WCMSHCP: 153,000 Acres

MSHCP Alternatives 153,000 acres of private land may not be enough

Alternative conservation plans for the western Riverside County Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan were presented by Riverside County Integrated Plan consultant June Wilson of Dudek on October 4, 2000, to a group that included representatives of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and California Department of Fish and Game, Supervisors Tom Mullen and Jim Venable, Farm Bureau, Building Industry Association, Endangered Habitats League and others. Participants have 30 days to review the document before a November 9 decision is made to select an alternative for continued development. Ed Sauls commented that stakeholders could shape their own plan that would differ from the consultant's proposals.

More than 153,000 acres could ultimately be needed to preserve all identified species, and policies that could restrict private land use or demand that owners of private land dedicate portions of their property to the habitat plan remain in discussion.

The alternatives are contained in a 3-inch thick document that details the species and habitats that might be covered and how they can be conserved. A 41-page executive summary, with five maps, describes the four (actually five*) alternatives, which are (1) all 164 species that have been proposed for inclusion, (2) listed, proposed and strong candidate species, *(2A) narrow endemic species, (3) listed and proposed species only, and (4) existing reserves.

USFWS Regional Director Mike Spear indicated he expected local participants would likely propose a plan somewhere between alternatives 1 and 2, including some but not all of the nonlisted species on the list of 164 species, to achieve a balance of cost and acreages.

Alternative 1 calls for 153,000 acres of private land to be added to county habitat reserves, whether through outright purchase, conservation easements or other mechanisms.

Farm Bureau noted that the 153,000 acres may not be a final number. The plan consultant said biological surveys would still be needed for certain species, about which there is not sufficient information, that the surveys could be required both within and outside of conservation assessment units (the broad areas where some portions of land would be conserved), and new information about critical species could require additional acreage to be conserved. Farm Bureau called this a blank check to expand the habitat acquisition in the future, giving no guarantee that 153,000 acres is the maximum to be set aside.

Endangered Habitats League and others argued that the California Environmental Quality Act will still require biological surveys for certain species.

The plan consultant also mentioned, yet again, the possibility that policies -- regulatory restrictions on private land use -- could be a tool to conserve habitat. Dan Silver of the Endangered Habitats League cited the San Diego effort and proposed that Riverside should consider a similar plan. Under such a policy, a property owner would be restricted to developing the least-environmentally-valuable part of his property and would be required to dedicate the remainder to the habitat program. Silver observed that the San Diego plan has used a 25-75 ratio, where the owner gets to use only 25% of his property, but acknowledged that Riverside could apply a different ratio. He argued such a restriction would still be fair as long as the property owner can build the same number of units on the smaller acreage as was allowed on the entire parcel.

Farm Bureau repeated its opposition to any regulatory policy that demands land from property owners within conservation areas.

Farm Bureau and others commended the consultant for delivering a comprehensive document that can be used by the Advisory Committee to decide how to proceed.

Binder copies of the complete alternatives document were distributed to most of those attending this meeting, but Transportation and Land Management Agency Director Richard Lashbrook said the complete document would also be available in CD format for additional distribution.