Mitigation Doesn't Have To Replace 1:1

Environmentalists have lost the latest skirmish in the seemingly interminable battle over development of Fanita Ranch in the San Diego County community of Santee – and in the process an appellate court may have plowed important new ground about what’s acceptable mitigation for lost California gnatcatcher habitat. The latest Fanita Ranch proposal would disrupt 400 acres of gnatcatcher habitat but preserve 1,000 acres. An environmental group called Preserve Wild Santee appealed a judge’s ruling that adequately protected gnatcatcher habitat, saying that the mitigation plan simply “preserves what’s left”. But the Fourth District Court of Appeal in San Diego affirmed the judge’s ruling, saying that there is the California Environmental Quality Act contains no requirement that lost habitat be actually replaced on a one-to-one basis. “CEQA does not required a complete offset for lost habitat, and .. conservation easements can mitigate such loses by substantially lessening the impacts to a particular species’ habitat,” wrote Justice Julia C. Kelety for a three-judge panel of the appellate court.

Want to read more?

Subscribe to cp-dr.com to keep reading this exclusive post.

Subscribe Now