Joshua trees rejected for protection under the federal Endangered Species Act

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has declined to list Joshua trees under the federal Endangered Species Act, leaving the fate of potential protection measures for the iconic spindly plant with newly proposed state legislation.

The review looked at two species commonly known as Joshua trees: Yucca brevifolia, known as the western Joshua tree, and Yucca jaegeriana, known as the eastern Joshua tree.

The decision comes after the agency’s second review of the species. WildEarth Guardians first asked the federal agency to list the Joshua tree as “threatened” in 2015. " In 2019, during the Trump administration, the service found the listing “not warranted," and the group appealed.

A federal district court judge then told Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that they wrongly denied the Joshua tree protection, calling the agency’s refusal to protect the species  "arbitrary and capricious" and said the federal agencies had ignored numerous scientific studies, including some that projected "the nearly complete loss  ... by the end of the century" of key populations.

The judge ordered the agency to reconsider, this time using “the best available science” on the Joshua trees’ decline.

Iconic trees face threats from climate change, development

Scientists and environmental groups say the science surrounding the western Joshua tree is grim. The tree’s suitable habitat is expected to decline substantially by 2100 due to climate change, especially in the southern portions of its range — meaning the Joshua tree would largely be unable to survive in its namesake park by the end of this century.

But looking at “the primary threats into the foreseeable future,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service examined impacts on the Joshua trees to 2040-2069, and found that “Joshua trees display enough resiliency, redundancy, and representation to not be at risk of becoming endangered in the foreseeable future.”

In its review, the agency looked at threats from wildfire, invasive grasses, climate change and habitat loss and fragmentation, but determined that while some threats affect the species “in areas of their respective ranges, none of the threats rose to the level that resulted in the species meeting the definition of a threatened or endangered species throughout all or a significant portion of their ranges.”

WildEarth Guardians decried the decisions as “ignoring science and the law,” and criticized that the agency for looking primarily at risks to the species between 2040 to 2069, highlighting the “huge degree of uncertainty” on the impacts of drought and temperature change from climate change on the trees and their pollinator moths.

“We’re incredibly disappointed that the government, once again, has failed to afford future generations of Joshua trees the federal protections and help they need to withstand climate change, but sadly we’re also not surprised,” Jennifer Schwartz, staff attorney at WildEarth Guardians, said in a press release on Wednesday, adding that the group is exploring whether another round of legislation is needed.

WildEarth Guardians also argued that while the agency’s decision focused on “continued occupancy of current range by adult Joshua trees, it glossed over consideration of these threats on future generations of Joshua trees and decreased future ‘recruitment’ or ability of Joshua trees to reproduce in the face of climate change.”

Joshua trees are long-living, with a common lifespan of about 150 years, but recruitment of new trees has floundered in recent years, according to conservationists and environmental groups. Cameron Barrows, a retired conservation ecologist with the Center for Conservation Biology at the University of California, Riverside, found in a 2013 study that the species was not reproducing within over 50% of their habitat within Joshua Tree National Park.

The situation in the park is akin to “a bunch of senior centers without any elementary schools that are filling in the gaps,” Barrows told The Desert Sun last year. 

While federal protection isn’t moving forward, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says it plans to coordinate with the National Park Service, other federal agencies, and the state to “ensure the long-term conservation of these species.”

“Through our scientific assessment, the Service determined that Joshua trees will remain an iconic presence on the landscape into the future. Although the two species do not need the protections of the Endangered Species Act, the Service cares deeply about Joshua trees and their roles in the desert environment,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Pacific Southwest Regional Director Paul Souza said in a statement.

What's next for Joshua tree protections?

In addition to the push for a federal listing, environmental groups have separately pursued listing the western Joshua tree as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act since 2019, arguing the tree faces threats by climate change and development.

The California Fish and Game Commission accepted the Center for Biological Diversity’s petition in September 2020, granting the tree interim protections as a candidate species. As a candidate for listing, the tree temporarily recieves the same protections as a state-listed endangered or threatened species. This includes a prohibition on the import, export, take (or kill), possession, purchase, or sale of the western Joshua tree, or any part or product of the tree, without proper authorization.

But the commission has repeatedly delayed or deadlocked on making a final decision on listing the tree, most recently last month. In February, the commission unanimously delayed voting on the listing after the introduction of the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act by California officials. 

The legislation could streamline permitting for new housing, renewable energy developments and other construction that would harm or destroy the iconic trees, in exchange for payment of funds to acquire broad-scale habitat for them elsewhere.

Core elements of the bill include:

• prohibiting harm to the trees unless a permit is obtained and fees or other “mitigation” are provided;

• development by next year of an overall plan for how the species can best be conserved; and

• a possible permit template for renewed and quicker approval of developments at the local level if payments are made and other conditions are met.

The bill’s passage or defeat could happen by this summer.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Joshua trees rejected for federal Endangered Species Act listing