{
  "id": 6274878,
  "title": "We made a COVID-19 memorial in the ashes of a Joshua tree forest",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/08/we-made-a-covid-19-memorial-in-the-ashes-of-a-joshua-tree-forest",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-09-08T11:38:41.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Sick Times",
    "slug": "the-sick-times",
    "url": "https://thesicktimes.org/2026/09/08/we-made-a-covid-19-memorial-in-the-ashes-of-a-joshua-tree-forest/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "During the Dome Fire in California's Mojave National Preserve, 1.3 million Joshua trees were lost, mirroring the estimated deaths from COVID-19 in the United States. Despite the pandemic having no national memorial, a Joshua tree memorial was created in the ashes of the fire. Miles W. Griffis and his partner Aaron spent three years planting nearly 2,000 eastern Joshua trees in the 43,000-acre burnt area. They named the effort Team Ground Sloth, inspired by the giant Shasta ground sloth that once roamed the landscape. The Joshua trees, once a refuge for Griffis, became a symbol of his COVID-19 grief and climate change awareness. As the burnt trees stood tall, each was dedicated to a life lost from the pandemic, creating a living remembrance of the polycrisis they faced.",
  "summary": "Despite nearly 1.3 million deaths and counting, there is still not a national memorial for the pandemic. Our informal memorial in the middle of the Mojave Desert is one small way to remember those we’ve lost so far. The post We made a COVID-19 memorial in the ashes of a Joshua tree forest first appeared on The Sick Times .",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}