CA Couple Fined $18K For Destroying 36 Joshua Trees

MORONGO BASIN, CA — While planning to build a home, a couple illegally bulldozed 36 Joshua trees, a desert tree that is a candidate for protection under the Endangered Species Act. They are facing $18,000 in fines, according to multiple reports.

An investigation began in February in Morongo Basin, when the couple's neighbor, who was not named, reported the pair after he saw them using a tractor to destroy the sensitive trees. It was reported to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife through a tip line, officials told the Los Angeles Times.

The couple in question — Jeffery Walter and Jonetta Nordberg-Walter — was told by their neighbor not to remove the trees. But the couple reportedly believed that the trees could legally be removed if they were of a certain size, the newspaper reported.

"I would hope that the person that would otherwise take, remove, bulldoze a Joshua tree would understand that they are facing fairly significant criminal liability for doing so," Douglas Poston, supervising deputy district attorney with the San Bernardino County district attorney’s office, told the LA Times.

Read more from the Los Angeles Times: Couple fined $18,000 for bulldozing dozens of Joshua trees to make way for home