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Lost LA

Joshua Tree Exists Because of Minerva Hamilton Hoyt

When Minerva Hamilton Hoyt moved to Southern California, she was taken with its desert landscape and went on a quest to protect it from increasing tourism and looming commercial interests. Park Ranger Joe Zarki tells how Hoyt, using a photo album that's referred to as a "pitch deck," lobbied the Roosevelt administration of the 1930s to preserve the land as a national monument. It's an enduring victory for not only land preservation but for enduring accomplishments in women's history.