500 signatures reached
To: David Bernhardt, Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior
Save the Joshua Tree!
I am writing to ask you to reconsider your denial of Endangered Species Act protections for the Joshua tree. The best available science clearly shows that climate change is a threat to this iconic desert plant.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's denial of the 2015 petition to list the tree is fatally flawed. The Service completely dismisses multiple quantitative climate models and discounts science on Joshua tree reproduction and dispersal, which shows that Joshua trees are not likely to expand or shift their range in response to changing climates. But there is still time to do the right thing and issue a new decision that fully accounts for the impacts of climate change. I respectfully ask you to withdraw the denial and issue much-needed protection for the Joshua tree before this iconic species disappears forever.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's denial of the 2015 petition to list the tree is fatally flawed. The Service completely dismisses multiple quantitative climate models and discounts science on Joshua tree reproduction and dispersal, which shows that Joshua trees are not likely to expand or shift their range in response to changing climates. But there is still time to do the right thing and issue a new decision that fully accounts for the impacts of climate change. I respectfully ask you to withdraw the denial and issue much-needed protection for the Joshua tree before this iconic species disappears forever.
Why is this important?
A Western icon and the namesake of California’s Joshua Tree National Park, the Joshua tree’s spiny majesty has dominated Mojave Desert landscapes for thousands of years. Unfortunately, the tree’s inability to withstand the effects of climate change means it may not be around for the next hundred unless we act now. Sign our petition to Secretary of the Interior Bernhardt asking him to reconsider granting Endangered Species Act protections to this desert plant.