Fresh off announcing a major land acquisition for a planned preserve last week, Oswit Land Trust (OLT) has acquired even more land in Palm Springs.
Driving the news: OLT President Jane Garrison said Tuesday the organization has purchased 30 acres that contains parts of the South Lykken hiking trail in an effort to spare the land from development.
- OLT partnered with Trust for Public Land (TPL) and the Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy (CVMC) to ensure they had funding from government programs and donors to buy the land at a reported purchase price of $2 million.
- The property sits at the end of West Mesquite Avenue between Parkview Mobile Estates and the mountains. It ends by the mountain ridge. It’s just three miles from Oswit Canyon, which OLT purchased in 2020.
Why it’s important: OLT found that nearly half a mile of the Lykken trail went through the property that was being marketed for development of 95 condos or a hotel.
- “We knew we had to jump into action and save this property and essentially save the South Lykken trail,” Garrison said.
State of play: Just last week, OLT announced that the land being used for Mesquite Golf and Country Club had been purchased and donated to the organization. It intends to create the Prescott Preserve on the property.
- This is OLT’s fourth acquisition in the last 18 months.
Looking ahead: The conservation group says there are at least five other projects in the works.
- There’s no word yet on what those projects are. One of the owners of the defunct Bel Air Greens Golf Course has so far rebuffed the group’s offer to preserve that property, and plans have fallen through to purchase both city-owned courses that make up Tahquitz Creek Golf Resort.
