. 10, 2018. The busy mom of four children, including a new high school freshman and two elementary school students, was among the more than 1,000 people who flocked to Victory Field on the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, California, for the event hosted by Marine Corps Community Services and the Combat Center School Liaison.

Mojave Desert Land Trust has acquired 80 acres of privately held land inside Joshua Tree National Park that it intends to transfer to the national park. The parcel, which sits at an elevation of about 3,600 feet, has panoramic views and is covered with creosote, cacti, saltbush, and ephedra. It is about one mile from Pinkham Canyon Road near the southern boundary of the park. To date, Mojave Desert Land Trust has acquired 115 parcels of land totaling nearly 7,800 acres; about 75 percent of those parcels have been conveyed to Joshua Tree National Park. There are still 192 privately-owned parcels within Joshua Tree National Park.

Out on the Mojave Desert Land Trust's Section 33, a 624-acre parcel of desert apportioned by railroad checkerboarding in the 1850s, the trash is everywhere. in every line of sight. Styrofoam, plastic bags, candy wrappers—some of it thrown from the highway, some blown in from the nearby middle school ("It's amazing how much trash they make up there," marveled Adam Henne, a volunteer coordinator with MDLT).

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.

Scroll through photos tagged in Joshua Tree National Park, and the Milky Way inevitably flashes across the screen. Night sky photography is a popular attraction in this boulder-laden landscape. But in addition to the iconic rock formations, some photographers are heading out to capture the stars reflected in various bodies of water throughout the park. What they may not know – or choose to disregard – is that a lot of these places are sensitive and thereby protected as day-use only.

In This Issue: Crescent Peak Wind Project, Military Base Expansion In The Desert West, Unintended Consequences – Impacts Of Military Base Expansions On Wildlife, New Science In An Old Dispute – Cadiz Project Threatens A Major Mohave Spring, Dust Control At The Salton Sea, The Racetrack – A Place Where The Magic Is Threatened, and more.