Urge the Biden administration to protect Joshua trees

WildEarth Guardians petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to list the Joshua tree as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 2015. The Service denied the petition in August 2019, so we took the Service to court.

In September 2021, we scored a groundbreaking legal victory for imperiled Joshua trees when a federal judge ruled that USFWS violated the law when they failed to list the imperiled Joshua tree under the Endangered Species Act.

But success in court doesn’t mean that USFWS will ultimately do right by listing the Joshua tree as a threatened species. Please support Joshua tree conservation by urging the Biden administration to protect Joshua trees under the ESA.

Photo Credit: Frank DeBonis

Recipients

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland
Martha Williams, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

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Dear Sec. Haaland and Principal Deputy Director Williams,

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I'm writing to ask you to reconsider the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's denial of Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for the Joshua tree. The best available science clearly shows that climate change is a threat to this iconic desert plant.

The Service's 2019 decision denying federal protection for the Joshua tree under the ESA was not only fatally flawed, but according to a federal court ruling in September 2021, it was also illegal. The Service now has the opportunity to rectify this past mistake and heed the science, which is now all the more conclusive on the combined impacts of climate change and uncharacteristically severe fire on the Joshua tree's ability to survive beyond the 21st century.

I respectfully ask that you promptly list both the eastern and western species of Joshua tree as a threatened species under the ESA so the Service can get to work in developing a recovery plan that ensures Joshua trees can adapt to climate change before this iconic species disappears forever.

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