Board of Supervisors Moves Habitat Plan Forward
Riverside County Board of Supervisors - The Riverside County Board of Supervisors
approved a pair of agenda items on Tuesday with historic implications for both conservation and
development in the Coachella Valley.
After 12 years of work, the County, CVAG and the Coachella Valley Conservation Commission
appear to be close to the finish line in completing a valley-wide Multiple Species Habitat
Conservation Plan which will preserve endangered species and allow development to go forward in the
desert.
The Supervisors approved a Memorandum Of Understanding with CVAG and the CVCC to ensure that
the state Department of Fish and Game extends fringe-toed lizard “take” provisions until March 15,
2008. This provision allows development to move forward as the habitat plan is completed. The
Supervisors also approved a major revision to the MSHCP which was caused by the City of Desert Hot
Springs rejection of the original plan.
In approving agenda items 3.62 and 3.63, the Board also agreed to several “deal points” aimed
at satisfying conservation goals in the massive 1.1 million acre plan area, extending from the Pass
to the easternmost reaches of the Coachella Valley.
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