Someone is quietly buying land inside a national park
An investigation uncovered a series of hidden purchases starting in 2021.
With the ecosystems at the country's 63 national parks as diverse as the arctic and alpine tundra on one end and semi-arid desert and pinyon-juniper woodlands on the other, people will travel very far to experience vistas and flora not found anywhere else.
Located in southeastern California on the borders of both the Mojave and Colorado deserts, Joshua Tree National Park attracted over 3.2 million domestic and international travelers in the last year for which the numbers were published. Visitor numbers have risen steadily throughout 2024, and the park has been exploring ways to mitigate the impact.
