About a month ago, Alex and I flew to California to explore Joshua Tree National Park. During the 1930’s, Minerva Hoyt, a desert lover and community activist, recognized the human threats to the ecosystem of the area and persuaded President Franklin D. Roosevelt to proclaim Joshua Tree a National Monument in 1936. It was renamed in 1994 to Joshua Tree National Park and protects over 790,000 acres - mostly wilderness - where the Mojave and Colorado Deserts converge.