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UNIQUE PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP BRINGS OVER 15,000 ACRES TO JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK

The National Park Service says a unique public-private partnership has led to the permanent preservation of over 15,000 acres of private in-holdings across Joshua Tree National Park, Death Valley andĀ Mojave National Preserve. The parks and preserve were established under the California Desert Protection Act of 1994, but land acquisition didn’t always arrive when landowners wanted to sell or when critical habitat was threatened.Ā Enter Joshua Treeā€™s Mojave Desert Land TrustĀ (MDLT). Founded in 2005, their mission is to acquire critical habitat for permanent preservation in the Mojave Desert. By securing private funds, eight years and 234 transactions later, MDLT has transferred over 15,000 acres to NPS, and more is on the way. MDLT currently holds over 10,000 acres and plans to convey all of them to the National Park Service over time.Ā In 2011, the Secretary of the Interior called for a proposal to identify critical interagency land acquisition needs in the Mojave Desert, using the Land and Water Conservation FundĀ (LWCF) as the funding vehicle.Ā In fiscal year 2014, Congress appropriated of $2.3 millionĀ to acquire land at Joshua Tree and Mojave. Most of the land identified for acquisition is owned by MDLT. The National Park Service is working to purchase over 100 tracts from MDLT at market value.Ā Since August, the acquisition of 11 tracts was finalized, containing approximately 200 acres within Mojave National Preserve.Ā All proceeds from the sale of MDLT’s lands to NPS will be used by MDLT to purchase moreĀ in-holdings from willing sellers in the three desert parks.

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