Economic Effects of Regional Habitat Conservation Plans

This White Paper evaluates the hypothesis that regional Habitat Conservation Plans confer substantial economic benefits to the private and public sectors. The study, published in 2014, draws conclusions on the economic effects of regional HCPs through the lens of four different case studies in California, as well as the body of professional reports and academic papers that have examined similar questions. The case studies are in S

an Diego, Riverside, San Joaquin and Contra Costa Counties. While they represent a limited sample size, they provide important insights into the economic effects of regional HCPs. Quantification of economic effects is provided for each case study, were possible, with case study results aggregated to provide illustrative estimates of the potential California-wide effects.

HCPs and Climate Change

This White Paper includes two main elements: 1) a review of the literature on climate change and conservation plans to identify climate-adapted approaches to HCPs; and, 2) exploration of how existing HCPs are addressing climate change through case studies of the Balcones Canyonlands Conservation Plan and the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Plan. The project technical advisory group comprised of individuals participating in various aspects of HCPs throughout the United States provided input at critical junctures. This report presents:

  • Six key approaches to make HCPs more climate adapted;
  • Eleven additional climate change resiliency concepts that emerged during the project; and
  • Recommendations for potential next steps to further explore how to integrate climate adaptation into HCP

Pima County: Integrating Habitat Conservation with Floodplain Management

Pima County’s Multi-species Conservation Plan integrates floodplain management with species protection, a logical step given that many federally protected species require access to floodplains for some part of their life cycle. Two key provisions of the floodplain ordinance that provide species protection  . .

Advance Implementation of the Pima County Multi-species Conservation Plan

In anticipation of obtaining an incidental take permit, Pima County (Arizona) began acquiring mitigation land in 2004. The County’s permit and Multi-species Conservation Plan was not finalized until 2016.  Concurrent with these mitigation efforts, the County also developed or strengthened species  . . .

Feral Pigs Near Eradication in San Diego County CA

Pigs (Sus scrofa) are native to Eurasia and northern Africa. In the early 1700s Spanish and Russian settlers introduced domestic pigs to California as livestock and many became feral. In the 1920s a Monterey county landowner introduced the European wild boar, a wild subspecies of Sus scrofa into California,  . . .

Documenting Decisions

Forestry Habitat Conservation Plan for Bats on Pennsylvania State Game Lands, State Forests, and State Parks Issue: Coming to an agreement on decisions internally and with USFWS is the foundation of the HCP process. Early on in the HCP’s development, we identified who the decision makers were for  . . .

Start Slow to go Fast

Regional scale HCPs can take many years to prepare and run into various obstacles that cause delays.  Ken Schreiber, then the project manager for preparing the Santa Clara Valley HCP in California, suggested that some of these delays could be avoided or minimized by starting slowly and determining a  . .