Despite this, he said “there's a whole body of peer-reviewed published science” that show the threats climate change poses to the species.

While the center is pleased Newsom’s administration is taking up this issue with the proposed legislation, Brendan Cummings, the group's conservation director, still wants to see the tree listed as threatened.Ĭummings said the western Joshua tree is different from species already listed as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act because it still exists in large numbers. The Center for Biological Diversity, which filed the petition in 2019, says it needs to be protected from threats driven by climate change. The proposal comes after the Fish and Game Commission, an agency that sets regulations for the Department of Fish and Wildlife to implement, has spent months deliberating on whether to list the tree as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act after advancing a petition on the issue in 2020. The bill states that “there is a critical need to immediately conserve the species while also ensuring timely and efficient permitting mechanisms for activities within its range.” “It deserves special consideration through its own law.”īonham said the legislation would mandate protections for the tree while also simplifying the permit process for getting permission to remove it. “The western Joshua tree is iconic,” California Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Chuck Bonham said Wednesday. It would also require the state to work with Native American tribes to draft a conservation plan for the tree by 2024. Gavin Newsom's administration, it would prohibit anyone from importing, exporting or removing the tree without a permit from the state.

The proposed legislation, the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act, was made public late Tuesday. SACRAMENTO - The western Joshua tree won't be listed as threatened - yet - as California’s Fish and Game Commission again delayed a decision Wednesday after a bill was proposed to provide protections to the native desert plant.

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