November 6, 2024 - RIVERSIDE, Calif.— Conservation groups have reached an agreement with the County of Riverside, California and the developer of the Villages of Lakeview residential development to enhance and better protect the San Jacinto Wildlife Area and surrounding land in California’s Inland Empire.

“The San Jacinto Wildlife Area is a true gem, and we should be doing as much as we can to protect its amazing biological value,” said George Hague, conservation chair of the Moreno Valley Group of the Sierra Club. “There aren’t many wildlife refuges left in California so plans to develop the nearby areas should be considered with utmost care.”

The agreement provides long-term funding for environmental stewardship and education in the San Jacinto Valley and money for land acquisition for wildlife habitat in the area. It also requires conservation easements to protect agriculture and open space, and reduced night lighting and pesticide use to reduce harm to plants and animals.

As part of the agreement finalized on Friday, home building can move forward near the community of Lakeview without legal challenges from the conservation groups.

“It’s terrific that this agreement includes funding to permanently protect land for the beautiful birds that call the San Jacinto Valley home,” said Drew Feldmann of the San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society. “We’re helping to safeguard the most important bird area in inland Southern California by establishing this critical buffer zone around wildlife habitat.”

The San Jacinto Wildlife Area sits in the largely agricultural San Jacinto Valley, which is a globally recognized important bird area for more than 300 bird species, many of them imperiled, such as burrowing owls, tricolored blackbirds, Swainson’s hawks and California gnatcatchers. The San Jacinto Wildlife Area has long served as an outdoor classroom for area schools and is regularly enjoyed by bird watchers, hikers and hunters. It provides critical habitat for dozens of special status species in the region, including bald eagles, Stephens’ kangaroo rats and bobcats.

“The sensitive animals and plants of the San Jacinto Valley already face multiple threats from fossil fuel-driven climate change and habitat loss,” said J.P. Rose, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “When building new communities, we have to also ensure that the hawks and birds that grace our skies have a fighting chance.”

The Villages of Lakeview proposes to bring more than 8,000 homes and associated commercial and retail development along the Ramona Expressway between the cities of Perris and San Jacinto.

This legal agreement resolves longstanding litigation between the Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, the San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society, the County of Riverside, California, and Nuevo Development Company.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.7 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

The Sierra Club is one of the largest and most influential grassroots environmental organizations in the U.S., with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person’s right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action.

The San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society is the local chapter of the National Audubon Society for almost all of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties focused on the protection of natural habitat for birds and other wildlife, and public education about the environment.
Source: Center for Biological Diversity