Following years of assessment and collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, OCTA has finalized plans to manage valuable wildlife and habitat on its remaining preserved open space properties.
Resource Management Plans (RMP) for the Eagle Ridge Preserve in Brea and the Pacific Horizon Preserve in Laguna Beach now join those previously completed for OCTA’s other wilderness Preserves. These seven properties were purchased and will be preserved in exchange for streamlined freeway improvement projects funded by OC Go (formerly Measure M), Orange County’s half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements.
The RMPs provide guidance for the ongoing protection, preservation, and management of the natural resources found within each Preserve. Guidelines are provided for monitoring plants and animals to ensure health, controlling encroachments and fire dangers, and accommodating safe public access where and when appropriate. Designated roads and trails, and their uses, also are identified.
The RMPs will be reviewed at least every five years and updated as necessary to prioritize management actions based on the changing Preserve needs. At that time, the RMPs would be presented for public review and must be approved by the collaborating federal and state agencies. Learn more about OCTA’s conservation plans here.