In September, the California Fish and Game Commission voted to consider listing the western Joshua tree as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act. That action set in motion a year-long period of study before making a final determination. Instantly, and until the final decision is made, it became a serious crime to move, trim, kill, or disturb the tree in any way, except for a few exceptions. Reporter Mike Lipsitz has more on the exceptions, and on tomorrow’s meeting of the Fish and Game Commission where an expansion of those exceptions will be considered…
Some 15 shovel-ready industrial solar projects in Kern and San Bernardino counties were given a pass to destroy the trees at those projects. In a two- day virtual meeting, the Fish and Game Commission will meet at 10 a.m. to consider more exceptions where destroying the trees would be permitted. The exceptions would include conditions where a western Joshua tree presented a safety hazard, where the tree would interfere in progress of a public works project such as the Hi-Desert Water District’s Wastewater Treatment Plant, or where the trees would stand in the way of development of single-family residences and accessory structures. Regardless of whether or not the issue comes up for final vote, the commission will want to hear from the public. (The agenda item is number 27 at the two-day meeting and is scheduled for the second day, although that is subject to change at the commission’s discretion.)
The following link opens the complete meeting agenda for both December 9 and 10 including instructions on how to participate via the Zoom platform.
https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=184713&inline
