The critically endangered Pacific pocket mouse (Perognathus longimembris pacificus), feared extinct for over 20 years, was “rediscovered” in 1993 and is now documented at four sites in Orange and San Diego Counties, California. Only one of these sites is considered large enough to be potentially self-sustaining without active intervention. In 1998, I gathered a team of biologists to initiate several research tasks in support of recovery planning for the species. The PPM Studies Team quickly determined that species recovery would require active translocations or reintroductions to establish new populations, but that we knew too little about the biology of P. l. pacificus and the availability of translocation receiver sites to design such a program. Recovery research from 1998 to 2000 therefore focused on (1) a systematic search for potential translocation receiver sites; (2) laboratory and field studies on non-listed, surrogate subspecies (P. l. longimembris and P. l. bangsi) to gain biological insights and perfect study methods; (3) studies on the historic and extant genetic diversity of P. l. pacificus; and (4) experimental habitat manipulations to increase P. l. pacificus populations. Using existing geographic information system (GIS) data, we identified sites throughout the historic range that might have appropriate soils and vegetation to support translocated P. l. pacificus. Reconnaissance surveys of habitat value were completed in all large areas of potential habitat identified by the model. Those sites having the highest habitat potential are being studied with more detailed and quantitative field analyses. The surrogate studies helped us design individual marking and monitoring methods and will be used to test translocation methods before applying them to P. l. pacificus. Genetic results suggest that P. l. pacificus populations were naturally fairly isolated from one another prior to modern development, that genetic diversity will continue to erode in the small populations that remain, and that individuals from extant populations could probably be mixed if maximizing genetic diversity in any newly established populations is an important recovery goal. Local populations should be increased in situ before they can supply donor animals for translocations. Experimental habitat management (shrub thinning) at one occupied site yielded a short-term, positive, behavioral response of mice to thinned habitat plots. However, the overall population seems to be in decline, and long-term population responses to habitat manipulations are not yet evident. The approach of the PPM Study Team has been to proceed cautiously and scientifically to obtain critical information and to design a translocation program, but we are prepared to recommend swift action to prevent extinction despite “insufficient data.” At this point, political and economic obstacles to species recovery seem larger than obstacles presented by scientific uncertainty.

Spencer, W.D. 2005. Recovery research for the endangered Pacific pocket mouse: An overview of collaborative studies. In B.E. Kus and J.L. Beyers, technical coordinators. Planning for Biodiversity: Bringing Research and Management Together: Proceedings of a Symposium for the South Coast Ecoregion. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-195. Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Albany, CA: 274pp.

Tejon Ranch is one of California’s most precious natural areas—a haven for rare and endangered species, a sanctuary for the soul of ancient California, a treasure that, through the years, has not escaped the wonderment of ranchers, hunters, wildlife enthusiasts, and scientists. This is a place through which thousands of people drive daily, but few have really seen; where one can visualize the dramatic geologic processes that shaped California’s landscape and influenced the evolutionary history of California’s diverse flora and fauna. In this place, California condors still fly, centuries-old oaks still flourish, and streams are born. Perhaps most remarkably, virtues of this place have not yet been compromised by the urban sprawl that is rapidly devouring so much of California’s natural landscape.

Tejon Ranch, 270,000 acres of southern Kern and northern Los Angeles counties, is the largest, contiguous, privately owned property in California.  Owners of the Ranch are currently planning large-scale residential and industrial developments in what is now a largely undeveloped and natural landscape. Concerned that these development plans might severely compromise the Ranch’s ecological integrity before the public has had an opportunity to understand its significance, Environment Now and a coalition of environmental groups commissioned the Conservation Biology Institute to assess the regional and statewide value of Tejon Ranch for conservation of biological diversity. Through the course of this assessment, we have come to recognize what others have already suggested—that Tejon Ranch is truly one of California’s most priceless natural areas, unparalleled in its diversity of natural resources and its importance to conservation, and meeting all of the State’s criteria for a priority conservation target.

This report shares our synthesis of publicly available information—documenting the biogeographic importance of the Tejon Ranch region, revealing the values of the region’s natural resources, and identifying factors that threaten these values. This report does not advocate any specific open space design, but rather it illuminates the extraordinary values and regionally under-protected resources of the Ranch so that the public and decision-makers are fully aware of their importance in future land planning decisions. We hope that this information will be used as a basis for comprehensive, rather than piecemeal, land use planning of Tejon Ranch.

Tejon Ranch supports a multitude of irreplaceable biological resources, and the melding of these resources in one large, intact landscape makes the Ranch a regionally significant conservation target. This report evaluates the distribution of conservation values on Tejon Ranch, as an incremental step towards developing a regional reserve design.

We used publicly available data and science-based conservation principles to describe and map selected conservation values for Tejon Ranch. Our assessment demonstrates that, although different areas of the Ranch support different sets of conservation values, virtually all areas of the Ranch support one or more sets of values. To spatially describe the distribution of these values on Tejon Ranch, we identified four landscape units that differentially support the conservation values considered in our analysis:

Reserve designs for Tejon Ranch must, at a minimum, capture these values while ensuring the maintenance and management of ecological processes within and between landscape units. Similarly, conservation planning must ensure integration and connection of these landscape units with others in the region, along with a regional plan for long-term management and biological monitoring. Without careful and comprehensive consideration, land use plans for Tejon Ranch could irretrievably alter the biological functions and values of this keystone landscape.

The 270,750-acre Tejon Ranch is the largest contiguous tract of privately owned land in California. In addition to its outstanding core biological resource values, the Ranch represents a biogeographic crossroads of many Californias—the Sierra Nevada, the PacificCoast, the Mojave Desert, and the Great Central Valley. It represents the last intact connection among these ecoregions for numerous plants and animals that cannot cross water, intensive agriculture, or urban development. Unfortunately, it is also currently subject to development proposals that threaten to destroy the ecological integrity of this remarkable legacy.

Given the size, integrity, and geographic context of Tejon Ranch, and the regional significance of its resources, virtually all of Tejon Ranch merits protection for future generations.Therefore, we strongly urge a regional conservation solution for Tejon Ranch that is worthy of its irreplaceable resource values, cultural significance, and heritage of the citizens of California. It is in this spirit that we propose a wildland reserve design for the Ranch that captures the broad array of landscape functions and conservation values that it supports.

Bahía de San Quintín is the largest and only intact coastal lagoon system in the entire Mediterranean zone of North America. It is among the richest, most diverse, and most imperiled ecosystems on the planet, supporting dozens of species designated as Threatened or Endangered. Hidden in the fog on the windy Pacific Coast of Baja California, this sequestered spot is recognized worldwide for its biodiversity and its hemispheric importance to fisheries, waterfowl, migratory birds, and other coastal resources. The pristine condition of these ecosystems resembles that of Southern California more than 100 years ago, before their destruction and degradation due to population growth.

The survival of this remarkable landscape, however, is threatened by development pressures from a growing population and the thrust of tourism southward from the U.S. border. Like much of Baja California, the area does not have the infrastructure in place to support this growth or a complete recognition of its consequences on natural resources and the local economy. Sustainable use of the area’s rich natural resources is vital to continued agriculture and aquaculture operations, tourism, and community growth. This document presents a vision for addressing these conservation and socioeconomic challenges through new partnerships and an integrative approach to conservation and management of natural resources within a sustainable human community.

This document provides an introduction to the intersecting cultural and biological conservation values of Rancho Guejito—its cultural history, rare biological resources, its ecological functions within surrounding conserved areas, its significance to past, present, and future generations of Californians—and a plea for conservation of the irreplaceable values it supports, the loss of which cannot be mitigated elsewhere:

Western Oregon contains approximately 2.5 million acres of lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) across six districts (Salem, Eugene, Coos Bay, Roseburg, Medford, and Lakeview): approximately 2.1 million acres of this is managed under the requirements of theO&C Lands Act of 1937 and other laws with the remainder (406,600 acres) managed as “public domain” lands (USDI BLM 2005).  All these lands are managed under the provisions of the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP), with nearly a third (739,000 acres) designated as latesuccessional reserve (LSR). Each of the BLM districts completed Resource Management Plans (RMPs) in 1995 that incorporated land-use allocations and standards and guidelines pursuant to the NWFP.  However, a lawsuit filed by the American Forest Resource Council (AFRC) and others against the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior (i.e., Secretaries) alleged that the NWFP violated the terms of the O&C Act and numerous other laws. The Secretaries, AFRC, and the O&C counties agreed to settle this lawsuit in August of 2003, requiring BLM to revise its RMPs and consider at least one alternative that will not create (i.e., eliminate) any reserves on O&C lands except as needed to avoid jeopardy to species listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Consequently,the BLM is now conducting scoping for an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to revise its RMPs that will determine how the agency should manage the O&C lands to achieve the O&C Act requirements of permanent foreproduction, sustained yield, community economic stability, and watershed protection (as interpreted by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit) while complying with applicable laws such as the ESA and the Clean Water Act.  Here, we provide BLM with a scientific foundation for managing its lands to meet the ecological objectives of the NWFP, ESA, and Clean Water Act by: (1) demonstrating the importance of the reserve network within the context of the NWFP and more specifically within western Oregon BLM lands (both O&C and public domain lands); (2) evaluating potential consequences of eliminating or reducing protections for LSRs and Riparian Reserves under consideration by the BLM; (3) highlighting potential cumulative impacts from adjoining Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs) on State and private lands; and (4) raising significant issues for BLM to consider in RMP revisions, particularly alternatives to the elimination of reserves.

National interest in roadless area conservation dates back to the 1970s when the Forest Service was directed by Congress to inventory roadless areas in response to the public’s growing desire to protect wild landscapes primarily through wilderness designations.  In 2001, President Clinton enacted the Roadless Conservation Rule to protect 58.5 million acres of inventoried roadless areas on Forest Service lands, including nearly 2 million acres in Oregon.  However, on May 13, 2005 the Bush administration issued a revised rule that established a process for governors to propose locally supported regulations for conserving roadless area within their states.  While some states, including Oregon, have legally challenged this rule change, State governments will continue to play a vital role in providing recommendations to the Forest Service concerning the protection of federal roadless areas.  This report provides new information on the importance of roadless areas in Oregon that places these areas among the most ecologically valued in the nation, thereby providing a scientific foundation for protecting all of Oregon’s roadless lands regardless of the method to achieve this outcome.

The Peninsular Ranges extend 1,500 km (900 mi) from Southern California to the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, forming a granitic spine near the western edge of the North American continent. They comprise an intact and rugged wilderness area connecting two countries and some of the richest montane and desert ecosystems in the world that support wideranging, iconic species, including mountain lion, California condor, and bighorn sheep. Connectivity at this continental scale is critical to maintaining ecosystem processes, biodiversity, wildlife movement, and habitat values of existing conservation investments in both countries.

This study was undertaken as part of a larger effort to conserve the integrity of this landscape linkage, in the face of increasing sprawl of development inland from the coast, escalating border security infrastructure, and other competing uses for the land. It focuses on the border region of California and Baja California, where the long-term connectivity between federally endangered bighorn sheep in Peninsular Ranges of Southern California and bighorn sheep in Baja California is threatened. The current level of connectivity and the possibilities for maintaining this connectivity in the future are not well understood. This preliminary study assesses the distribution and habitats of bighorn sheep in the Sierra Juárez in Baja California, just south of the international border, the potential threats to bighorn sheep there, and the threats to this landscape linkage, so as to inform conservation and management strategies for linking protected parklands in both countries.

CBI staff facilitated and contributed to several indepent science adivsory processes and recommendation reports for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta Conservation Plan.

Bay Delta Conservation Plan, Aquatic

A group of nine scientists were convened in September 2007 to provide independent advice to the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) Steering Committee. These scientists provided advice on the use of science in developing an effective Conservation Plan for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in accordance with California’s Natural Community Conservation Planning Act (NCCPA) and the BDCP Planning Agreement. Consistent with the requirements of the NCCPA, the Science Advisors’ report includes a listing of principles for conservation planning, design, and management. The Report also includes a series of more specific recommendations regarding application of the existing knowledge base and the use of data and analyses for informing the BDCP. The following briefly summarizes key foundational principles and recommendations from the Report. These principles and recommendations should be considered as the overall conservation strategy and potential conservation measures are developed for the BDCP.

Bay Delta Conservation Plan, Aquatic (2007) PDF

Bay Delta Conservation Plan, Non-Aquatic

This report summarized recommendations from a group of six independent science advisors (ISA) concerning the treatment of non-aquatic species and communities by the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP).  The intent of the ISA process is to ensure that the plan has access to the best available science.  Our recommendations area not biding, and area not intended to either question or promote particular plan goals or policies, but are intended to help inform the planning process.

Bay Delta Conservation Plan, Non-Aquatic (2008) PDF

Bay Delta Conservation Plan, Adaptive Management

This report summarizes recommendations from a group of nine independent scientists convened in December 2008 concerning incorporation of adapative management into the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP).  This report includes a general review of pertinent BDCP documents and a recommended framework for incorporating adative management into the planning, designa and implementation of the BCDP.

Bay Delta Conservation Plan, Adaptive Management (2009) PDF