East Bay Regional Conservation Investment Strategy Draft Released

A State law passed in 2016, AB 2087, establishes a conservation planning tool called a Regional Conservation Investment Strategy (RCIS) to promote the conservation of species, habitats, and other natural resources. The draft East Bay RCIS, which addresses Alameda and Contra Costa Counties is one of six pilot RCISs currently being developed in California.

The draft East Bay RCIS:

• Is a voluntary, non-binding assessment of conservation priorities;
• Is being developed based on existing plans and other information, including the East Contra Costa County Habitat Conservation Plan/Natural Community Conservation Plan (HCP/NCCP), the East Alameda County Conservation Strategy, and the Bay Area’s Conservation Lands Network, among others;
• Promotes landscape-scale conservation through protection, restoration, and enhancement of high priority habitat, including actions to improve habitat connectivity for wildlife;
• Identifies areas suitable for conservation and mitigation investments by local, state, and federal government entities as well as private entities and conservation organizations;
• Considers focal species and sensitive habitats, and addresses working lands, proposed infrastructure, and development projects;
• Is designed to be consistent with and complement the East Contra Costa County HCP/NCCP that covers a portion of the RCIS area; and
• Is being proposed by the State Coastal Conservancy, which is developing the RCIS in collaboration with partner organizations and agencies and through a planning process that provides opportunities for public input.

The draft East Bay RCIS is available for public review. Once finalized, the East Bay RCIS can be used as a guide for conservation investments and to facilitate implementation of advance mitigation, where mitigation needed for multiple projects is pooled and implemented in advance of project impacts, resulting in higher quality conservation and expedited project delivery.

The draft East Bay RCIS and additional information about the statewide RCIS program can be found at: https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Planning/Regional-Conservation. Comments on the East Bay RCIS can be sent to laura.cholodenko@scc.ca.gov and rcis@wildlife.ca.gov or mailed to Habitat Conservation Planning Branch, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, P.O. Box 944209, Sacramento, CA 94244. For further information on the draft East Bay RCIS, please contact laura.cholodenko@scc.ca.gov.