Articles for Joshua Trees

California drafts plan to save its iconic and imperiled Joshua trees
3 weeks, 4 days ago

California drafts plan to save its iconic and imperiled Joshua trees

Associated Press  

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has released a new plan to protect the state’s iconic Joshua trees, which are imperiled by wildfires, human development and climate change. “In many ways, it’s a good comprehensive plan of the things we need to do if the western Joshua tree is going to survive the very, very difficult decades ahead,” said …

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State releases new plan to protect Joshua trees
Trending News
3 weeks, 5 days ago

State releases new plan to protect Joshua trees

LA Times  

The Joshua tree is cherished for its distinctive silhouette and singular role as a linchpin of the Mojave Desert ecosystem. The plan also recommends introducing Joshua tree populations with genetic variations that make them more resilient to climate change into these areas, said Drew Kaiser, senior environmental scientist at the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Much of the western Joshua …

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As crews chainsaw Joshua trees, Mojave Desert community protests solar energy project
3 months, 2 weeks ago

As crews chainsaw Joshua trees, Mojave Desert community protests solar energy project

LA Times  

When Roy Richards spotted workers cutting down and shredding Joshua trees for a sprawling solar energy project near his Mojave Desert home last week, he started taking photos. The solar energy farm won a controversial exemption from rules protecting Joshua trees four years ago after closed-door meetings between industry executives and state wildlife officials. “Solar panels can provide shade and …

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Joshua trees bloom more often with climate change, study finds. Here’s why people are worried
4 months, 1 week ago

Joshua trees bloom more often with climate change, study finds. Here’s why people are worried

LA Times  

When it comes to one of California’s most beloved plants, the forecast is dire. “We have all these predictive models about what’s going to happen in the future with Joshua trees, but this is showing us some real change just in the last 100 years,” said Kelly Herbinson, executive director of conservation nonprofit Mojave Desert Land Trust, who was not …

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Fire risk closes section of Joshua Tree National Park over July 4 weekend
5 months, 3 weeks ago

Fire risk closes section of Joshua Tree National Park over July 4 weekend

LA Times  

An ecologically sensitive portion of Joshua Tree National Park will be closed this week due to extreme wildfire risk as a heat wave is set to broil the region over the Fourth of July holiday. The Covington Flats area, home to some of the park’s largest Joshua trees, junipers and pinyon pines, will be shut to the public Wednesday through …

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As California’s climate grows ever more hostile, a Joshua tree rescue plan takes shape
5 months, 4 weeks ago

As California’s climate grows ever more hostile, a Joshua tree rescue plan takes shape

LA Times  

When a renewable energy company started razing thousands of Joshua trees this month to make way for a sprawling solar farm, it kicked up a firestorm of outrage among Mojave Desert residents and activists. “Joshua trees are in this triple squeeze pinch,” said Christopher Smith, a professor of biology at Willamette University who co-wrote a 2023 paper exploring how to …

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Opinion: Kill Joshua trees for a desert solar project? Readers want none of it
6 months, 2 weeks ago

Opinion: Kill Joshua trees for a desert solar project? Readers want none of it

LA Times  

Joshua trees, such as this roughly 150- to 200-year-old specimen, are threatened with removal because of a solar project near Boron, Calif. It’s been a while since we’ve had such an outpouring for something that doesn’t have to do with Donald Trump: Dozens of readers wrote letters to the editor expressing dismay over the construction of a solar power project …

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Solar project to destroy thousands of Joshua trees in the Mojave Desert
6 months, 3 weeks ago

Solar project to destroy thousands of Joshua trees in the Mojave Desert

LA Times  

A renewable energy company will soon begin clearing thousands of protected Joshua trees just outside this desert town, including many thought to be a century old, to make way for a sprawling solar project that will generate power for 180,000 homes in wealthier coastal neighborhoods. “While trees will be impacted during project construction, vastly more Joshua trees are being threatened …

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How large fires are altering the face of California’s Mojave Desert
9 months ago

How large fires are altering the face of California’s Mojave Desert

LA Times  

The Kousch House stood in the Mojave Desert for nearly a century — first as the residence of a prominent homesteader, then as testament to humanity’s ability to survive harsh and forbidding environments. But the York fire — and several large fires that preceded it — burned in a remote area in the center of the preserve that ecologist Joseph …

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In a charred moonscape, a band of hopeful workers try to save the Joshua tree
1 year, 3 months ago

In a charred moonscape, a band of hopeful workers try to save the Joshua tree

NPR  

In a charred moonscape, a band of hopeful workers try to save the Joshua tree Enlarge this image toggle caption Krystal Ramirez for NPR Krystal Ramirez for NPR "The Country since leaving the Colorado has been a dry rocky sandy Barren desert." Enlarge this image toggle caption Krystal Ramirez for NPR Krystal Ramirez for NPR What she means is the …

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Millions of California trees are dying; Joshua trees are just the latest victims
1 year, 4 months ago

Millions of California trees are dying; Joshua trees are just the latest victims

LA Times  

A firefighter sets a back fire as the York fire burns in Mojave National Preserve on July 30. “We’ve long known that the trends to anticipate in the 21st century are extended droughts and more active fire regimes, and these types of disturbances are having profound effects on forests statewide,” said Ryan Tompkins, forest and natural resources advisor at the …

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Essential California Week in Review: L.A. County could have 1.7 million fewer people by 2060
1 year, 4 months ago

Essential California Week in Review: L.A. County could have 1.7 million fewer people by 2060

LA Times  

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. Here’s a look at the top stories of the last week L.A. County could have 1.7 million fewer people by 2060. Calling it a “Japanese seafood restaurant” doesn’t capture the eclectic joys at the Arts District’s next great dining destination. The York fire has burned over 82,000 acres, including Joshua trees …

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California’s famed Joshua trees are burning up fast. They might be impossible to replace
1 year, 4 months ago

California’s famed Joshua trees are burning up fast. They might be impossible to replace

LA Times  

A light rain fell on the Mojave National Preserve, where firefighters continued their nearly weeklong battle Wednesday against an unusual desert wildfire that has incinerated countless Joshua trees and threatens to forever alter California’s high desert landscape. “And then on top of that, you throw on a fire like the York fire, and these trees are not likely to recover …

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Progress made against massive California-Nevada wildfire but flames threaten iconic Joshua trees
1 year, 4 months ago

Progress made against massive California-Nevada wildfire but flames threaten iconic Joshua trees

Associated Press  

MOJAVE NATIONAL PRESERVE, Calif. — Firefighters aided by rain fought to contain a massive blaze that swept through the California desert into Nevada and is threatening the region’s famous spiky Joshua trees. Wednesday saw the rain easing and temperatures rising but fire officials said crews were able to continue mopping up the blaze and reinforcing containment lines on the fire’s …

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The Mojave Desert is burning in California’s biggest fire of year, torching Joshua trees
1 year, 4 months ago

The Mojave Desert is burning in California’s biggest fire of year, torching Joshua trees

LA Times  

An air tanker drops fire retardant over the York fire in the Mojave National Preserve on Saturday. “It’s a public misconception that the desert doesn’t burn, but we’re seeing right here that that’s not case,” said Sierra Willoughby, a supervisory park ranger at Mojave National Preserve. “They’re not as rare as we would hope them to be.” Just 10 days …

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New law to protect Joshua trees from climate change imposes fees on desert developers
1 year, 5 months ago

New law to protect Joshua trees from climate change imposes fees on desert developers

LA Times  

California has enacted the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act, the first law aimed at helping to ensure the survival of millions of the climate-threatened trees while accommodating booming renewable energy and housing projects across their ancient Mojave Desert domain. “This bill ends the debate over whether Joshua trees should be protected,” said Brendan Cummings, the Center for Biological Diversity’s conservation …

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Solar sprawl is tearing up the Mojave Desert. Is there a better way?
1 year, 5 months ago

Solar sprawl is tearing up the Mojave Desert. Is there a better way?

LA Times  

High above the Las Vegas Strip, solar panels blanketed the roof of Mandalay Bay Convention Center — 26,000 of them, rippling across an area larger than 20 football fields. It was the entrance to a desert tortoise burrow — one of thousands catalogued by her employer, Primergy Solar, during construction of one of the nation’s largest solar farms on public …

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Editorial: Finally, a plan to save Joshua trees from climate change — and the bureaucrats
1 year, 10 months ago

Editorial: Finally, a plan to save Joshua trees from climate change — and the bureaucrats

LA Times  

Without greater protections, the western Joshua tree could lose more than 90% of its habitat by the end of the century, scientists say. Climate change is the single greatest threat to the long-term survival of the Joshua tree, a beloved symbol of California’s high desert. Scientists have long warned that climate change poses an existential threat to the western Joshua …

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California debates listing western Joshua tree as threatened
2 years, 6 months ago

California debates listing western Joshua tree as threatened

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy California officials are weighing whether …

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Those drive-through redwood trees? Yup, they’re still standing
2 years, 7 months ago

Those drive-through redwood trees? Yup, they’re still standing

LA Times  

I’m not a fan of cutting holes in massive redwoods to carve out a little fun for tourists who want to drive through them. Times writer Christopher Reynolds says that of the three privately owned “tunnel trees” in California, the 315-foot-tall Chandelier Tree in Leggett is the handsomest. “Now in the final stages of construction in a Vista backyard, Kottmeier’s …

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Editorial: Joshua trees, threatened by climate change, deserve California’s protection
2 years, 8 months ago

Editorial: Joshua trees, threatened by climate change, deserve California’s protection

LA Times  

The Joshua tree, a singular but imperiled fixture of California’s high desert, faces a dim long-term future because of the interconnected threats of development, wildfire, drought and climate change. It’s a troubling development because it follows decades of warnings from scientists that Joshua trees face an existential threat from climate change and could be wiped out if more isn’t done …

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California Joshua tree is not threatened, regulators say. It could bring more development
2 years, 8 months ago

California Joshua tree is not threatened, regulators say. It could bring more development

LA Times  

A view of the Milky Way is framed by Joshua trees at Joshua Tree National Park. The analysis determined that scientific evidence currently possessed by state wildlife authorities “does not demonstrate that populations of the species are negatively trending in a way that would lead the department to believe that the species is likely to be in serious danger of …

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Seedling by seedling, Joshua trees will rise again in fire-scorched desert
3 years ago

Seedling by seedling, Joshua trees will rise again in fire-scorched desert

LA Times  

Volunteers Joe Landeros and Anthea Raymond tamp down the earth around a newly planted Joshua tree seedling in the California Mojave Desert. To see all the scorched trees, it’s really a lot to take in.” Over 1,500 Joshua tree seedlings will be planted in the California Mojave Desert, where the Dome fire wrought devastation. “Then the Dome fire happened, and …

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Imagine no Joshua trees in Joshua Tree National Park
3 years, 6 months ago

Imagine no Joshua trees in Joshua Tree National Park

LA Times  

If you have any questions about how the plants and animals of Southern California’s deserts are faring as the Earth gets hotter and drier, Jim Cornett is a good bet to have the answers. “This is only the second time in my life that I’ve seen a wood rat’s nest in a living ocotillo,” said Cornett, who makes multiple visits …

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