January 17, 2019  |   

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 17, 2019

 

MEDIA CONTACT:

Kenji Haroutunian, 310-489-3281, info@friendsofjosh.org

 

 

Friends of Joshua Tree Offers Loans to Furloughed Park Staff

at Joshua Tree National Park

 

 Volunteer Advocacy Group Goes Beyond Keeping the Park Clean and Staving Off Illegal Activities

 

JOSHUA TREE, CA –

The local non-profit advocacy group Friends of Joshua Tree (FOJT) will be offering small, zero-interest loans to furloughed Joshua Tree National Park staff during the unprecedented federal shutdown, group leaders announced today.

 

The small group of volunteers has received strong support from individuals around the region and even internationally.

 

“So many people care about the sustainable health of this special Park, and the community of Joshua Tree, as we do” said John Lauretig, Executive Director of FOJT. “We want to offer a small financial support program to those who aren’t allowed to do their jobs stewarding our public lands during this crisis”.

 

During the partial government shutdown, volunteers had been filling in to do the work needed to support Joshua Tree National Park while park rangers are on furlough. Dubbed ‘Toilet Paper Angels’, volunteer crews staged morning meetups to address conditions in 91 vault toilets, over 100 rubbish bins and hundreds of campsites inside the Park. Now, using borrowed funds from future upkeep and enhancement projects, Park maintenance staff are back at work, but most Park staff remain furloughed during this prolonged shutdown.

 

“We at Friends of Joshua Tree want to express our deep gratitude for the energy and commitment of so many volunteers working to protect the Park these past few weeks,” said Kenji Haroutunian, President of Friends of Joshua Tree. “We owe thanks to our friends from Cliffhanger Guides, Nomad Ventures, Coyote Corner, Joshua Tree Health Foods, Visit 29 Palms  and many other individuals who anchored the volunteer corps. We also want to show material support for Park staff, who have suffered quietly as their unemployment situation stretches into a month of uncertainty. The loan program is a small way to increase support and might  inspire other local advocates across the country to find similar solutions to the ongoing dysfunction in D.C.”

 

Some long-term damage has occurred in Joshua Tree National Park during the shutdown, including damage to rare plants and Joshua Trees themselves, as well as to the sensitive high desert soils that support wildlife there.  

 

“The lasting damage done in the park is the result of a few bad actors during the normal swell of activity around the new year, and we appreciate the good behavior of so many visitors during this unmanaged access period,” said Lauretig, a former JTNP park ranger.

 

He continued. “The loan program can help support Park staff currently out of work due to the shutdown; We really need our full Park staff back immediately to stem further losses.”

 

Any information on perpetrators of violations against National Park rules should be shared anonymously with Joshua Tree National Park officials, or alternatively, with Friends of Joshua Tree, who have year-round stewardship programs in the Park to help educate and stem damage to the fragile high desert ecosystem.

 

Throughout this disruption to our Parks and partners at JTNP, FOJT will continue to actively fund and support the Park via JOSAR (Search & Rescue in JTNP), Joshua Tree Climber Stewards, Climbers Coffee, the Hardware Anchor Replacement Project, and the annual Climb Smart event in October.

 

Friends of Joshua Tree is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the historical tradition of climbing in Joshua Tree National Park. Friends of Joshua Tree advocates, communicates, and encourages ethical and environmentally sound climbing practices, and works to shape park policy on climbing and climbing-related issues. Toward that end, Friends of Joshua Tree acts as the liaison between the climbing community and the National Park service.