The result was the Mojave Desert Land Trust seed bank. In 2016, Mojave Desert Land Trust officially launched the seed bank project, which has since been described as a “Noah’s Ark” for southern California. A jar of seeds sits in one of three full refrigerators at the Mojave Desert Land Trust headquarters in Joshua Tree, California. Beau Molloy/CNN“We’ve already been able to provide seed to researchers who are studying the effects of climate change on specific species that we have in our seed bank,” Asbell adds. Beau Molloy/CNNRoughly 70,000 Joshua tree seeds are currently preserved in the seed bank, some of which could be planted in cooler locations, if needed.

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Persons: birdsong, Madena Asbell, “, ” Asbell, Asbell, Beau Molloy, Kelly Herbinson, ” Herbinson, hasn’t, Corina Godoy, Gerber, MDLT, CNN “ We’ve, Joshua, It’s, Seuss, Herbinson, ”, ” CNN’s Adeline Chen Organizations: CNN, Land Trust, MDLT, Land, Mojave, Conservation Board Locations: California, Texas, Colorado, Mojave, Joshua Tree , California