Program Overview
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 were available for a 90-day public review and comment period, beginning October 18, 2023, and ending January 16, 2024.
For further information about Wildlife Connectivity Advance Mitigation, contact the 790 Team at MitConnect@wildlife.ca.gov.