(Right-hand photo: The southeast view down Banner Canyon with Anza Borrego Desert State Park's Granite Mountain in the distance. Courtesy South Coast Wildlands .)
A landmark conservation plan would link up wildlands in Southern California. A report to be released Wednesday by the group South Coast Wildlands maps out strategies to preserve and link vast stretches of terrain. KPBS Environmental Reporter Ed Joyce tells us the plan would connect several areas in San Diego County and Mexico.
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South Coast Ecoregion Wildland Network
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Peninsular/Borrego linkage design
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Palomar/San Jacinto/Santa Rosa design
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Santa Ana/Palomar linkage design
The South Coast Missing Linkages project is intended to maintain Southern California's wildlife now and in the future. The group says without linking parks, forests, and other lands, many native species will disappear entirely. That's because the animals need room to roam to find food, mates and escape other threats such as fires and floods. The challenges are many -- from housing developments and freeways to shopping centers and climate change.
Penrod : We're standing actually in one of the core habitat areas or one of the target things that the linkages are intended to serve. So Palomar Mountain here with Cleveland National Forest and then Cuyamaca down in here and hooking up to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
That's Kristeen Penrod, Conservation Director for South Coast Wildlands. The group is one of more than 20 federal, state and local agencies and organizations that have put together the plan. Penrod says the idea is to translate that plan into land-saving actions such as buying property, restoring and preserving linkages.
Penrod : We can basically create the backbone of a regional conservation strategy that will basically take us from the Southern Sierras all the way down to Baja.
There are six linkages in San Diego County stretching from Camp Pendleton to Palomar Mountain in the Cleveland National Forest .
Penrod says the project aims to stitch together a variety of open spaces, from park and forest land to farms. But barriers such as highways, bridges, and other developments are fragmenting the natural habitat areas. She says undoing those barriers will ensure the survival of endangered animals, from bighorn sheep to butterflies.
Penrod : And so what these linkages are is just a wee bit more in order to maintain those connections. Basically research has shown that if you know, even Palomar Mountain or Anza-Borrego State Park are not large enough by themselves to support species over time.
Penrod says Interstate 15 is the only major freeway in the linkage joining the Santa Ana Mountains to the Palomar Mountains. She says providing crossing structures -- bridges, overpasses, or specially designed culverts -- would give animals a pathway to reach upland and aquatic areas.
Other solutions to create links include working with property owners, builders, environmental groups and wildlife agencies to create conservation plans.
Dave Van Cleve is with The Nature Conservancy and the former superintendent of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. He says connecting the lands is not just for wildlife.
Van Cleve : These corridors are open for people too to enjoy and they’re for backpackers, and horseback riders and mountain bikers. We encourage people to use these lands as well. We think public access is really going to be important to a lot of these.
One program already helping the effort is the County’s Multiple Species Conservation Plan -- a long-term habitat program to preserve more than 300,000 acres of county natural areas.
The chief of the plan is Tom Oberbauer. He says making the linkages work will ensure the survival of mountain lions, deer, foxes and bobcats.
Oberbauer : The last grizzly bear killed in San Diego County was in 1906 in San Onofre Creek. The last grizzly bear in California was 1922 in Tulare County. So it was sometime back in the Gold Rush period -- you know 1840s, 18-whatever -- there were grizzly bears all over here. There were also jaguars in San Diego County and jaguars extended clear up to Monterey County. The last jaguar killed in Southern California was in Palm Springs, I think it was like 1836.
If the wildlands plan is successful, it would mean mountain lions, foxes and other animals roaming the county today will still be here in 100 years.
Ed Joyce, KPBS News.
