	Volume 14 - No. 2 - Spring 2004

The Endangered Habitats League is dedicated to the protection of the diverse ecosystems of Southern California and to sensitive and sustainable land use for the benefit of all the region’s inhabitants. The EHL Newsletter is published quarterly to chronicle our plans, activities, and successes.

To learn more about the Endangered Habitats League and to access prior issues of the EHL Newsletter, please visit our website:

www.ehleague.org

If you are not already a member of the Endangered Habitats League, please join us in the ongoing effort to protect the irreplaceable plants, animals, and places of Southern California.

Free Membership Sign Up

Habitat funding in San Diego: Gold at the end of the rainbow?

On April 9, 2004, the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) voted to include $850 million for habitat acquisition and management in the reauthorization of TransNet, the countywide 1/2-cent sales tax used to fund transportation projects. This vote is a milestone in EHL’s multiyear effort to secure the funds necessary to protect tens of thousands of acres of natural lands.

EHL has been a lead negotiator for this funding, which is structured as mitigation for the transportation projects. From our perspective, it is about half the amount needed for regional habitat plans, such as the San Diego Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Program (MSCP). The TransNet funding is linked to our overall “smart growth” strategy, which includes an improved transit system and walkable communities. Also strategically linked is EHL’s work to establish a land management coalition – the Conservation Resources Network – which will institutionalize non-profit land trusts as long-term partners in managing and monitoring reserve lands.

The vote on TransNet will occur in the November 2004 election, and will require a 2/3 majority to pass. If the measure does not pass this November, EHL will remain engaged through subsequent TransNet ballot measures.