Laraine Turk awarded 2024 Minerva Hoyt California Desert Conservation Award
For over twenty years, Laraine Turk has quietly worked behind the scenes to protect California’s desert. The Joshua Tree National Park Association recognized her dedication by naming Turk the recipient of the 2024 Minerva Hoyt California Desert Conservation Award.
Turk says she’s humbled to join a list of honorees she’s long admired:
“I just didn’t think by any means that I had the kind of background the previous winners had,” “I’ve really been supporting the organizations that do the work. It’s a behind-the-scenes thing. I feel like I’m representing the hundreds and hundreds of people who give their time, their money, and their passion. So making this happen is how I see my strength.”
Since moving to Joshua Tree in 2002 to work at Copper Mountain College, Turk has participated in almost every major conservation effort in the Morongo Basin. She helped defeat the Green Path North transmission project, was a vital part of the Morongo Basin Conservation Association for years, and contributed to initiatives that resulted in Joshua Tree’s Dark Sky designation and the creation of the Sand to Snow and Mojave Trails National Monuments.
Her first glimpse of the bigger conservation picture came when she learned about Larry and Donna Charpied’s decades-long fight to protect Eagle Mountain:
Turk retired in 2007, which gave her more time to dedicate to the desert she fell in love with as a young graduate student in Arizona. She says winning this award is really about community.
The Minerva Hoyt Award, named after the pioneering conservationist who helped establish Joshua Tree National Park, honors outstanding desert stewardship. Turk joins a distinguished list of winners, including Senator Dianne Feinstein and conservation leader David Lamfrom.
