The California desert is a strange and beautiful place. Working to keep it that way is the Mojave Desert Land Trust, which recently reached a milestone of conserving 100,000 acres since its founding 15 years ago.

“Underwater and overwhelmed — our new normal?” asks the first installment of Rising to the Challenge, a six-part climate series released by the Potomac Conservancy. The summer series explores how the climate crisis impacts the Potomac River and its communities.

It’s not the “Magic Bus” memorialized by British rock band the Who — it’s a Nature Bus, launched by the accredited Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy this year to take city residents of Albany, New York, to some of the region’s most scenic outdoor destinations.

Part of the Land Trust Alliance’s immediate response to the pandemic was to help its members meet urgent and unprecedented challenges. And nearly 20 months later, that work continues.

Like many sectors, the land trust community has come a long way in understanding the implications of climate change and rallying to prepare for and help mitigate associated threats.

Rally 2021 brought together 2,665 conservationists from across the country and some international locations to connect, learn and reimagine conservation.

The Land Trust Alliance joined organizations across the country last year in affirming our commitment to addressing the systemic inequities that exist in American society.