Eblast: April 7, 2025

- Appeal of LoveMore Ranch Hearing Set
- Attend California Desert Coalition Meeting on changes to NEPA
- Desert Wise Living Landscape Tour April 27, 2025
Announcing Desert-Wise Landscape Tour 2025
Date of Event: Sunday, April 27, 2025
MORONGO BASIN CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION 2025 DESERT-WISE LANDSCAPE TOUR
Morongo Basin, CA – March 25, 2025
The annual Desert-Wise Landscape Tour offered by the Morongo Basin Conservation Association is scheduled for Sunday, April 27, between 9:00 AM and 4:00 PM. The public is invited to visit five creatively landscaped home sites and two public gardens located across the Morongo Basin. A new element of the Tour this year is the Coyote Hole Experience, a separately-ticketed opportunity to walk through the natural and cultural features of Joshua Tree’s Coyote Hole, led by experts from the Native American Land Conservancy and the California Native Plant Society.
Each Tour site provides a unique perspective on desert-wise landscaping that is both creative and water-conscious. Native and drought-tolerant plants are emphasized along with architectural and artistic features.
Among the sites are a newly-built home in Yucca Valley with a carefully developed native landscape where the homeowner will share her home and landscape design process. In downtown Joshua Tree an artist’s “work-in-progress” garden demonstrates creative use of a small space. A long-time family property in Twentynine Palms showcases both large mature plantings and newer expanded areas created from local native plant sales. The outdoor venue Wind Walkers Medicine Wheel in Joshua Tree has been lovingly expanded over a number of years by the owner, and provides meditative features and extensive native plant arrays. A minimalist modern house designed to make the most of naturally-occurring desert plants rounds out the five home sites.
Self-guided and docent-guided tours will also occur throughout the day at the Mojave Desert Discovery Garden at the Mojave Desert Land Trust and at the Demonstration Garden at the Joshua Basin Water District. A special chance to view a “world premiere” video of a unique site in Morongo Valley and also to “Meet MBCA’s Filmmaker” will be held at MDLT at 2:30 PM. Cole Gibson has been working with MBCA creating both tour site and “How-To” videos for five years. Detailed information and directions to all sites will be provided upon registration.
Advance online registration for the Tour is available at the organization’s website, MBConservation.org. Registration for MBCA members is $15, while non-members are $20 each, with options to purchase membership and registration together.
A digital Tour Guide with descriptions and directions will be provided to online registrants, with printed copies available on the day of the Tour. Late registration on the Tour Day will be available at Mojave Desert Land Trust between 9 AM and Noon only.
Tickets for the Coyote Hole Experience can be separately purchased on the MBCA website for $35 per person. Only 20 spaces are available so early registration is suggested. The proceeds will fund ongoing restoration efforts at Coyote Hole.
The Desert-Wise Landscape Tour is supported by water agencies of the Morongo Basin: Bighorn-Desert View Water Agency, Golden State Water Company, Hi-Desert Water District, Joshua Basin Water District, Twentynine Palms Water District, and the Mojave Water Agency.
Morongo Basin Conservation Association Board of Directors
Steve Bardwell, President
Stacy Doolittle, Vice President
Laraine Turk, Secretary
Bob Wold, Treasurer
David Fick, Director
Pat Flanagan, Director
Brian Hammer, Director
Janet Johnston, Director
Sarah Kennington, Director
Arch McCulloch, Director
Eblast: March 04, 2025

- Video and PowerPoint slides from 56 th Annual Meeting available!
- MBCA joins in appeal of approval of Lovemore Ranch
- Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act Workshop March 10, 2025
- Attend California Desert Coalition Meeting on changes to NEPA
- Desert Wise Living Landscape Tour April 27, 2025
MBCA Comments on Proposed Changes to Wind Turbine Specifications
MBCA Joins National Parks Conservation Association Requesting Reversal of Workforce Reductions
MBCA Appeals Planning Commission Approval of Lovemore Ranch
Below are links to the multiple exhibits and descriptions of circumstances relevant to the appeal. MBCA will publish updates on the appeal as they occur.
1-INDEX of documents
2-Appeal cover letter FINAL - 2
3-Appeal Part One Illegitimate Public Review Process - FINAL
Energy Distribution and Conservation Topics Highlight MBCA's Annual Meeting

MBCA Board member Allan Songer presented an overview of emergency battery power options, and provided a handout of some available products.
Steve Blackledge, Director of Conservation Campaigns for Environment America, focused on wildlife conservation issues in his presentation. Geary Hund, Board member of Mojave Desert Land Trust, augmented the presentation with news of progress toward the possibility of wildlife crossings on Highway 62.

For a more complete overview of the presentations at the annual meeting, here is a report (with photos) in the Morongo Basin's non-profit publication The Desert Trumpet and as reported on local radio station Z107.7.
And, a recording of all presentations and Q&A sessions is available on MBCA's YouTube channel.
