Wade Crowfoot named 2026 Minerva Hoyt Award winner
The Joshua Tree National Park Association named this year’s Minerva Hoyt Award recipient as Wade Crowfoot, the State of California’s Secretary of Natural Resources.
The JTNPA gives the Minerva Hoyt California Desert Conservation Award every year to individuals or organizations who have made exceptional achievements in leadership, protection, preservation, research, education, and stewardship in ways that contribute specifically to the conservation of California’s deserts.
The JTNPA says that Secretary Crowfoot’s stewardship of the California Natural Resources Agency has elevated desert conservation as a statewide priority while successfully balancing climate resilience, biodiversity protection, renewable energy planning, cultural preservation, public access, and national defense partnerships. They cite one of his most consequential achievements is California’s leadership role in establishing the Mojave Desert Sentinel Landscape in 2024, a landmark 3.5-million-acre collaborative conservation initiative spanning the western Mojave Desert. The JTNPA also cites his involvement in the establishment of the Chuckwalla National Monument north of the Coachella Valley and adjacent to Joshua Tree National Park.
The Joshua Tree National Park Association will present Wade Crowfoot with the Minerva Hoyt Award in person at a ceremony later this year.
