Updated 2:30 p.m. to change the date of the hearing on the western Joshua trees by the California Fish and Game Commission. The commission will meet for two days, August 19-20, and the issue of the Joshua trees will be heard on August 20.
Earlier this year, the Yucca Valley Town Council sent a letter to the California Fish and Game Commission opposing a petition to list the Joshua tree as a threatened species under the California Endangered Species Act. The council’s position is that the tree is already protected in Yucca Valley by the town’s native plant ordinance, and by the fact that property owners need to get a free permit from the town in order to cut down, trim, or move Joshua trees within town limits. Managing editor Tami Roleff says information gathered by Ernesto Nevarez shows the native plant ordinance and town permits may not provide as much protection for the trees as the town maintains…
Under the Yucca Valley native plant ordinance, property owners have to apply for a free permit in order to cut down, trim, or move a Joshua tree on their property. The town’s ordinance states that in order to remove or trim native plants, the plant must interfere with an existing or planned structure, street, or utility, or be hazardous to pedestrians or vehicles.
Part of the permit application requires that photos be submitted showing all the native plants on the site. Z107.7 News has examined data requested by Morongo Valley resident Ernesto Nevarez for the 147 applications submitted just in 2020. Of those permit applications, only 24 included a photo in the permit application file.
Just in 2020, the town approved the killing of 213 Joshua trees, and 169 were supposed to be relocated (including 96 trees just by Burrtec). None of the applications were rejected.
Furthermore, the Town states in a letter to Nevarez it could find no records of violations, citations, fines, or prosecutions for violating the Yucca Valley native plant ordinance during the last three years.
The California Fish and Game Commission will consider the application by the Center for Biological Diversity to list Joshua trees as threatened at its August 20 meeting. If you would like to make a comment for the commission to consider as it makes its decision, send it to:
California Fish and Game Commission
P. O. Box 944209
Sacramento, CA 94244
or by email to [email protected]
(Include “Petition to List the Western Joshua Tree” in the subject line.)
https://www.yucca-valley.org/home/showdocument?id=3030
https://www.yucca-valley.org/home/showdocument?id=3032
