Although small in stature, only about 20 acres, Rabbit Brush Trail in Desert Hot Springs provides an important buffer zone to already preserved lands owned by the Coachella Valley Conservation Commission to the west.
Rabbit Brush Trail has intact desert vegetation and has never been graded. This means that some of the cryptocrusts that may occur on the property could be 300 to 5,000 years old and that the vegetation on the property has been providing desert wildlife with food, cover and habitat. This little property provides habitat to our desert species like cottontail rabbits, jackrabbits, coyotes, songbirds and of course lizards and snakes. Although not open to the public as it is such an important buffer zone, we foresee being able to capture wildlife activity with cameras and other wildlife monitoring practices. Conservation Ranger Scott has already been on the property to perform a site inspection and to confirm the importance of preserving this property. We know he will continue to monitor to ensure the protection of the land and the safety of the wildlife.
How OLT came to own the property is through a straightforward land donation. This was a very easy process that was completed within three weeks to provide the donor a tax deduction at the end of 2024. Oswit Land Trust is always happy to have community members reach out about donating land to us! It is by far the easiest method of acquiring land. Perhaps you or landowners you know would like to donate a property to OLT. If so, please reach out to our Land Acquisition Director, Bettina at Bettina@OswitLandTrust.org to learn about this convenient and easy process.
We are not set on this property’s name quite yet, there is a naming opportunity here! Please contact David at DavidP@OswitLandTrust.org if you have interest.
In addition to this donation, OLT is hard at work on many other projects which we hope to share about in the future. Be sure to stay in touch with our continued work to save wildlife one acre at a time.
