Wildlife Connectivity Mitigation

Sign up to receive updates about the Wildlife Connectivity Mitigation in California.

Subscribe(opens in new tab)

 

Announcements

Wildlife Connectivity Advance Mitigation Guidelines Available for Public Comment

The draft Guidelines are now available (see Program Guidelines below) for a 90-day public review and comment period, beginning October 18, 2023 and ending January 16, 2024. To submit comments:

  • Provide a comment letter to mitconnect@wildlife.ca.gov by Tuesday, January 16 at 5:00 p.m.
  • Clearly label the page, section, and paragraph number.
  • Identify “red flags” or key issues.
  • Identify text/concepts that are unclear.
  • Provide suggested edits (what) with rationale (why) for changes.

Please feel free to email us at mitconnect@wildlife.ca.gov with questions during the comment period. Once the public comment period has ended, CDFW will review the comments and finalize the Guidelines. Please note that CDFW is not required to respond to comments concerning the draft Guidelines. Video recording of the public webinar from October 24, 2023, is available by request.

Program Overview

orange flowers with mountains in the background

California wildlife is losing the ability to move and migrate as habitat conversion and built infrastructure disrupt or impede migration corridors. Effective January 1, 2022 via Senate Bill 790, Fish and Game Code §1955 -1958(opens in new tab), titled “Wildlife Connectivity Actions,” allows CDFW to adopt guidelines to promote habitat connectivity projects in California. The Wildlife Connectivity Mitigation Guidelines create incentives for improving habitat connectivity that will protect and enhance movement and migration for California’s most threatened species. The Guidelines are applicable to the Conservation and Mitigation Banking Program and Mitigation Credit Agreements (MCAs), as part of the Regional Conservation Investment Strategy (RCIS) Program (Fish & G. Code, § 1955, subdivision (f)).

CDFW has the authority to create credits under these programs for actions that improve aquatic or terrestrial habitat connectivity inhibited by built infrastructure or habitat fragmentation. Credits created from wildlife connectivity actions can then be sold by sponsors to permittees needing compensatory mitigation to offset their project’s environmental impacts. Sponsors can, therefore, earn a return on their ecological investment by selling credits created as part of the wildlife connectivity action. The credits created can fulfill compensatory mitigation requirements established under state or federal environmental laws, including but not limited to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the California Endangered Species Act (CESA), and Lake and Streambed Alteration Agreements (Fish & G. Code, § 1957, subdivision (e)).

Program Guidelines

The draft Guidelines are now available for a 90-day public review and comment period, beginning October 18, 2023, and ending January 16, 2024.

Program Contact

For further information about Wildlife Connectivity Mitigation, contact the 790 Team at MitConnect@wildlife.ca.gov.

Habitat Conservation Planning Branch
1010 Riverside Parkway, West Sacramento, CA 95605
Mailing: P.O. Box 944209, Sacramento, CA 94244-2090