Under a pathbreaking settlement agreement, vital habitat for the state and federally listed San Bernardino kangaroo rat (SBKR) will be set aside while allowing long-planned development to proceed. 

For over 20 years, EHL has sought conservation along Lytle Creek, which still retains the natural flooding that rejuvenates vegetation called alluvial fan sage scrub for the SBKR and other rare species. EHL has historically argued that approvals issued by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 2021 did not protect sufficient SBKR habitat on the edge of the floodplain. Flooded less frequently, such “refugia” shelter the animal during major storms. 

Over the last year, EHL and its partners (Center for Biological Diversity and Save Lyle Creek Wash) crafted an agreement with the Lytle Development Company that will provide further protection for the SBKR while also allowing other portions of the property to be developed. Now, 177 acres of high value floodplain terrace, formerly designated for development, including habitat currently occupied by the SBKR, will be transferred into conservation, bringing the total amount of protected SBKR habitat to over 900 acres. The agreement also anticipates that in the future, water flows from Lytle Creek could be spread onto the 177-acre floodplain terrace, enhancing and restoring it. 

Even with a reduction in the project's development area, all the benefits of the project's original conservation plan, such as management, monitoring, and sand replenishment, will be retained. SBKR that remain in parts of the development area with lower long term conservation value will undergo state-of-the-art translocation into suitable habitat. Open space benefits for the neighboring community were also secured.

This solution is a leap forward in EHL’s long-standing efforts to preserve wildlife within the last remaining alluvial fans of the Inland Empire. The immediate next step will be to seek the approvals from the state and federal agencies necessary to realize the new benefits. EHL then hopes to work with the adjoining Cemex sand mine to improve creek flows through its Lytle Creek holdings. 

EHL is pleased to have resolved the years-long disagreements it previously had over this project and welcomes the partnership of Lytle Development moving forward. We also thank our invaluable biological experts and our supporting law firms, Carstens, Black & Minteer and Eubanks & Associates.