JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK, DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, & MOJAVE NATIONAL PRESERVE

Land Trust Administers Grants for Inholding Acquisitions

The Mojave Desert Land Trust is acquiring private land holdings within Joshua Tree National Park, Death Valley National Park, and Mojave National Preserve. A conservation foundation is supplying funds for the acquisitions. Since receiving the initial grant in late 2006, the Land Trust has closed 136 acquisitions of land totaling over 7,100 acres. More acquisitions are currently in escrow. The acquired lands are ultimately conveyed to the National Park Service for the permanent protection of their natural and cultural assets.

The Trust is working closely with land consultant Shelton Douthit, of Shelton Douthit Consulting. They provide many years of experience in acquisition management for land trusts. The consulting team asks landowners within the parks, on behalf of the Land Trust, if they are willing to sell their parcels at fair market value. When willing sellers are identified, Douthit’s team facilitates the purchase.

These land acquisitions have several important advantages for the preservation and protection of our desert wildlands. First, the national parks are our most experienced land managers for the conservation of land. By consolidating holdings within the national parks, this conservation administration is more effectively and efficiently managed. Second, many of these inholdings are sensitive lands for cultural resources, scenic values, wildlife habitat, and wildlife corridors. Skilled preservation of these added lands helps to maintain the vital biodiversity that is needed for healthy ecosystems. It is expected that these acquisitions will become even more important as we experience the effects of climate change.

One recent acquisition of 320 acres is located in the Mojave National Preserve. This land links the pinyon-juniper highlands of the New York Mountains with the Watson Wash drainage and is an important wildlife corridor. The site also possesses habitat for plants and animals, and is the location of an historic homestead.

Acquisition of these inholdings requires ongoing skilled professional stewardship by the Land Trust. The first group of 31 enthusiastic volunteer stewards attended training at Joshua Tree National Park in October 2007. Shelton Douthit and selected staff from the Park Service conducted the classes. The volunteers acquired skills in the use of handheld GPS Global Positioning Units, monitoring of properties for cultural resource protection, and landscape, plant, and animal preservation. They also received training in recording threats to the landscape from garbage dumping, illegal intrusions, landscape alteration, and invasive plants.

The establishment of baseline climate conditions, and the measurement of changes to that condition over time, will assist in our understanding of the effects of climate change in the desert. It is nice to know that these lands are being protected forever.