Nearly 1,300 acres of property in Proctor Valley have been bought by conservancy groups, saving that land from potential development and habitat fragmentation that would have threatened multiple rare species endemic to San Diego.
The Nature Conservancy, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the California Wildlife Conservation Board, and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service worked together to acquire approximately 1,291 acres of in an area adjacent to the Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve and the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge.
The package of land that was up for potential development would have threatened the rare, biodiverse coastal sage scrub habitat that hosts the Quino checkerspot butterfly, the San Diego fairy shrimp, the coastal California gnatcatcher, and the golden eagle.
That property successfully links and connects the reserve to the refuge conservation area. It will be owned and managed by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife as an expansion of the Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve. The purchase is part of a larger effort to preserve environmental resilience and biodiversity in the region.
“Wildlife connectivity is a top priority of the state and it’s encouraging to see years of work finally come to fruition,” said Charlton H. Bonham, the director of CDFW, in a statement. “Wildlife that uses this land will now have much more room to roam.”
After securing an agreement with the landowner to acquire the property for conservation, the California Wildlife Conservation Board approved $30 million for the purchase.
Other funding for the property came from private donors, USFWS and the Department of Homeland Security. The $25 million from DHS came from a settlement agreement over the construction of the U.S.-Mexico border wall.
The Reserve-Refuge conservation area — which now includes the Proctor Valley property — has been a focus of significant interest and investment over the last three decades.
Environmental groups say that it is one of the most important target areas in California, as it contains numerous endangered and threatened species that depend on substantial private and public landholdings for survival.