Leveraging Mitigation to Achieve Large Scale Conservation - 1

“Leveraging Mitigation to Achieve Large Scale Conservation”

With hundreds of species currently proposed for listing under the Endangered Species Act and our metropolitan areas continuing to expand, converting habitat, open space and farmland, our nation’s system of protecting at-risk wildlife and the habitats on which they depend has not kept pace with the need to feed and fuel America’s growth. The typical method (project-by-project) of mitigating for impacts to species and habitats from development can be ecologically ineffective and inefficient, financially costly and is often disconnected from landscape scale conservation goals. This session will highlight innovative and emerging strategic mitigation approaches, tools and policies that better integrate the full mitigation hierarchy, direct a funding stream for conservation and provide economic incentive for infrastructure agencies and landowners to incorporate conservation into their business practices. Such conservation tools and strategies better protect wildlife habitat and meet mitigation needs while allowing economic activities to continue. The goal is larger landscape scale protection in a changing environment. We will identify goals, opportunities and challenges; and seek feedback on the applicability elsewhere and potential solutions. The session will feature:

• Multiple Species Habitat  Conservation Plans: a case study from Western Riverside County, California – goals, opportunities and challenges
• Habitat Exchanges: an emerging conservation tool for private landowner engagement
• Regional Advance Mitigation Planning in California: redesigning mitigation strategies for more effective conservation outcomes and efficient infrastructure project delivery