Field Report Excerpts (Fall 2005)

• Community Foundation Desert Legacy Fund Grant
• 718 Acres of Natural Habitat Lands Preserved
• Dehli Sands Flower-loving Fly Conservation Bank Opens in Colton

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Community Foundation Desert Legacy Fund Grant

This Spring, the Riverside Land Conservancy received a generous grant from the Desert Legacy Fund of the Community Foundation Serving Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. The $5,200.00 grant will fund a new twist to the ongoing Revolving Land Fund program.

The areas of eastern Riverside and San Bernardino Counties and Imperial County are the location of valuable and fragile desert habitat and species, many of which are recognized as endangered by federal and state standards including the federally protected desert tortoise. In recognition of this unique ecosystem, both the National Park Service (NPS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) have designated vast areas as protected public lands including NPS Joshua Tree National Park and Wilderness, NPA Mojave National Park, BLM Chuckwalla Bench Area of Critical Environmental Concern and Wilderness areas, BLM Mecca Hills Wilderness, and BLM Oroccopia Mountains Wilderness. While the boundaries of these areas are clearly defined, not all of the properties located within these boundaries are under public ownership for conservation. These privately held “in-holdings” create huge management problems for the public agencies charged with preserving these areas. This, in turn, can lead to the compromise of conservation efforts and the ability to preserve this unique area, its flora and the species which are dependent upon it.

Since the early 1990’s, the Riverside Land Conservancy has worked with the Tax Collector’s offices of Riverside, San Bernardino, and Imperial Counties to purchase tax-defaulted properties from the County before the property is sold at public auction to recover the past-due taxes. The Conservancy, then transfers ownership of these properties to the appropriate public agency – National Park Service or Bureau of Land Management. Proceeds from the sale of these properties are used to purchase additional tax-defaulted properties from the Counties to continue the process.

Grant funding from the Desert Legacy Fund will allow RLC to expand this program through actively seeking donations of property prior to the property being included in the county’s tax sale. RLC staff will research properties in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties which lie within federal agency boundaries to determine which desert “inholding” properties are 2 or more years in default in payment of property tax. Property owners would be contacted to encourage them to donate the property to the RLC for preservation of the land in perpetuity. By donating the property, the landowners would be entitled to IRS donation credit rather than simply losing their property for non-payment of taxes and potentially more land could be added to conservation areas. It’s a win-win situation.

Thanks to the generosity of the Community Foundation and the Desert Legacy Fund, RLC has a unique opportunity to expand its efforts to conserve more fragile habitat in the desert areas of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties.

718 Acres of Natural Habitat Lands Preserved

The Riverside Land Conservancy successfully facilitated the purchase of 718 acres in western San Timoteo Canyon for conservation. Partnering with the RCA (Western Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority), the land purchase and management agency of the County’s MSHCP (Multi-species Habitat Conservation Plan), RLC was able to culminate almost four years of negotiations with the landowner and potential funding sources. This purchase ensures the preservation of the western portion of San Timoteo Canyon. It is our hope that this area will eventually be included in the San Timoteo Canyon State Park unit.

The Riverside Clark property, as this area is known, lies just to the north and east of the city of Moreno Valley. This rugged, hilly area includes many different habitats and plant communities such as Riversidian sage scrub, oak woodlands, and chaparral. Coyotes, several species of snakes, small mammals, and birds as well as the Stephens’ kangaroo rat, a protected species under the Endangered Species Act, make their home in the area. The land also serves as a foraging site for the Cooper’s hawk and other raptors.

These permanently preserved natural lands will serve as part of a wildlife corridor between Riverside and San Bernardino Counties that will allow wildlife to move safely between Box Springs Mountain in Riverside, Potrero Canyon south of Beaumont and the region’s two new state parks, San Timoteo Canyon State Park and Wildwood Canyon State Park in Yucaipa.

Dehli Sands Flower-loving Fly Conservation Bank Opens in Colton

On June 27, 2005, the Riverside Land Conservancy officially announced its partnership in the opening of the Colton Dunes Conservation Bank, a 150-acre conservation bank in Colton, California, designed to aid recovery of the federally endangered Delhi Sands flower-loving fly (Rhaphiomidias terminalis abdominalis). The 150-acre parcel of land will protect the largest remaining contiguous block of habitat for Delhi Sands flower-loving fly and will be conserved in perpetuity through the placement of a conservation easement that will be held by the Riverside Land Conservancy.

A conservation bank is a parcel of land which contains natural resource values that are conserved and managed in perpetuity. Lands enrolled in a conservation bank can be used to offset impacts to species or habitats in areas outside of the bank’s boundaries. Conservation banks provide an opportunity for landowners to derive economic benefits from land that supports important habitat for species. They are beneficial for species’ conservation because larger blocks of habitat can be conserved and managed.

The formation of the Bank was the result of a successful partnership between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Vulcan Materials, the property’s owner and Riverside Land Conservancy. According to Steve Thompson, Manager of the Service’s California/Nevada Operations Office, “This cooperative partnership with Vulcan Materials Company, the Riverside Land Conservancy and the Service is an important step forward in securing the future of the Delhi Sands flower-loving fly.”

The Dehli Sands flower-loving fly was first listed as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act in 1993, in large part because of efforts by Greg Ballmer, UCR research entomologist and RLC Board member. The 1½ inch long insect is endemic to the sand dunes located along the I10 freeway stretching from Colton and Rialto to Ontario. These dunes were created over hundreds of years by the Santa Ana winds that scooped sand from the mountains and deposited them in the valley. Jane Block, RLC President is known to refer to the area as “a gift from the wind.” According to Jane, "What we leave for the future is an important thing for us all to think about -- an important gift of unique habitat and unique species."