PRESERVATION: JOSHUA TREE GENOME PROJECT
The Mystery Ranch is dotted with Joshua trees, one of the most iconic and invaluable plants of the Mojave Desert. Joshua Trees are a critical part of the Mojave ecosystem and are threatened by global warming and development. The Joshua Tree Genome Project has been mapping and monitoring Joshua Trees throughout the Mojave, including those at the Mystery Ranch, with the goal of protecting and preserving them.
restorATION
The Ecology Club at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California has been out to the Mystery Ranch to learn about the landscape and help with various preservation and restoration projects.
While there are many trails available for off-roading, enforcement is a challenge, and illegal off-roading activities frequently do serious damage to the fragile landscape.
With the help of the OCC Ecology Club and many other friends and volunteers, some of this damage has been reversed at the Mystery Ranch by planting native plants purchased from the Bureau of Land Management and taking and planting cuttings from other plants at the ranch.
rehoming joshua trees
Equinox Gold’s Castle Mountain mining operation initiated a Joshua Tree rehoming initiative in order to save Joshua trees removed by their work. The initiative includes digging up, transporting, and replanting these plants, and we’ve been happy to receive a few of these transplanted Joshua Trees at the Mystery Ranch. It’s quite an operation to move plants this size, and it’s hard not to be excited by Joshua Trees rolling through our main gate.
