The California Fish and Game Commission was locked in a 2-2 vote Thursday on whether to list the tree under state Endangered Species Act. The tie vote doesn't mean the tree won't be listed.
FILE - In this Jan. 10, 2019 photo, people visit Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California's Mojave Desert. The California Fish & Game Commission is holding a hearing on Wednesday, June 15, 2022, to consider whether to list the western Joshua Tree as a threatened species. SACRAMENTO, Calif.
If the tree is listed as a threatened species, killing one would require special approval from the state. That would make it harder to remove trees to make way for housing, solar fields or other development projects. The trees are now under conditional protection while the state decides whether to deem them threatened, though some solar development projects have still been cleared to move forward.
If the Joshua tree is listed as threatened, it would be the first state listing under the Endangered Species Act based primarily on climate change, said Brendan Cummings, conservation director for the Center for Biological Diversity. He pushed for the Department of Fish and Wildlife to work on a conservation plan. He further said the Legislature and governor should bring together everyone with a stake in the trees' future, including environmentalists, tribes and developers, together to come up with a plan for protecting the species.
It's unknown how many Joshua trees exist in the state, but it could be anywhere from 4.8 million to 9.8 million, said Jeb McKay Bjerke, of the Department of Fish & Wildlife. Some of the Joshua tree growth areas that show the most promise for surviving despite the effects of climate change are on private land, said Cummings, of the Center for Biological Diversity.
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