2008 Minerva Hoyt California Desert Conservation Award
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Superintendent Mark Jorgensen is the recipient of the 2008 Minerva Hoyt California Desert Conservation Award for his more than 34 years work to further the conservation and protection of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and the surrounding Colorado Desert region of Southern California. Huell Howser will present the award on Thursday, October 23, 2008 at the Performing Arts Center in Borrego Springs, 4 pm to 5 pm.Joshua Tree National Park Association is pleased to recognize the accomplishments of Superintendent Jorgensen with this award. Throughout his 34-year affiliation with Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (ABDSP), Mark has worked tirelessly to educate the public on conservation, desert natural history and ABDSP’s role in the protection and preservation of biodiversity within the California deserts region. Today, 400,000 of the more than 600,000 acres of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park are preserved for posterity in their pristine natural state as State Wilderness lands due, in large part, to his work in drafting, and shepherding these proposals. He also obtained recognition for ABDSP’s unique resources through inclusion of the Park in the United Nations’ International Biosphere Reserve Program. Additionally, Superintendent Jorgensen has worked to remove or eradicate invasive species from the region, to promote the conservation and protection of endangered bighorn sheep and numerous state- and federally-listed endangered species.
The Minerva Hoyt California Desert Conservation Award was created in 2004 to honor Minerva Hoyt and others who have made notable achievements in the areas of leadership, protection, preservation, research, education, and/or stewardship on behalf of California deserts. Known as the “Apostle of the Cacti,” Mrs. Hoyt dedicated herself to preserving the desert and lobbied Congress and President Franklin D. Roosevelt who established Joshua Tree National Monument in 1936.
Minerva Hoyt would indeed be proud of Superintendent Jorgensen’s efforts and achievements on behalf of the California desert that she loved so much. Previous recipients have been John Wohlmuth and the Coachella Valley Association of Governments, The Wildlands Conservancy and David Myers, Donna and Larry Charpied, and Susan Luckie Reilly.
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