'Difficult decades ahead': Calif. lawmakers preserve iconic tree - SFGATE
'Difficult decades ahead': Calif. lawmakers preserve iconic tree
Joshua Tree National Park, Calif. © Allard Schager/Getty Images
In a win for conservationists, California lawmakers passed the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act, which will permanently protect the iconic trees from displacement, on Tuesday as part of the state budget agreement. The new law puts an end to a multiyear dispute over how to conserve the species in the face of climate change.
The act prohibits any person from importing, exporting, possessing, selling or taking a western Joshua tree or any part or product of the tree “except as provided pursuant to existing law or by paying a specified fee,” according to its summary.
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