IINTRODUCTION
Purpose
Our
goal is to conserve and protect the desert tortoise and
nearly 100 other sensitive plants and animals, as well
as the ecosystems on which they depend. At the same time,
we want to provide developers of public and private projects
with a streamlined program for compliance with the California
and federal endangered species acts that regulates consistently,
reduces delays and expenses, eliminates uncertainty and
applies the costs of compensation and mitigation equitably
to all agencies and parties.
PLANNING
AREA
Location
The
9.4 million-acre planning area encompasses most of California's
western Mojave Desert. It extends from Olancha in Inyo
County on the north to the San Gabriel and San Bernardino
Mountains on the south, and from the Antelope Valley on
the west to the Mojave National Preserve on the east.
About one third of the planning area is private land,
another third is within military bases, and the final
third consists of public lands managed by the federal
Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
The
Human Setting
Bordering
the rapidly-growing Los Angeles basin, the population
of the western Mojave Desert has tripled over the last
twenty years, and rapid growth is expected to continue
over the next few decades. The planning area is the site
of urban expansion and its associated effects, and is
a popular recreation region. In addition, mining, agriculture,
grazing and other activities are widespread. The region
is the site of wind and solar energy generating plants,
and is criss-crossed by electric transmission lines and
highways, as well as water, crude oil and natural gas
pipelines, all of which serve coastal California urban
areas.
Biological
Diversity
The
West Mojave is an area rich in biological diversity. Vegetation
communities and landforms are varied because of its location
adjacent to the Transverse Ranges of the South Coast Bioregion,
the Sierra Bioregion, the Great Basin Bioregion, and the
Colorado Desert Bioregion. The West Mojave region has
an average annual rainfall of 6 inches, occurring primarily
in winter. The elevation ranges from about 1,000 feet
to slightly over 5,000 feet. Temperature ranges from below
freezing in winter to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the
summer.
The
most common vegetation communities in the planning area
are Mojave creosote bush scrub, desert saltbush scrub,
Mojave mixed woody scrub, Mojavean pinyon and juniper
woodland, blackbrush scrub, and Mojavean juniper woodland.
There
are many special status species that are known to occur
in the planning area. Special status species refers to
animal and plant species that are listed as threatened
or endangered, are proposed for listing, or are candidates
for listing by the state and / or federal government.
It also includes species that are California protected
species and California species of special concern; species
designated as sensitive by the BLM; and plants identified
by the California Native Plant Society as rare, threatened,
endangered, or of limited distribution in California.
The inclusion of species in the planning effort does not
represent an attempt to have them all federally or state-listed
as threatened or endangered. Rather, the purpose of including
species in the West Mojave planning effort is to find
ways to keep them from ever having to be listed.
PLANNING
PROCESS
Participating
Agencies
The
West Mojave Plan is being jointly prepared by agencies
having administrative responsibility or regulatory authority
over species of concern within the planning area. The
plan will enable the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
(USFWS) and the California Department of Fish and Game
(CDFG) to issue programmatic biological opinions, incidental
take permits and "no surprises" assurances to
each of the participating agencies at the conclusion of
the planning process. The plan will function as a habitat
conservation plan for the permit applications. These programmatic
opinions, permits and assurances will allow local jurisdictions
and agencies to provide developers of public and private
projects with permits containing standardized mitigation
and compensation requirements that are pre-approved by
USFWS and CDFG as being in compliance with the California
and federal endangered species acts. Permits could be
issued quickly without the need for time-consuming case-by-case
consultations with USFWS and CDFG. The plan is currently
under preparation and will be completed in 2002.
The
participating agencies include the following:
Incorporated
towns and cities: Adelanto, Apple Valley, Barstow, California
City, Hesperia, Lancaster, Palmdale, Ridgecrest, Twentynine
Palms, Victorville, and Yucca Valley
Counties:
Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino
Special
district: Indian Wells Valley Water District
State
agencies: the Department of Parks and Recreation, the
State Lands Commission, Department of Fish and Game
Military
installations: China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station, Edwards
Air Force Base, Fort Irwin National Training Center, Marine
Corps Logistics Base at Nebo / Yermo, and Marine Corps
Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms
Other
federal agencies: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
at Goldstone, BLM, USFWS and National Park Service
Numerous
unincorporated communities
Supergroup
The
participating agencies are cooperating with a variety
of business, environmental organizations, user groups
and others with a stake in the future management of the
planning area. This "Supergroup" will collectively
develop the West Mojave Plan.
EQUITABLE
PRECEPTS
On
September 10, 1997, the Supergroup adopted the following
mission statement and principles to guide their preparation
of the West Mojave Plan.
Mission
Statement
The
West Mojave Plan will provide an improved and streamlined
process which minimizes the need for individual consultations
with the USFWS and CDFG while providing better science
for species conservation. The Plan will allow projects
to be approved and signed-off rapidly. Project proponents
will know the mitigation measures that will be required
of them before the project is presented to the local government
or, in the case of public land, presented to the state
or federal agency.
Principles
The
ultimate goal of the Plan will be based on specified measures
to enable project proponents to comply with the requirements
of the California and federal endangered species acts.
The Plan will be equitable, predictable and compatible
with local, state and federal agency permitting procedures
so as to be easily administered.
The
mitigation strategy will be responsive to the needs and
unique characteristics of the many diverse industries
and activities in the program area on both public and
private land while allowing compatible economic growth.
Project
proponents shall have a choice of utilizing the conservation
program or working directly with the CDFG or USFWS to
address endangered species act compliance.
The
Plan will incorporate realistic fiscal considerations,
with identified sources, i.e. federal, state, local, public
and private.
The
Plan will ensure that no one group of desert users will
be singled out to disproportionately bear the burden of
Plan implementation.
The Plan will have the flexibility to respond to future
legislative, regulatory and judicial requirements.
BENEFITS
OF THE PLAN
Adoption
of the plan will benefit landowners, land developers and
users, and land management and regulatory agencies by:
- Providing
a streamlined, predictable permit process
- Defining
consistent mitigation and compensation obligations
- Reducing
project costs by eliminating the need for biological
surveys in certain areas
- Reducing
the need for project-specific incidental take permits
- Reducing
the uncertainty related to requirements for long-term
species and habitat conservation
The
West Mojave plan is an attempt at defining a regional
strategy for conserving plant and animal species and their
habitats and to define an efficient, equitable, and cost-effective
process for complying with threatened and endangered species
laws.
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