By Ella Richie DeMaria, MDLT Social Media & Outreach Coordinator We get by with a little help from our friends — AmeriCorps, that is. Twice in 2023, AmeriCorps National Civilian Conservation Corps (NCCC teams) assisted the Mojave Desert Land Trust with crucial habitat restoration and construction projects for our plant…

By Mary Cook-Rhyne, MDLT Education Manager New data collected by interns offers rare insights into the summer bird populations at two oases in the Mojave Desert. Interns with the Women In Science Discovering Our Mojave program visited Arrowweed and Bonanza springs over a six-month period to study birds and bumble…

By Karina Murillo, WISDOM intern Bonanza Spring is the largest freshwater spring in the southeastern Mojave Desert. From its 2,105 feet elevation in the low foothills of the Clipper Mountains, the spring’s freshwater is derived from a groundwater basin source. Women In Science Discovering Our Mojave interns studied avian and…

By Ella Richie DeMaria Not all who wander are lost. In our third blog post honoring Mental Health Awareness Month, we speak with Travis Puglisi, owner and operator of Wandering Mojave Hiking Services. A resident of the desert for over 20 years, Travis launched Wandering Mojave Hiking Services after extensive…

To celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month, we spoke with high desert therapist Melissa Grisi. A licensed social worker for twenty years, Melissa integrates a range of psychotherapeutic methods into practice, including connecting with nature. Melissa talked about the importance of getting outdoors and cultivating a relationship with nature for one’s mental health. — By Ella Richie DeMaria, MDLT Social Media and Outreach Coordinator

By Ella Richie DeMaria, Social Media and Outreach Coordinator Connecting to the outdoors can have a profoundly positive, lifelong effect on wellbeing, individually and communally. One way MDLT fosters this dynamic is through educational events. MDLT continually conducts field trips, hikes, and lectures for K-12 students of the Morongo Basin…

Women In Science Discovering Our Mojave (WISDOM) interns Evette Palacios, Sara Poulain, and Sandra Zepeda spent six months observing birds and bumble bees at Arrowweed Spring in California. It was an experience that would connect them to this special habitat. — By Evette Palacios, Sara Poulain, and Sandra Zepeda, WISDOM interns Once a month for the past six months, we would meet at 6am in the Mojave Desert town of Joshua Tree to do research for the WISDOM internship. We would gather our gear, hop into a 4WD truck, and head…

An intimate look at a fascinating native plant. — Most people know how important milkweed is to monarch butterflies — their caterpillars must feed on milkweed in order to develop into adult butterflies, and the plants impart natural toxins that protect both caterpillar and butterfly from predators. …

In March, the Heritage Fire breached Palisades Ranch, burning 34 acres of this special wildlife haven. We now know that at least 300 mature trees burned in the fire and 10% of the riparian habitat was affected. This 1,647-acre property spans 3.7 miles of the Mojave River and has 440…