Electric Project Approvals Near Joshua Tree Park Survive Lawsuit

An Interior Department agency dodged a conservation group’s challenge to its approvals for an electric generation project near Joshua Tree National Park in California.

The National Parks Conservation Association’s arguments for summary judgment in the case against Interior’s Bureau of Land Management weren’t persuasive, Judge Daniel J. Calabretta of the US District Court for the Eastern District of California said in an order filed Aug. 29.

The group sued BLM over its decision to amend the California Desert Conservation Area Plan and allow the construction of an electrical line and water ...