The County of San Diego is embarking on a program to prepare a habitat conservation plan for the eastern unincorporated area. The ECMSCP Plan is the third of three County Habitat Conservation Plans that will work together to protect sensitive plants, animals, and their habitats in the unincorporated portions of the County of San Diego. Currently, there is a Subarea Plan that covers South County and a Plan for North County is in its initial planning phase.
The East County MSCP Study Area covers approximately 1.6 million acres and is bounded on the west generally by the western boundary of the Cleveland National Forest, on the North by the Riverside County, and on the east predominantly by Imperial County, and the south by Mexico. Tribal lands are excluded from the study area. The purpose of the ECMSCP Plan is to protect key sensitive plant and animal populations and habitats within the County. This plan will maintain or improve the status of threatened and endangered species and eliminate future listings of species as endangered under the Federal and State Endangered Species Acts. The ECMSCP Plan will be the basis for conservation while accommodating continued economic growth.
The ECMSCP Plan is a cooperative effort among the County, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and California Department of Fish and Game (Wildlife Agencies). Authority for this process comes from the State of California Natural Community Conservation Planning (NCCP) Act and Section 10(a) of the Federal Endangered Species Act that addresses Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs).
Implementation of this program will result in the issuance of a permit to the County for incidental “take” of threatened and endangered species. Once the County obtains take authorization, it can provide third-party beneficiary status to applicants for projects that conform to the standards outlined in the plan. The overall effect of the ECMSCP Plan is the creation of a large connected preserve that addresses the regional habitat needs for a number of species. The ECMSCP Plan will potentially provide coverage for many of the 254 sensitive species found in the Study Area.
STUDY AREA VS. PLAN AREA
The East County MSCP Study Area covers approximately 1.6 million acres in eastern San Diego County. The County of San Diego only has land use authority over private parcels which account for approximately 27% (418,930 acres) of the Study Area. This portion of the Study Area is referred to as the Plan Area. The Plan Area includes the backcountry communities of Central Mountain, Cuyamaca, Descanso, Pine Valley, Desert/Borrego Springs, Julian, Mountain Empire, Boulevard, Jacumba, Lake Morena/Campo, Potrero, Tecate, portions of Dulzura, and Palomar/North Mountain. You can view various ECMSCP maps here.
Although lands owned by the State of California, United States of America, Indian Tribes, cities, and water districts are located within the East County MSCP Study Area, the County does not have land use authority over lands owned by these entities. Therefore, these lands will not be relied upon for conserving and gaining coverage for rare and endangered species unless mutually agreed upon. However, the County will coordinate with these entities and they can participate on a voluntary basis.
Last Updated: August 2008
