The Conservation Biology Institute, through a grant from the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, is working with BLM, CDFG, and USFWS to develop a science-based regional planning framework for the high wind resource region of the eastern Tehachapi Mountains and southeastern Sierra.  The project is intended to facilitate decision-making on a regional basis, per the recent federal guidance policies, through spatially-explicit and transparent decision-support tools for wind energy development and conservation.

We assembled available spatial datasets related to biodiversity and landscape intactness, developed logic and associated thresholds, and ranked sections of land (640 acres/1 Sq. mile), according to ecological value, biological potential, and level of disturbance. CBI has created web-based tools for visualizing the results, which are transparent, flexible, and supportive of agency needs.  The results are being used to map priority areas for conservation and where renewable energy projects and associated infrastructure may be compatible with conservation goals.

Implemented for the Southern Sierra/Western Mojave, the approach and decision-support tool have widespread applicability, including:

The title of this project was formerly “Wind, Wings & Wilderness”

Click here for the final project report.

The critically endangered Pacific pocket mouse (Perognathus longimembris pacificus), once thought extinct was rediscovered at 4 sites along the coast of southern California during the 1990s.  CBI staff discovered one of the populations and led comprehensive efforts to identify all potential habitat areas and inform efforts to recover the species from the brink of extinction.  Tasks included:

1) Studying dispersal characteristics and other pertinent biological information on the species

2) Performing detailed field studies of a surrogate subspecies to perfect field methods and design monitoring programs

3) Determining the feasibility of a translocation or reintroduction program for the species, determining baseline measures of genetic diversity within and between extant (using live-captured specimens) and historic (using museum specimens) populations and developing genetic goals for the recovery program

4) Coordinating ongoing monitoring studies at extant population sites to maximize the value of the monitoring data for both scientific and preserve management goals

Partners include Transportation Corridor Agencies, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and California Department of Fish and Game.

Photo credits:  Steve Montgomery (juvenile above) and David King (1995, Camp Pendleton)

CBI provides scientific guidance for a wide variety of regional conservation plans, including:

CBI staff organizes and facilitates panels of scientific experts and writes and edits science advisory reports that provide guidance for large-scale conservation plans.  In California, these have included the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta Conservation Plan, the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area Conservation Plan, and NCCP/HCP plans for the counties of Butte, Santa Clara, San Diego, Merced, Yuba, Sutter, and Yolo, and the city of Santa Cruz.

CBI staff are leading a large team of mammal experts in preparing a comprehensive review of the conservation status of all mammal species, subspecies, and distinct population segments in California.  The team has developed and applied a systematic scoring procedure to rank mammal species, subspecies, or distinct population segments for their relative degree of conservation concern within California.  They compiled all available locality data and other pertinent information concerning the status and distribution of nominee taxa, and are preparing species accounts and geographic range maps for each taxon that made the final list.  The result will be used to update Department of Fish and Game’s official list of sensitive taxa and will be published in book and web formats.

Click here to access the Mammal Species of Special Concern (MSSC) website

Photo credit: Steve Montgomery

CBI staff verified a new population of the endangered Stephens’ kangaroo rat in the Santa Maria Valley, San Diego County, California, by trapping and reconnaissance surveys and performed numerous adaptive management and monitoring tasks to help sustain this isolated population. Tasks included: