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Riverside County Farm Bureau, Inc.
21160 Box Springs Road, Suite 102
Moreno Valley, California 92557, USA
Telephone 951/684-6732 - FAX 951/782-0621 - E-mail President@RiversideCFB.com
Visit our Internet site at
http://www.riversidecfb.com/
Affiliated with the California Farm Bureau Federation and the
American Farm Bureau Federation
November 21, 2000
Director Richard Lashbrook
Transportation and Land Management Agency
County of Riverside
P.O. Box 1090
Riverside, California 92502-1090
Subject: Agenda item for MSHCP Advisory
Committee regarding critical habitat and cities' participation
Dear Richard:
Riverside County Farm Bureau proposes that
an item be placed on the agenda for the MSHCP Advisory Committee
to forward two questions to the Board of Supervisors regarding critical
habitat.
We propose to ask through the Board of
Supervisors that County Counsel give an opinion about whether, when
completed, this 153,000-acre plan will be accepted by the United
States Fish and Wildlife Service and California Department of Fish
and Game as mitigation for the targeted species in place of the
critical habitat already designated for some species included in
the MSHCP and whether USFWS and CDFG will eliminate critical habitat
restrictions on all lands not conserved through the MSHCP. We believe
this opinion is essential to the committee's decision-making process.
We also propose to ask through the Board
of Supervisors that County Counsel give an opinion about whether,
if any or all of the cities fail to join the MSHCP, this plan can
be completed and implemented and whether USFWS and CDFG will accept
it as mitigation for the targeted species.
Farm Bureau believes that critical habitat
designations impose additional burdens on property owners beyond
the conservation proposed under this plan, that a principal reason
for creating this plan is to manage the cumulative conservation
required through formal assurances from the regulatory agencies,
and that failure to gain such assurances removes any benefit derived
from enacting this plan.
Sincerely,
Andy Domenigoni
President
Riverside County Farm Bureau
cc: Board of Supervisors
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