Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan
for the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation
2003 PLANNING IMPLEMENTATION
SMALL JURISDICTION PLANNING
AWARD WINNER
Inland Empire American Planning Association Chapter
Michael Brandman Associates has just completed
the preparation of what may be the first Multiple Species
Habitat Conservation Plan for a sovereign Indian Nation. The
Agua Caliente Indian Reservation (Reservation), home of the
Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians (Tribe), consists of
approximately 31,400 acres of land in Riverside County, California.
The Reservation contains a wealth of valuable natural resources
and habitat, including mountains, foothills, canyons, wetlands,
alluvial fans and sandy areas that provide homes for many
species of plants and animals deemed by the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (USFWS), as well as the Tribe, to require
protection.
As a sovereign Indian nation, the Tribe
has protected and managed the areas and resources within its
jurisdictional territory for thousands of years, and intends
to continue to do so. MBA has prepared a Tribal Habitat Conservation
Plan (Tribal HCP or Plan) to formalize the Tribe's traditional
balanced approach to land use and resource management and,
where incidental take could occur to any of the eighteen covered
species, to consult with USFWS and obtain USFWS approval of
this Plan via the issuance of a Section 10(a) permit and execution
of an Implementing Agreement.
The Tribal HCP, which was formally adopted
by the Tribe on November 12, 2002, and the eventual issuance
of a Section 10 (a) permit by USFWS, will enable the Tribe
to assist USFWS in its mission to conserve sensitive species
and their habitats, while maintaining appropriate sovereign
authority over activities taking place within the Tribe's
jurisdiction and protecting unique Tribal values.
For more information about the Tribal
HCP, contact Tom McGill, Inland Empire Regional Manager, at
(909) 884-2255.
