For Immediate Release – May 11, 2016 Media Contact: Shauna Tucker [email protected]

JOSHUA TREE, CA – Mojave Desert Land Trust (MDLT) is pleased to announce it has successfully completed acquiring the final 100 acres of privately held land located inside the Whipple Mountains Wilderness, one of the most stunning wilderness areas in the California Desert.

Rising from the Colorado River, sharp brick red and deep brown peaks are dotted with saguaro and foxtail cacti and surrounded by washes filled with palo verde, ironwood and smoke trees. Bighorn sheep wander the steep cliffs that are also home to prairie falcons and golden eagles.

This land will be transferred to the American public, and managed by the Bureau of Land Management, as part of the Wilderness area. “Completing the picture in a Wilderness like Whipple Mountains highlights MDLT’s partnership with the BLM to protect special places across the California Desert,” says MDLT’s Executive Director, Danielle Segura. “As a result of our ongoing work and partnerships, we continue to protect habitat alongside public access, and secure ecological, scenic and cultural resource values across one of the most intact landscapes in the Unites States.”

Public access opportunities in the area include camping, hiking and vehicle access up to the Wilderness boundary. More information can be found on the Bureau of Land Management’s Whipple Mountains Wilderness page: http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/needles/wilderness/whipple_mountains.html.

This strategic acquisition was made possible through generous foundation and donor gifts, including support from the Resources Legacy Fund’s Wildlands Acquisition Program and the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Mojave Desert Land Trust is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to protect the Mojave Desert ecosystem and its scenic and cultural resource values through acquisition, land stewardship and strategic partnerships. Since 2006 we have protected over 58,000 acres of desert land.