Purchase will expand Joshua Tree National Park

[TexasTowelie]

A 640-acre parcel that is slated to, over time, become part of Joshua Tree National Park includes high ground with a view of both Yucca and Coachella valleys and the distant San Gorgonio Wilderness Area peaks, according to the Mojave Desert Land Trust, which recently purchased the land.

“Connecting people to outdoor opportunities and protecting wildlife corridors are two of the primary goals of the Mojave Desert Land Trust,” Danielle Segura, executive director of the group, said in a statement.

The landowner had originally planned to turn the property into a housing development, said Frazier Haney, conservation director for the Mojave Desert Land Trust.

But after five years of negotiations, the land trust purchased the property near Yucca Valley for about $900,000, he said.

Read more: http://www.pe.com/articles/land-821779-desert-trust.html

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

1. Good to hear

We look out our kitchen window at JTNP about 10 miles away, and there's always a concern about development up to its borders. About a decade ago they wanted to build a landfill on the eastern edge of the park, with trains -- many trains -- carrying L.A.'s trash to the desert.

[HassleCat]

2. Yucca Valley is incredible.

Thirty five years ago, I did some climbing in Joshua Tree National Monument, before it was a national park. I went back last year, and the development in Yucca Valley is staggering. The park is about the same, but the drought is making it look kind of sad. Several places that used to be wide open now have limited access due to heavy use. Forty Nine Palms Oasis, for example, looks heavily damaged compared to the early 1980s.