April 2018 - Parks & Recreation - 18

Member to Member

The Golden Eagle, protected under San
Diego's South County plan, favors partially
or completely open country, especially
around mountains, hills and cliffs.

DPR staff patrol, maintain
and monitor plant and
animal life within preserve
lands to ensure the
continued conservation of
unique resources.
sellers, as well as from land that is protected through required mitigation for
development projects. The South County plan protects 85 species, 34 of which
are endangered or threatened. Notable
species in San Diego protected by the
plan include the California gnatcatcher,
golden eagle, San Diego thornmint, least
Bell's vireo, Stephens' kangaroo rat, burrowing owl, coastal cactus wren, Quino
checkerspot butterfly, western snowy
plover, arroyo southwestern toad and the
San Diego fairy shrimp.
One of the major goals of the MSCP
was to develop a well-designed, large,
connected system of preserves that retains ecological functionality and allows
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Parks & Recreation

for natural dispersion of plants and wildlife across the landscape. Now, in year
20 of the 50-year program, the county is
well-positioned to reach this goal.
The MSCP's 50-year preservation goal
encompasses nearly 100,000 acres in
South County and more than 200,000
acres in the rest of the county. During the
past 20 years, San Diego County and its
partners have reached 77 percent of the
conservation goal within South County
and, within the region, has contributed
more than $76.4 million of general-fund
dollars toward acquisitions, while leveraging an additional $87.4 million
through grants and partnerships. DPR
seeks additional grant funding to continue restoration efforts and enhance valuable habitats that are under stress due
to invasive plants, insects, drought, fire,
floods and unauthorized uses.
DPR staff patrol, maintain and monitor plant and animal life within preserve
lands to ensure the continued conservation of unique resources. As large
areas of MSCP land are conserved, a
monitoring plan is created to provide
area-specific management directives for

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the species covered in the MSCP. The
monitoring plan provides focused goals
and objectives for implementation of
adaptive management and monitoring
protocols. Adaptive management is an
evolving collaborative effort, and as lessons are learned, the preserve's priorities, goals and objectives are refined.
San Diego's preserves, parks and
campgrounds offer many opportunities
for people to be active outdoors, promoting healthier, happier lifestyles. The attractions and exploration opportunities
include interpretive trails to learn about
cultural and biological resources, hiking,
biking, horseback riding, bird watching,
camping, astronomy, ranger-led tours,
biological research and species monitoring. DPR's current inventory, operated
with an annual budget of $50 million,
includes more than 120 parks across
55,000 acres of land. It is an award-winning park system that includes 36 local
and 19 regional parks, 8 camping parks,
11 historic park sites, 360 miles of trails
and 39,500 acres of ecological/openspace preserves. DPR has 174 full-time
employees, 156 seasonal employees, and
more than 388 recurring volunteers.
For additional information on the San
Diego County park and preserve system,
visit www.sdparks.org
For additional information on conservation planning, visit:
* www.sdparks.org/content/sdparks/
en/AboutUs/Plans/MSCP.html
* www.fws.gov/endangered/what-wedo/hcp-overview.html
* www.fws.gov/endangered
* www.wildlife.ca.gov/conservation/
planning/nccp
Christine A. Tolchin is the Chief of Resource
Management for the County of San Diego
Department of Parks and Recreation (christine.
tolchin@sdcounty.ca.gov).

April 2018 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of April 2018 - Parks & Recreation