Posted on 06/28/2021 12:53:29 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Two home builders who destroyed 36 Joshua trees on their Prescott Avenue property were fined $18,000 in court Tuesday.
“It is unlawful to remove these trees. It is a violation that will be investigated thoroughly and prosecuted,” said Patrick Foy, a captain with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The investigation began Feb. 11, when a Morongo Basin resident saw two local landowners uprooting Joshua trees to make way for a single-family home. They had the trees pulled from the ground and were burying them in a hole on the property, according to the prosecutor.
“A resident in the community who is faced with the same restrictions on developing property, that person was upset to see these two property owners going out and bulldozing 32 Joshua trees and destroying and burying them,” Foy said.
The witness called the CalTip poaching and pollution tip line run by the state Fish & Wildlife Department.
“The action was in progress when the tip came in — in fact the backhoe was actively knocking down and burying these trees, and our closest officer was more than two hours away,” Foy said.
“It wasn’t even his normal patrol area but because the potential crime was in progress, he ran over there and they had just wrapped up for the day. It was pretty obvious what had happened.”
According to Douglas Poston, the supervising deputy district attorney for the Morongo Basin, the wildlife officer found what was clearly a freshly dug and refilled hole.
“His investigation involved using a backhoe to re-dig the hole, where he recovered the buried Joshua trees.”
The officer presented his findings to Poston’s office and they decided to prosecute the landowners, Jeffrey Walter and Jonetta Nordberg-Walter.
The county district attorney’s office filed 36 misdemeanor charges each against Walter and Nordberg-Walter, one for each tree.
Poston said the couple represented themselves in court and cooperated with his office.
They appeared in Judge Shanon Faherty’s courtroom in Joshua Tree on Tuesday and agreed to pay $9,000 each.
“A portion of the fine has been previously paid, and the defendants may earn some additional credit toward the fine by performing volunteer work for Joshua Tree National Park or the Mojave Desert Land Trust,” Poston stated in a press release.
The $18,000 will go into the Western Joshua Tree Mitigation Fund, an account opened by the state. Fish & Wildlife documents say money in the fund pays for land where western Joshua trees will be permanently protected.
The developers also agreed to not violate any law for the diversion period, which starts at 24 months but may be terminated after 12 if they fully comply.
If they pay the fine and complete all terms, the court will dismiss the case. If not, Poston said the district attorney will proceed with prosecution.
Foy and Douglas Poston, supervising prosecutor at the district attorney’s Morongo Basin office, issued a press release about the case to spread the word on Joshua tree protections.
“We wanted to let the public know this is a real thing,” Poston said. “You can be prosecuted criminally now.”
Taking a western Joshua tree became a criminal act in September 2020, when the state Fish & Wildlife Commission made the tree a candidate for endangered or threatened species protections, Foy said.
“The population status of the western Joshua tree has justified its proposed listing and it’s something that we are certainly taking very seriously,” Foy said. “It has been a higher priority for our investigators since the commission decision.”
It is illegal to disturb, move, replant remove or kill western Joshua trees. Taking a western Joshua tree is a misdemeanor crime punishable by up to $4,100 in fines and six months in jail.
The CalTip hotline is run 24 hours a day, seven days a week at (888) 334-2258 and tip411.
Anyone with a cellphone may send an anonymous tip to Fish & Wildlife by texting “CALTIP”, followed by a space and the message, to 847411 (tip411).
I don’t know why anyone would do this.
They were certain to know the law on it because they tried to hide it.
Yes, it is a criminal act.
Do not be surprised if they purchases the property after the restrictions were implemented.
They should have been fined the full $4,100 per tree.
No doubt whoever knocked down those trees knew they were there before they bought the property and knew there were laws protecting them.
Pay the fine.
I was thinking the permission/forgiveness thing. Essentially it cost them $500 each to get rid of these things they didn’t want.
Permission would never have been granted.
Illegal aliens can destroy anything they want in that area.
Why do developers look at trees and the first thing they think is, 'let's cut down the trees'?
If I picked a wilderness area to build a house I would do so because of the per-existing landscape. Why would I want to alter the landscape which is likely why I picked that location?
It makes no sense. Pick a lot without trees if you don't want trees. Save money on tree removal.
I don't get it.
The law is only a year old. Could they not claim the trees were theirs if they had the property before the law changed?
Then find a lot that doesn't have tree. Why pick a lot that has trees you don't want?
Property owners should have burned them in an Unforgettable Fire ...
... {sorry ... couldn't help myself ...}
Why the hell they did not transplant them?
They are not that hard to do that.
Do atheists know about that?
These are trees owned by the homeowner. Government is overreaching.
If they were truly interested in preserving the tress, they would let people like this be able to advertise and sell them to other people who would take them and replant tgem in other locations. The trees remain alive somewhere else, so government retards is happy, homeowners get paid to remove unwanted trees, homeowners are happy.
Or design around them and make them part of your landscape. They would have made a great yard feature adding value to the property while requiring practically no maintenance other than picking up a frond once every two years.
What is this obsession with seeing trees and wanting to cut them down?
Have you ever had White Pines?
So if they're real good they can start breaking the law again in a year.
That is exactly right, they don’t care about the trees, they care about paying your dues first before you kill them. Environmental permit and study, Removal permits, Etc. Etc. It is all about the money not the trees.
Only a 3rd party licensed and approved environmental contractor can do that.
It is all about the money not the trees.
......the gubmint wants its cut before you cut.
Its Cal. So...
I have seen them dig them things up all over here and replant them. Barrel Cactus and everything. But this aint Cal..
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