	Volume 14 - No.3 - Summer 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

Success and Setback in Trabuco Canyon

Due to the unresponsive political structure in Orange County, EHL and other conservation groups, were forced to litigate two projects in scenic and biologically important Trabuco Canyon in southern Orange County. One suit was settled with conservation gains. The other suffered a defeat at the trial court, but will be appealed.

As originally proposed, the Saddleback Meadows project blocked a wildlife corridor and impacted two religious institutions. It was approved over the objections of the state and federal wildlife agencies, despite the County of Orange’s ostensible commitment to the Natural Community Conservation Planning (NCCP) program. However, after years of acrimonious litigation, and with the assistance of a retired judge as mediator, the parties came together on a sound project redesign.

The Saddle Crest/Saddle Creek project would block another wildlife corridor, and was similarly approved over wildlife agency objections. It would also destroy hundreds of oak trees, and revise the general plan in damaging ways. Without a written analysis of the issues raised, the trial court denied our petition to overturn the project’s EIR. We are vigorously appealing the decision.