Wildlands Conservancy

Founded in 1995, The Wildlands Conservancy (TWC) is dedicated to preserving the beauty and biodiversity of the earth and providing programs so that children may know the wonder and joy of nature. Through our Outdoor Discovery Program, we offer free field trips where students from 1st through 12th grade engage in hands-on learning focused on desert ecology, watershed science, and water cycles. The program is aligned with Next Generation Science and Common Core Standards and is designed to build meaningful connections to the natural world while supporting classroom learning. Since 1998, it has served more than 450,000 children, including over 50,000 students from the Coachella Valley. Generous support from the Anderson Children’s Foundation will fund transportation for over 3,000 under-resourced students during the 2025–26 school year, ensuring access to transformative outdoor education experiences at our Mission Creek and Whitewater Preserves. In addition to our education efforts, TWC has protected over 200,000 acres across 25 preserves—establishing the largest nonprofit nature preserve system on the West Coast, all open to the public, free of charge.

Contact: Lalli Gonzales

Email:lalli.g@wildlandsconservancy.org

Phone:760-325-7222

The Wildland's Conservancy's Desert Preserves include Whitewater, Mission Creek and Pioneertown Mountains Preserves. All three preserves are watersheds that actively contribute water to local desert aquifers. Our school programs are offered free of charge and provide exemplary ecological education to students in outstanding wild places close to Coachella Valley and High Desert communities.

Programs are designed to cover pertinent life and physical science standards within current California Science Standards frameworks and we work closely with the Palm Springs Unified School District Science Specialist to ensure programs adhere to current educational requirements. The program focus to date has been on desert water cycles and on watershed ecology with grade focus primarily on 4th, 5th, 6th and high school levels. More than 15,000 Coachella Valley and High Desert students have participated in the Desert Preserve's Outdoor Education programs since 2008.