CA bill could make it easier for large developers to ax iconic (Joshua) trees

[mountaineer]

California bill could make it easier for large developers to ax iconic trees
By Alec Regimbal
May 3, 2024
SF Gate

A bill working its way through the California legislature would make it less burdensome for commercial and industrial developers to cut down Joshua trees, one of the state’s most iconic plants.

Existing law requires developers to pay a fee for each Joshua tree they remove unless they take certain steps to alleviate damage done to the environment. Enacted in 2023, the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act also allows local governments to levy smaller fees for minor development projects.

But an assemblymember representing a broad swath of the Mojave Desert, where the trees grow, wants to make it easier to cut them down. Assembly Bill 2443, if passed, would let cities and counties offer the same benefits to developers looking to build larger “industrial projects and commercial projects.” ...

A legislative analysis of the bill said opponents believe the bill’s passage could result in the destruction of “hundreds” of trees in a single project. They also say, according to the analysis, that allowing large developers to pay smaller fees could decrease the money the state collects for conservation by “50% or more,” and that the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act is so new that any changes would blunt its impact. ...

[mountaineer]

Basin & Range Watch
@BasinRange
4,200 Joshua trees are scheduled to be removed are replaced by solar panels for the Aratina Solar Project near Boron, CA in June of this year.  They will not be salvaged but funds based on the size of the tree will be placed in a mitigation bank.
1:43 PM · May 4, 2024

Mike LaChance
@MikeLaChance33
We have to destroy the environment in order to save it.
6:24 PM · May 5, 2024

[GtHawk]

But don't you dare drive your ORV's out there because they are bad for the environment, sanctimonious hypocrites need to be tarred and feathered and run out on rails. It really makes you wonder why they even bothered with this https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/pollinators/animals/joshuatreeseed/index.shtml#:~:text=Joshua%20trees%20are%20pollinated%20only,remarkable%20example%20of%20co%2Devolution.

[PeteS in CA]

Basin & Range Watch
@BasinRange
4,200 Joshua trees are scheduled to be removed are replaced by solar panels for the Aratina Solar Project near Boron, CA in June of this year.  They will not be salvaged but funds based on the size of the tree will be placed in a mitigation bank.
1:43 PM · May 4, 2024

Mike LaChance
@MikeLaChance33
We have to destroy the environment in order to save it.
6:24 PM · May 5, 2024
...

This proposed bill had me scratching my head. I've driven through areas that have Joshua trees (along I-10) multiple times. It's not prime residential development real estate. That the Greenies want it for a Bird Fryer farm boondoggle makes Prog-sense of the bill.

[mountaineer]

IOW, we must destroy the trees to save the trees.
 

[DefiantMassRINO]

 

The Mojave Green Rattlesnakes will be pissed ...