A new report from the Endangered Species Coalition lists what its experts believe are the top 10 species for the incoming Trump administration to prioritize, in terms of taking steps to make them healthier, and two of them are in California. Managing editor Tami Roleff says one species is found right here in our Morongo Basin…
A report from the Endangered Species Coalition, “Removing the Walls to Recovery,” lists the iconic Joshua tree as one of the top 10 species that are imperiled. The prickly tree may look hardy, but spokeswoman Taylor Jones says it is highly threatened by climate change, and is expected to lose 90 percent of its habitat by the year 2100.
“Their whole habitat is changing, because rainfall patterns are changing. They need a really specific climate window in order to reproduce successfully, because baby Joshua Trees are a lot more vulnerable to drought or cold, or fire.”
Jones says she hopes the new administration will prioritize the recovery of these species and take up the fight against climate change.
“We’re hoping that this report will be received with an open mind, at the very least, because endangered species aren’t a partisan issue, and it shouldn’t be. This is the planet that we all live on, and protecting it is a matter of national importance.”
The other California species is the gray wolf, which has just returned to the wilds of northwestern California after an absence of several decades.
The other eight species listed are the bald cypress, the Elkhorn coral, the greater sage grouse, a yellow-faced bee from Hawaii, the jaguar, the Snake River salmon, the African elephant and the vaquita, a small Mexican porpoise.
NEW ADMINISTRATION URGED TO PROTECT 10 IMPERILED SPECIES, ONE LOCALLY
