Desert Forest: Life with Joshua Trees Book Cover, Cara Romero, For the Cahuilla Boys, 2014, Limited Edition Archival Fine Art Photograph. Courtesy of the artist.

The Joshua tree holds a deep significance for countless living beings. For birds, insects, mammals, and reptiles, it provides habitat.  For loggerhead shrikes, it provides a perch to kill its prey. For the yucca moths, it provides pollen for them to very effectively fertilize their flowers. For humans, the Joshua tree embodies raw beauty while symbolizing conservation efforts amid pressing environmental challenges.

Desert Forest: Life with Joshua Trees is a tribute to this remarkable species, focusing on its preservation in a time of ecological threats. With contributions from contemporary and historical artists, writers and scientists, this book bridges the emotional resonance of art with the authenticity of science—advocating for activism and nurturing a deep commitment to ensure the Joshua tree’s future.

Cara Romero, Nipton Highway, 2014, Archival Photograph, 20 x 119 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

Fred Brashear Jr, Endemic Treasure color #1, 2019, Handmade Joshua tree paper (Joshua tree material collected prior to species protections), Lift transfer pigment print, 18 x 24 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

Desert Forest: Life with Joshua Trees is a collection of historical, scientific, and personal essays and imagery that illuminates our deeply entangled relationships with the Joshua tree. Leading scientists, artists, indigenous culture bearers, historians, conservationists, policy makers, and creative writers, share their multidisciplinary research to spotlight the Joshua tree in response to the growing threat of climate change and the explosion of development across Mojave Desert lands. Following the trails of beneficial plant kinships as well as the damage done by ongoing extractions, they illuminate desert cosmologies through this unique icon—all while bringing us closer to the being that is Joshua tree. This book is for everyone concerned about the unfolding impacts of human actions in the natural world and how we can find better ways of living together through acts of care and repair.

Jetsonorama (Chip Thomas), Dancing Joshua Tree, 2017, Joshua tree photograph printed on fabric (9 x 4 feet) in site-specific installation at homestead cabin during BoxoProjects Joshua Treenial 2017, Joshua Tree, California. Courtesy of the artist. Collection of Diane Best.

Linda Alterwitz, Joshua 2, 2023, Archival pigment print, 40 x 37 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

Ruth Wallen, Walking with Joshua Trees: Jumbo Rocks 2019, Archival pigment print, 2023, 50 x 40 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

Chelsea Mosher, Untitled 02 (Industrial Frequency Sequence for Avi Kwa Ame), 2022, Gelatin silver print, 30 x 24 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

Featuring writings by Cameron Barrows, Darin Boville, Andi Campognone, Chris Clarke, James W. Cornett, Brendan Cummings, Shana Nys Dambrot, Tyler Green, Juniper Harrower, Daniel Oren Hastings, Kelly Herbinson, Geary Hund, Alexandra Jonassen, Sant Khalsa, Greg Levine, Lauren Lien, Sean Milanovich, Ruth Nolan, Christopher Irwin Smith, Lynn C. Sweet, Ruth Wallen, Cane West, and Jeremy B. Yoder; contemporary artworks by Linda Alterwitz, Marthe Aponte, Nancy Baker Cahill, Diane Best, Darin Boville, Matthew Brandt, Fred Brashear Jr, Bill Leigh Brewer, Claudia Bucher, Gerald Clarke, Maryrose Crook, Torreya Cummings, James M Dailey, scott b. davis, Department of Floristic Welfare, Dani Dodge, Cory Ench, Edgar Fabián Frías, Rob Grad, Jennifer Gunlock, Juniper Harrower, David Hartung, David Hockney, Jessie Homer French, Christine Huhn, Monroe Isenberg, Jetsonorama (Chip Thomas), Jenny Kane, Yulia Kazakova, Sant Khalsa, Casey Kiernan, Stevie Love, Rebecca Lowry, Meg Madison, Allyson Makuch, Aline Mare, Chris McCaw, Paloma Menéndez, Eric Merrell, Chelsea Mosher, Daisuke Okamoto, Osceola Refetoff, Michelle Robinson, Cara Romero, Catherine Ruane, Ed Ruscha, Hiroyuki Seo, Sisters Of Survival, Kim Stringfellow, Ruth Wallen, Jennifer Valenzuela, and Danielle Giudici Wallis; and historical artworks by Sarah E. Blanchard, Ralph D. Cornell, Louis Fleckenstein, E.O. Hoppé, Olive Jackson, Charles Koppel, C.C. Pierce, Jane Pinheiro, and Carleton Watkins.

Matthew Brandt, Joshua Tree VC5B, 2023, Collected and dyed sand on paper with varnish, 40.25 x 28.25 inches. Courtesy of the artist and M+B, Los Angeles.

Danielle Giudici Wallis, Walmart, Highway 62, 2022, Archival pigment print, 13 x 19 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

Jennifer Gunlock, Joshua Tree Series V, 2023, Digital collage, 6.5 x 10 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

Kim Stringfellow, Antelope Valley subdivision with intact Joshua tree woodland in foreground, Palmdale, CA, 2017, Archival pigment print, 23.25 x 43.5 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

Bill Leigh Brewer, Upper Covington, Rephotographing Project, 2013-2023, Archival pigment print, 23 x 64 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

Darin Boville, Evening Grid, 2023, Inkjet print, 30 x 40 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

Rebecca Lowry / Joshua Tree Creative Laboratory, 50 Seeds, Archival pigment prints, diptych, 9 x 9 inches each. Courtesy of the artist and Joshua Tree Creative Laboratory (JTLab). Photos are portraits of Joshua tree seeds, some viable, some nonviable, and some partially eaten by Yucca moth larvae as they grow and develop inside the Joshua tree seed pods.

Sant Khalsa, Vishuddha (Self Portrait), 1994, Silver print, 20 x 20 inches. Courtesy of the artist.