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Preserving our open space heritage • Protecting our economy • Building our future
Habitat Conservation Plans -Landscape Level Conservation in a Rapidly Developing Rural-Urban
Interface
The Riverside County Experience
Large Landscape Conservation ConferenceOctober 24, 2014
Why a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP)?
• Advanced Mitigation is provided for infrastructure• Needed infrastructure is able to be placed• Open space is not fragmented• Development is not fragmented• Habitat is not slowly strangled by cumulative edge effects• The most effective way to deal with thousands of parcels • Provides buy-in from diverse stakeholders
• Certainty in preservation• Certainty in development
There are over 400 Habitat ConservationPlans nationwide,most are single species
There are approximatelyTwo dozen HCPs completed In California
Habitat Conservation Plans
Western Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority*
Mission:
To establish a 500,000 acre habitat reserve to protect, restore and enhance habitats for 146
species of native plants and animals in western Riverside County, in order to support the placement
of needed infrastructure
*A Joint Powers Authority, administered by the County and Cities
History - Riverside County Integrated Project• Initiated by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors• Recognition that land use and infrastructure decisions were
driven by environmental issues, especially endangered and threatened species rules
• Addresses environmental issues as a component of land use and infrastructure planning
• Buy-in from diverse stakeholder groups; environmental, development, infrastructure, homeowners and others in a conservative county
• Three part integrated program the Riverside County Integrated Project (RCIP)• Transportation• Land Use (General Plan)• Habitat Conservation (MSHCP)
Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan
• Linchpin to the Riverside County Integrated Project
• Adopted in June 2003
• Permits issued in June 2004
• Supported by all 18 Western Riverside County Cities
• Partners include: Caltrans, State Parks, Riverside County Transportation Commission, Flood Control District, Parks and Open-Space District
“A plant to protect and sustain endangered and threatened animals and plants, and their habitats in a comprehensive way, so local governments can expedite the construction of infrastructure to support growth-particularly transportation facilities”
Goals
• Address cumulative impacts to biological resources to expedite infrastructure to serve growing region
• Protect biological resources
• Provide advanced mitigation forinfrastructure projects within the plan
• Provide flexibility in Reserve Assembly – thousands of parcels are affected
• Provides local control of permitting process – Federal and State permits grant authority to “take” species
What the MSHCP does • Allows all covered public infrastructure projects to proceed
inside the Criteria Area• Allows all public and private projects outside the Criteria Area
to proceed without delays associated with listed species • Compliance with the Plan provides all species related
mitigation for project State CEQA documents• Allows hiking, horseback riding and other recreation on
designated trails and designated areas
• Seeks conservation of 500,000 acres- 347,000 acres already conserved (PQP)- 153,000 acres of Additional Reserve Lands (ARL) –
acquired from private property owners• Covers “take” of 146 plant and animal species (33 are listed)• Criteria Based – no hard line maps
- Conservation is described – as opposed to mapped to allow flexibility
The Basics
• Shared acquisition: 2/3 Local, 1/3 State and Federal • Local Funding
– Development mitigation fees– Landfill tipping fees– Infrastructure contribution – TUMF (5%), Measure A,
Flood Control (3%), other (5% or per acre fee)– Other public facilities (libraries, parks, etc.)– Participating Special Entities (i.e., Utilities)
• Federal Funding – Section 6 (HCP) only– Western Riverside Plan has no Refuge or Conservancy
Funding Sources
Management and monitoring stewardship is occurring on over 400,000 acres currently
Management/Monitoring
“To protect, restore and enhance habitats and the populations of native plants and animals of western Riverside County.”
Monitoring Program
A full time monitoring crew of biologists performs surveys throughout the year. All 146 species have had focused surveys conducted by the Monitoring Program or partnering agencies, and/or have been incidentally observed:
• 8 year monitoring cycle – some species more frequently (annual or more)
• A total of 141 of 146 species have been detected in the Conservation Area
• Focused surveys by Monitoring Program have detected 130 species
• Focused surveys have been conducted by partnering agencies for 3
additional species [e.g., SB flying squirrel (U.S. Forest Service)]
• Another 8 species have been detected incidentally
Spreading navarretia Granite spiny lizard Yellow-breasted chat White tailed kite Long-tailed weasel
FY 2004
& 2005
FY 2006
FY 2007
FY 2008
FY 2009
FY 2010
FY 2011
FY 2012
FY 2013
FY 2014
$-
$5,000,000
$10,000,000
$15,000,000
$20,000,000
$25,000,000
$30,000,000
$35,000,000
$40,000,000
$25
,975
,060
$35
,452
,864
$22
,439
,770
$12
,697
,455
$7,
217,
933
$7,
500,
954
$6,
284,
238
$5,
174,
630
$9,
385,
012
$9,
913,
187
• Issues- Required 100% Acquisitions must come first- Have to stay in Rough Step- Development Pressures- Limited Funding Availability
• Lessons- Prioritize acquisitions- Look for other partners- Be flexible within your priorities- Use any opportunities to acquire “gems”
Funding Challenges
• Even with highly successful plans, subjective interpretation of the plan will lead to conflict- Most plans are written as compromises
• Revenue cycles may not be tied to plan requirements• A criteria-based plan requires extensive
understanding of plan objectives- Flexibility is critical
• Continuing to remind stakeholders why you made the plan is a must do- Newsletters, meetings
Other Lessons Learned
Acres Conserved Funding Expended
Local vs. Federal / State Funding
Total Acres Conserved 48,265 * Total Funding Expended $456,885,894*Donation Values Included
Totals Thru 10/9/2014
Major Plan Successes
• Developed a comprehensive plan that ensures species habitat, development and infrastructure are holistically addressed
• Stewardship of the Reserve is taking place on over 400,000 acres in compliance with the MSHCP
• Acquired over 48,000 additional acres to date • Another 6,000+ acres has been conditioned through the land
development process to come into the reserve• Facilitated Permittee projects, while restoring habitat, by
using RCA properties for dozens of mitigation/restoration projects
Major Policy Successes
• Worked to provide a loan program for HCPs that support infrastructure– Loan program is now part of the Water Resources
Development Act (WRDA)– Loan program language is currently in the Senate version
of the new Transportation Bill
• Federal Section 6 funding – Funding continues for HCP acquisition and planning
• New Metro link rail line• Two new freeways• Six major freeway widening projects• Five major highway widening projects• Over a dozen freeway and highway interchange projects• Major dam remediation• Five major power distribution projects• Water distribution projects• Dozens of local road improvements
Major Projects Expedited Under the MSHCP
Questions?
Charles Landry, Executive Director Western Riverside County
Regional Conservation [email protected]