Judge: Feds wrong to deny protection for Joshua tree
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. – A federal district court judge this week told Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that they wrongly denied the iconic, gangly Joshua tree protection under the Endangered Species Act.
Judge Otis Wright II called the service’s refusal to protect the species, for which one of the nation’s most popular national parks is named, “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.
In his ruling, issued Monday, he ordered them to reconsider, this time using “the best available science” on the trees’ decline, including climate change models, and issue a new decision within 12 months.
The Fish and Wildlife Service has 60 days to decide whether it will appeal the order. Jane Hendron, a spokeswoman in the service’s Carlsbad, California, office, which covers the Joshua tree, said, “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service does not comment on litigation.”
WildEarth Guardians first asked the federal agency in 2015 to list the Joshua tree as “threatened.” In 2019, during the Trump administration, the service found the listing “not warranted,” and the group appealed. Their attorneys praised Monday’s decision, saying it could help not only the desert plant but also other species that are losing ground due to higher heat, less water and other impacts of human-caused climate change.
“The court’s unequivocal holding – that the service cannot summarily dismiss scientific evidence that runs counter to its conclusions – will force the federal government to confront the reality of climate change and begin focusing on how to help species adapt,” said Jennifer Schwartz, staff attorney for WildEarth Guardians and lead attorney on the case.
The group said in a news release that “all the available scientific evidence point(s) to the same conclusion: Joshua trees will be in danger of extinction throughout most of their current range by century’s end from climate changedriven habitat loss, invasive grass fueled wildfire, and other stressors.”
It said while the decision had been delayed for four years under the Trump administration, the Biden administration has also not stepped up to the plate to immediately protect the two major species of the tree.
“Notably, while the decision was issued by the service under the Trump administration, the service refused to budge from its indefensible position – or even consider taking a fresh look at the finding – even under the Biden administration,” the group wrote.
In April, while waiting for a decision on their appeal, WildEarth Guardians filed emergency petitions with the federal government, saying that both the western and eastern species needed immediate protection due to rapidly worsening drought, mounting climate change, and the loss of 1.3 million trees after a large fire swept through the Mojave National Preserve in August 2020.
The service ignored those petitions, the group said, instead choosing to spend public funds trying to defend its decision in court, rather than on actions to protect the species.