ConnectingCalifornia.org

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North San Diego County's Margarita Peak is Saved!

In August of 2007, the Fallbrook Land Conservancy acquired the 1206-acre Margarita Peak property northwest of Fallbrook. This acquisition involved a partnership between the Department of Defense, the California Wildlife Conservation Board, the Trust for Public Land, and the Fallbrook Land Conservancy (FLC), and is part of the Marine Corps Camp Pendleton buffer and open space connectivity program. The purpose of this program is to use Department of Defense funds to purchase conservation easements on land near the marine base to ensure compatible uses of properties, and to maintain open-space corridors for wildlife movement. The funds from this grant will be used to (1) prepare a baseline document describing the geographic, geologic, and biologic properties of the 1206-acre Margarita Peak property, and (2) develop a stewardship plan that will satisfy the goals of the Camp Pendleton buffer zone program, preserve the biologic values of the land and allow for compatible passive use by the public. In preparing the baseline documentation and developing the stewardship plan, we hope to draw upon the mapping resources, when possible, of Camp Pendleton's office of environmental Security, the Fallbrook Public Utility District, and the Cleveland National Forest. Benefit to the Organization and the Local Community This is the major first step of a regional program involving the members of the South Coast Conservation Forum, including the Department of Defense, the California Wildlife Conservation Board, the Trust for Public Land, The Nature Conservancy, the Fallbrook Land Conservancy and others in what is anticipated to be a series of openspace purchases in the vicinity of Camp Pendleton and possibly other military bases in the area. As such, it is important to set standards for the stewardship of the land that will ensure compatible use, while protecting the biologic values of the land, and allowing for passive use by the public. These standards may then be used as a guide for future lands acquired in this and similar programs.

For more info, see http://www.sdlcc.org/flc/
or
http://sdcrn.org/about/fallbrook-land-cons.html

SDCRN is a service organization that supports 25 other conservation NGOs working throughout San Diego County.

Our mission is to support the network of citizen resource conservancies involved in the preservation and stewardship of the natural and cultural resources of the San Diego Region and to promote public understanding of conservation issues.

You can learn more about us at our website -- http://sdcrn.org