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The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has released a new plan to protect Joshua trees, which are threatened by wildfires, development, and climate change. Joshua trees are endemic to the Mojave Desert and only grow in California between 1,600 and 6,600 feet of elevation.
The plan includes minimizing both direct and indirect impacts to Joshua trees from overgrazing, pesticides, and off-roading, as well as relocating trees threatened by development and identifying and protecting lands where the trees could thrive in the future. The plan also requires the state to develop procedures to reduce and fight wildfires that threaten Joshua trees, as well as replant trees lost to wildfires.
The plan calls on land managers to identify habitat that should be prioritized for conservation, such as large areas with Joshua trees or areas with a high density of healthy and adult trees. It aims to identify these lands by December 2025 and permanently protect 70 percent of them by 2033.
Feds finalize rule to end future coal leasing in Powder River Basin
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has finalized plans to end future coal leasing on about 1.7 million acres of federal land in Montana’s Powder River Basin as part of an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The U.S. coal market has experienced a precipitous decline in recent years due to coal's high production cost and greenhouse gas emissions.
The plan allows some existing mining in the basin to continue through 2060. Still, U.S. Senator Steve Daines of Montana vowed to reverse the decision through legislation, and Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon said he plans to work with the incoming Trump administration to reverse the decision.
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There’s a word for when the state tries to convince the public of a political position—propaganda. There is no doubt in my mind that that is the proper word to apply to this PR campaign... Some of it, of course, is aimed at convincing Utah voters that their money is not being tossed into a dumpster and set on fire, which is, in fact, what’s happening.”
