The California Fish and Game Commission voted Wednesday to further delay its decision on whether to list the western Joshua tree as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act.
Commissioners argued that they need more time to hear input from Indigenous tribes affiliated with where the tree lives.
The commission also couldn’t settle on a decision in June.
The native desert plant has interim protections in the meantime, meaning no one can remove the tree without authorization from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The Center for Biological Diversity petitioned for the tree to be listed as threatened.