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- By Tribal Business News Staff
- Real Estate
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has acquired 640 acres in San Bernardino County for western Joshua tree conservation and is working with a Native land organization on plans for tribal co-management of the property.
The Aug. 24 purchase, northwest of Pioneertown, is the second made with funding from the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Fund. The two acquisitions cover a combined 923 acres, and the state agency said it is considering additional properties totaling 2,500 acres. It did not disclose the price of the 640-acre parcel.
The fund receives mitigation fees collected from developers under a state law that requires permits for activities that harm western Joshua trees. More than $23.5 million has gone into the fund to date, according to the department. The money can be used to buy and manage conservation land, restore habitat and monitor the tree species.
The department said it is working with the Native American Land Conservancy on plans for the property’s long-term protection and co-management with California tribes. It has not identified the tribes that would participate or announced a management agreement.
“We are so blessed to be able to steward this place into the future,” Michael Madrigal, the conservancy’s president and a member of the Cahuilla Tribe, said in a statement. “I will never forget the first time I went to this new preserve. It is such an amazing place with some of the largest Joshua trees I have ever seen.”
The department said research and climate projections identified the property as a promising future habitat for western Joshua trees in Southern California. The acquisition supports a state conservation plan approved in 2025.
“This is an example of the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Plan successfully put into action, as was intended, to help us protect this unique species in collaboration with tribal partners,” department Director Meghan Hertel said in a statement.
