The Mojave National Preserve is holding Joshua Tree planting events in October, to help reestablish the species which was hit hard during the Dome fire in August of 2020. That fire burned over 43,000 acres of dense Joshua Tree forest – the National park Service estimates they lost a million trees in the fire.
The Western Joshua Tree grows slowly and has poor seed dispersal – migrating only about 20 feet every 100 years. That means that the most affected parts of the Cima Dome fire won’t see Joshua Tree return there naturally – at least not in any of our lifetimes.
The Mojave National Preserve is taking steps to ensure there are trees and a seed source in those badly burned areas by planting Joshua Trees, and they are looking for volunteers to help. Every weekend in October volunteers are encouraged to participate –
Participants must be able comfortable and experienced with desert hiking with the ability to hike 3-5 miles and carry up to 30 lbs.
You also must have the ability to navigate and collect data by GPS and can be self-sufficient while camping.
The Mojave National Preserve’s website has lots of information on the volunteer weekends, including access to the Cima Dome as many roads are still closed in the Preserve from cleanup efforts from Tropical Storm Hilary and the York fire which burned over 93 thousand acres earlier this year.
Learn more about volunteering this month at the Mojave National Preserve’s website.
