Just as the seasons bring change across our natural landscapes, the start of a new year also brings its own season of change to the Western Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority (RCA). Members of the RCA Board of Directors unanimously elected City of Norco Mayor, Kevin Bash, to serve as RCA Chair for 2024. Bash has served on the RCA Board of Directors for more than 13 years.

“I am honored and humbled to serve as RCA Chair this year and I want to thank Natasha Johnson for her service as RCA Chair for the last three years,” said Chair Bash. “The RCA has an important role in western Riverside County. From protecting plant and animal species to expediting land and infrastructure development, the RCA works to balance the need for growth while preserving our natural landscapes for future generations,” Bash said.

Bash will lead the RCA’s 23-member Board as they work to implement the Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP) in western Riverside County.

The RCA was created in 2004 to implement the MSHCP, one of largest habitat conservation plans in the nation. The MSHCP streamlines the environmental permitting process for needed infrastructure like transportation and housing projects, resulting in improved efficiency and certainty, cost savings, and support for the local economy. One of the MSHCP requirements is to form a 500,000-acre habitat reserve for 146 native species – of which 34 are endangered or threatened. Through careful and deliberate land acquisition, the RCA is on track to meet its goal. As of 2022, more than 82 percent of the reserve is complete.

Riverside County District 2 Supervisor, Karen Spiegel, was also elected Vice-Chair of the RCA Board of Directors. Board officers are elected to one-year terms.