Regional and Statewide Plans

Photo: Leslie Hunsaker

Plans and Policies That Implement Statewide Priorities and Are Consistent with Coastal Conservancy Objectives

The following identifies and provides details about statewide plans and policies that are consistent with the Conservancy’s mission and strategic plan objectives. This listing is not intended to be exhaustive: There may be other existing statewide plans or policies that are consistent with the Conservancy’s mission and objectives, and new statewide plans and policies undoubtedly will be adopted that will also be consistent.

Governor’s Executive Orders

Executive Order N-82-20 called for restoring nature and landscape health to deliver on our climate change goals and other critical priorities, including improving public health and safety, securing our food and water supplies, and achieving greater equity across California.

State Climate Adaptation Plans

State of California Sea Level Rise Guidance, 2024 Science and Policy Update (2024) This report updates and replaces the previous 2018 ‘State of California Sea Level Rise Guidance’ and marks the fourth iteration of statewide guidance since 2010 for state and local decision-makers to incorporate best available science on sea level rise into planning, design, permitting, investments, and other decisions
State Agency Sea-Level Rise Action Plan (2022) a first-of-its-kind, highly coordinated effort to outline a roadmap toward coastal resiliency for the state of California. Developed through intense collaboration from the 17 state agencies that make up the State Sea-Level Rise Leadership Team, the Plan is a living document that fosters accountability and collaboration for planning and implementing sea-level rise (SLR) action over the next five years.
California Climate Adaptation Strategy (2021) California’s Climate Adaptation Strategy outlines the state’s key climate resilience priorities, includes specific and measurable actions, and serves as a framework for collective efforts across sectors and regions in California.
Natural and Working Lands Climate Smart Strategy (2022) The Strategy identifies priorities for areas of near-term state focus to increase climate action on California’s natural and working lands.California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan. The Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan is designed to strategically accelerate efforts to: restore the health and resilience of California forests, grasslands and natural places, improve the fire safety of our communities, sustain the economic vitality of rural forested areas.

Access and Recreation Plans

Outdoors for All (2023) The Outdoors for All strategy charts progress on equitable outdoor access to date, highlights work underway, and identifies additional actions to realize the promise of a California for All. This strategy outlines pathways that governments, community organizations, philanthropy, private sector, and residents across California can take together to continue increasing access to the outdoors and nature.
Santa Ana River Parkway and Open Space Plan (2018) This plan guides the future development and management of the Santa Ana River Parkway, defined as the lands within 0.5-mile of the main stem of the Santa Ana River.
Explore the Coast Overnight Assessment (2019) This assessment guides the establishment of the Coastal Conservancy’s Explore the Coast Overnight and gives an overview of the availability of, and opportunities to develop, lower cost overnight accommodation near the coast.

Completing the California Coastal Trail. In 2003, the Coastal Conservancy prepared this strategic blueprint for the California Coastal Trail pursuant to Senate Bill 908 of 2001. The plan recommends ways for the Conservancy, Coastal Commission, State Parks, Caltrans and other state agencies to work together to facilitate completion of the trail. In addition, it identifies both policy and implementation priorities for completing the CCT. Many counties and regions have developed more specific plans for completing the CCT in their area.
San Francisco Bay Area Water Trail Design Guidelines (January 2019). Outlines best practices for facility and site design to meet the needs of non-motorized small boaters, while protecting public safety and the environment.
San Francisco Bay Trail Plan. The plan for the Bay Trail proposes development of a regional hiking and bicycling trail around the perimeter of San Francisco and San Pablo Bays.
Bay Area Ridge Trail Strategic Plan This Plan fleshes out key initiatives and actions, sets priorities, and weaves program elements together into a cohesive whole. Specific strategies target key trail challenges like: access across private land gaps, complex transportation crossings, supporting circumnavigators, engaging new communities, and raising funds to plan, build and maintain the trail.

California State Water Plans

California Water Action Plan. The California Natural Resources Agency, the California Environmental Protection Agency, and the California Department of Food and Agriculture developed this Water Action Plan to meet three broad objectives: more reliable water supplies, the restoration of species and habitat, and a more resilient, sustainably manager water resources system. It lays out the state’s challenges, goals, and actions needed to put California’s water resources on a safer, more sustainable path.

State Species and Habitat Protection Plans

Pathways to 30×30: Accelerating Conservation of California’s Nature (2022) This strategy sets California on the path to successfully implement our goal of conserving 30 percent of our lands and coastal waters by 2030 (30×30). This strategy:
- Describes the key objectives and core commitments that are a part of California’s 30×30 conservation framework.
- Defines conservation for the purpose of California’s 30×30 initiative and establishes a current baseline of conserved areas.
- Outlines strategic actions necessary to achieve our 30×30 target.
- Introduces CA Nature, a suite of publicly available applications to identify conservation opportunities and track our collective progress.
State Wildlife Action Plan (2015 update). The State Wildlife Action Plan 2015 presents a vision for fish and wildlife conservation, identifies species of greatest conservation need, and recommends actions that are implementable, measurable, and time-bound. It describes conservation strategies to maintain and increase ecosystem and native species distributions and abundance and to maintain and improve ecological conditions and ecosystem functions and processes.
California Salmon Strategy for a Hotter, Drier Future: Restoring Aquatic Ecosystems in the Age of Climate Change: This document outlines a path to a healthier, thriving salmon population in California, but achieving this result will have broader benefits beyond salmon.

State and Federal Species Recovery Plans

Central California Coast Coho Salmon Recovery Plan. NOAA Fisheries published this collaboratively developed plan in September 2012. Based on the biological needs of the fish, it provides the foundation for restoring the populations to healthy levels.
Southern Oregon Northern California Coast Coho Salmon Recovery Plan (2014)). The plan was released in September 2014 with the goal to restore the region’s coho salmon to healthy, self-sustaining numbers so that the protections of the Endangered Species Act are no longer necessary.
South-Central/Southern California Coast Steelhead Recovery Plan. NOAA Fisheries adopted a collaboratively developed recovery plan for Southern California Coast steelhead in 2012 and a recovery plan for South-Central California Coast steelhead in 2013.
Steelhead Restoration and Management Plan for California Department of Fish and Game (February 1996). This plan focuses on restoration of native and naturally produced (wild) stocks because these stocks have the greatest value for maintaining genetic and biological diversity.
Recovery Strategy for California Coho Salmon. Department of Fish and Game. Report to the California Fish and Game Commission (February 2004). The CDFG collaboratively developed the Recovery Strategy for California Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) as a guide for the process of recovering coho salmon on the north and central coasts of California.
Recovery Plan for Tidal Marsh Ecosystems of Northern and Central California. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released this plan in 2013. It is focused on federally listed species that depend on tidal marshes in San Francisco Bay and tidal marshes along the Northern and Central California coast.
Recovery Plan for the Southern Sea Otter. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife revised this recovery plan in 2003 for the endangered southern (California) sea otter. Key objectives address range expansion, response to oil spills, contaminants, and threats from fishing debris.
Recovery Plan for California Red Legged Frog. This 2002 recovery plan by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service identifies seven priority actions for recovery, which include: protect known populations and reestablish populations, and protect suitable habitat, corridors, and core areas.
Recovery Plan for the Tidewater Goby. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released this plan in 2005. Its primary objective is to manage the threats to and improve the population status of the tidewater goby sufficient to warrant reclassification (from endangered to threatened status) or delisting.

State Supported, Collaboratively Developed Eco-Regional and Watershed Plans

Wetlands on the Edge, The Future of Southern California’s Wetlands, Regional Strategy 2018 The Regional Strategy 2018 guides wetland restoration for the WRP over the next few decades using scientifically-based, quantitative objectives that will improve wetland resilience to climate change and other stressors. These objectives help guide all levels of stakeholders in the wetlands community from resource agencies to funders to restoration practitioners in designing projects, reviewing project proposals, and making funding decisions.
2024 Pacific Birds Habitat Joint Venture Coastal Wetlands Strategic Plan The purpose of this plan is to identify shared conservation strategies and actions, developed in collaboration with partners across the region, to catalyze positive change for Pacific Coastal wetlands over the next ten years (2024-2034).
San Francisco Bay Joint Venture 2022 Implementation Strategy This strategy sets ambitious new habitat goals for Estuary, Watershed, and Outer Coast habitats, update our waterfowl goals, and identifies ten clear priorities and strategies to serve as the foundation of the JV partnership’s work.
San Francisco Estuary Watersheds Evaluation, by the Center for Ecosystem Management and Restoration (2007). This report, funded by the Coastal Conservancy, assembles for the first time all readily available information regarding steelhead habitat in tributaries of the San Francisco Estuary. Watersheds are screened for “anchor watershed” status, indicating their relative importance in restoring the regional steelhead population.
San Francisco Estuary Blueprint (2022) The Estuary Blueprint is organized by four main goals: Habitats & Living Resources, Resilience, Water, and Stewardship. Under these goals, the Estuary Blueprint maps out the regional actions and tasks needed to achieve a healthy, resilient San Francisco Estuary. Originally created in 1993 under the title “Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan”, also referred to commonly as the “CCMP”, the document has undergone several updates.
San Francisco Bay Subtidal Habitat Goals 50 Year Conservation Plan (2010). The purpose of this plan is to achieve a net improvement of the subtidal ecosystem in the San Francisco Bay through science-based protection and habitat restoration. Led by state and federal agencies, more than 75 scientists and others contributed to the development of science, protection, and restoration goals for six subtidal habitats including soft substrate, rock, artificial structures, shellfish beds, submerged aquatic vegetation, and macro-algal beds. The Conservancy is assisting with implementing many of the goals including sea grass and oyster restoration, and removal of creosote pilings.
San Francisco Baylands Ecosystem Habitat Goals Report (1999) and
Baylands Ecosystem Habitat Goals Technical Update (2015). These reports were each prepared by a large consortium of public agencies and scientists and resulted in specific goals for acreages and habitat types for baylands around the San Francisco Bay. The Conservancy has been a major implementer of the goals through its support and leadership in wetland restoration projects including the Napa Salt Marsh, Hamilton, and the South Bay Salt Ponds. The technical update contains a set of far-reaching management recommendations for Bay Area shorelines to restore and maintain these vital ecosystems in the face of climate change, including their role in building resilience to sea level rise.
The Conservation Lands Network 2.0 (2019) The Conservation Lands Network, launched in 2011, is the science-based guide for achieving the Bay Area Open Space Council’s Upland Habitat Goals. It guides future conservation efforts throughout the region by identifying strategic investments in land acquisition and stewardship and focusing conservation actions toward priority areas that contain a comprehensive representation of the region’s biodiversity, including habitats that are particularly rare or that support ecological resilience.
Critical Linkages: Bay Area and Beyond Project (2013). Led by Science and Collaboration for Connected Wildlands, with the participation of the Bay Area Open Space Council and others, this project complements the statewide essential connectivity plan by incorporating the habitat movement needs of over 60 species and animals for priority landscape linkages within the counties of the San Francisco Bay Area and San Benito, Monterey, Mendocino, and Lake. It identifies 14 landscape level connections that together with the Conservation Lands Network provide a comprehensive plan for such a regional network.
Bay Area Integrated Regional Water Management Plan. This plan identifies major regional water resource needs and priorities for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area region.
Santa Cruz Integrated Watershed Restoration Program. Developed by the Santa Cruz County Resource Conservation District (RCD), Coastal Conservancy, California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), Coastal Watershed Council, and the City and County of Santa Cruz as a voluntary framework in 2002, this program is heralded as a model for collaborative, integrated watershed conservation. Since IWRP’s inception, the RCD and its partners have been able to design, permit, and construct over 80 water quality improvement and habitat restoration projects throughout the County. The Conservancy has supported many of these projects, as well as expansion of the program into San Mateo and Monterey Counties.
Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project (WRP). The WRP is a partnership of 18 State and federal agencies working in concert with local governments, conservation organizations, and the business community to acquire, restore, and improve coastal wetlands and natural areas from the Mexican border to Point Conception. It is chaired by the Natural Resources Agency and staffed by the Coastal Conservancy.
South Coast Missing Linkages (2008 and ongoing). This project, led by Science and Collaboration for Connected Wildlands, addresses fragmentation at the landscape scale. It identifies and prioritizes linkages that conserve essential biological and ecological processes. The linkages project has served as a catalyst for protection of ecological connectivity for the south coast ecoregion. There have been 11 detailed and implementable linkage designs developed using focal-species based analysis. The Conservancy can support implementation of some of these designs.

California Coastal Sediment Management Master Plan

A multi-agency work group is engaged in an on-going collaborative effort to evaluate California’s coastal sediments management needs and to promote regional system-wide solutions. The master plan is being developed through a series of region-specific sediment master plans. The Conservancy has contributed to development and implementation of some of the regional plans.

State Agency and Multi-Agency Strategic Plans

In addition to the Coastal Conservancy strategic plan, many Conservancy-supported projects implement elements of other agencies’ strategic plans.