Featured
Projects
Click
on the linked headings below to find out more about our featured
projects.
 One
of TRA's areas of special expertise is habitat conservation plans
(HCPs) for endangered species. Habitat conservation plans are
authorized under the federal Endangered Species Act (Section 10(a)) for
take of listed endangered or threatened species on private lands. We
prepared the first two HCPs for endangered species, the San Bruno Mountain HCP
(1982). and the Coachella Valley Fringe-toed Lizard HCP (1985).
Both of these plans supported
applications for Section 10(a) permits which were subsequently approved
by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Based on the San Bruno Mountain
experience, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was amended in 1982 to
include a provision for an incidental take permit supported by an HCP.
For our second HCP, the Coachella Valley Fringe-toed Lizard HCP, TRA
received an Outstanding Planning Award from the Inland Empire Chapter
of the American Planning Association.
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Placer County Conservation
Since 1998, TRA
has been providing assistance to the County of Placer on two important
projects that will guide the future of the County: 1) the Placer
Legacy Open Space and Agricultural Conservation Program
and the Placer
County Conservation Plan, a
joint Habitat Conservation Plan/Natural Communities Conservation Plan.
For the Open Space Program we assisted the County with a GIS analysis
and mapping of resources. For the PCCP, TRA has participated in focused
interagency meetings meant to direct the scope and direction of the
PCCP. We designed a series of GIS models forecasting habitat loss by
vegetation community type and mitigation scenarios for analysis under
the Plan as well as a GIS database of the resources present in the plan
area. In 2004, we prepared a Conservation
Strategy Overview and in
February we published a full
Agency review draft of the PCCP.
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 Headwaters
Forest
From
1996-1999, TRA provided assistance to
the State of California Resources Agency for the Headwaters Forest
project. We prepared a conservation strategy for the marbled murrelet,
Coho salmon and other species of concern; provided technical review of
the HCP, and reconciliation of the HCP and Sustained Yield Plan (SYP).
We also provided administrative review of the EIS/EIR (prepared by
others). A key component of the EIS/EIR was the preparation of the
Mitigation and Monitoring Plan, which specified exactly what measures
are to be taken to reduce all listed impacts to less than significant
levels.
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In 2001, TRA
produced a Land Use and Economics Study, jointly funded by the Grassland
Water District, the Packard
Foundation and the Great Valley Center. It may be the first of its kind
to provide a comprehensive picture of the economic values of wetlands
in the County, and their impact on the local economy. These non-urban
land uses produce a net economic benefit to the local economy, whereas
urban development, particularly sprawl type residential development,
produces a net economic loss to local government. The study will
benefit stakeholders by streamlining project review and improving the
certainty of land use decisions. The work products include a final
report, a public information booklet, and a workshop for the public and
government stakeholders.
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The
Midpeninsula
Regional Open Space District is a public agency that acquires and
manages open space resources in Santa Cruz, Santa Clara and San Mateo
counties. The District proposes to extend its boundaries to include the
majority of the San Mateo County coastside, approximately 140,000
acres, in order to acquire and manage land and easements for the
preservation of open space and agriculture, and the protection of
sensitive resources. The proposed annexation to the District is subject
to approval by the San Mateo County Local Agency Formation Commission
(LAFCo).
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San Mateo Coastal
Annexation Environmental Impact Report