Environmental Preservation Alliance

[Admin]

Hello. I have been a property owner in Joshua Tree for over eight years. The magic of the Mojave Desert has captured my heart and soul, and I have developed a very close affinity for this fragile land, its plant and animal life. Nothing else compares to a Mojave moon rise, a warm summer evening filled with stars, coyotes calling to one another across canyons, the excitement of a wild desert tortoise, or a bobcat visiting for a drink of water.

From the beginning, I made a choice not to have domestic pets and not fence my land. I installed three automatic water basins, and planted trees and nectar plants. My little home on the knoll is now an established "spring" for hundreds of mammals, reptiles, birds and insects.

Several years ago, I studied and received my real estate license so I could help sell the properties that were coming available around my house. I searched out like-minded buyers who would care for the land and its wild inhabitants.

My first three years in real estate were spent finding rural hideaways for artists, writers, and those craving peace and solitude. From these experiences, my concern for our desert environment has steadily increased as I have witnessed rampant, unchecked housing growth, clear-cutting of pristine land, dead animals on roads, and light and noise pollution.

To counter these upsetting trends, I have formed the Environmental Preservation Alliance –- conscientious property stewards whose goal will be to take a firm stand in protecting the rural character of the desert, and to educate newcomers, as well as the general public, on how to live in harmony with the environment.

At the same time, I have started a new Real Estate Company -- Desert Preservation Properties.

Desert Preservation Properties will only list and sell properties whose owners have voluntarily agreed to join the Alliance.

To keep this "alliance" as simple as possible, there will be no cost. It will be as easy as signing a membership form stating that you voluntarily agree to be a good steward of your property. Membeship will include a packet containing copies of The Desert Tortoise Protection Act, The Night Sky Ordinance, Native Plant Ordinance, Domestic Animal Ordinance (i.e. keeping dogs and cats behind a fence so they can't harass or kill native wildlife), and The Off-Road Vehicle Ordinance.

Now, as a property owner, you may also want to choose to go one step further, and do what I am planning to do -- put a deed restriction on your property!

Simply put, this deed restriction will prohibit any further subdivision of your property. It will run with the land, whether you sell it in the future, or will it to heirs. For example: if you own five acres, it stays five acres, even if the county changes zoning laws! The cost to record the deed restriction will be nominal (approximately $20.00).

The deed restriction can be removed, but only by the owner who originally put the restriction in place. Therefore, if something happens where a property owner had to sell (for whatever reason), and the potential buyer did not want the restriction, the deed restriction can be removed.

So, rest assured, you have complete control of the destiny of your land! However, once the property leaves your hands, and the deed restriction is in place, the deed restriction runs with the land, and is lasting!

The new owner takes the biggest stand, knowing the property cannot be divided further from that moment on, but think of how positive this will reflect upon the desert when property owners with their deed restrictions come together! Literally hundreds, perhaps thousands, of acres will be off limits to developers, and the rural integrity of the desert will be intact.

Imagine neighbors banding together, forming blocks of Alliance homes committed to peaceful, harmonious living, where wildlife can roam freely, and light pollution doesn't destroy the brilliant night stars.

This can only increase the value of your property!

If we start connecting our properties to neighbors and friends, we can potentially create huge tracks of land where everyone is committed to the fragile bio-diversity of our desert.

Please call, or e-mail, me if you are interested.

Take a stand! Protect the land! Join us today!