About RCA
The Western Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority (RCA) was created in 2004 to implement one of America’s most ambitious environmental efforts, the Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP), protecting 146 native species of plants and animals and preserving a half million acres of their habitat.
The MSHCP was one of the results of a comprehensive effort to shape Riverside County’s future. Rapid growth in the 1980s and 1990s, the challenges of traffic congestion, and the listing of species as threatened or endangered by development, led to a vision for a unified plan which would guide development and provide for economic growth while protecting the environment and planning for future transportation needs. In 1999, the Riverside County Integrated Project was launched to realize that vision.
The MSHCP was adopted by Riverside County and the cities of Banning, Beaumont, Calimesa, Canyon Lake, Corona, Hemet, Lake Elsinore, Menifee, Moreno Valley. Murrieta, Norco, Perris, Riverside, San Jacinto, Temecula and Wildomar. In addition, Riverside County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, Riverside County Parks and Open Space District, Riverside County Waste Management Department, Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC), California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), and the California Department of Parks and Recreation also participated.
This effort to set aside habitat and protect species allows the development and transportation infrastructure necessary for a healthy economy to move ahead without sacrificing our region's environment and quality of life.
Of the 1.26 million acres covered by the MSHCP, 500,000 acres, or 40% is designated for preservation. Of that half million acres, 347,000 acres or 69% is already conserved as public or quasi-public land. The acquisition of the remaining land is one of the most important activities of RCA. To date, more than 27% of the remaining goal of 153,000 acres has been acquired.
While reserve acquisition in RCA’s core activity, RCA must also monitor development or “habitat-loss” within the MSHCP, review applications for infrastructure or development projects by public agencies and other regional entities like electric and gas utilities, monitor the species being protected, and manage the lands it acquires. Every year, RCA issues an Annual Report to update its members and the public on its progress.
