HISTORY

 Throughout the 1990s Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs) and Natural Communities Conservation Plans (NCCPs) emerged as productive tools in protecting sensitive resources and endangered species while balancing the need for population growth, development and transportation.

These planning programs establish habitat preserves for species protection and the need became apparent for an organization that would give priority to landowner’s interests during the acquisition process.

The California Land Conservancy was formed to establish such an entity.

It was organized in April 2004 to:

◦ Protect conservation land in perpetuity.

◦ Facilitate HCP and NCCP implementation.

◦ Facilitate the transfer of private land to government entities whose purpose includes the long term management of conservation land.

◦ Provide landowners an alternative source for the sale, dedication and use of available tax advantages in conserving their property.

Ed Sauls, President and co-founder of The California Land Conservancy participated in a leadership role in several Southern California HCPs and NCCPs. These large scale plans seek to improve long term survivability of sensitive species, permit processes and may compensate landowners for conservation of their property. To implement these ambitious plans, assembly of land for species reserves requires considerable effort. Limited funding and demand for hundreds of thousands of conservation acreage calls for expertise in land transactions and the use of available tax and legal tools to implement these programs. The California Land Conservancy was organized to help facilitate reserve assembly for HCPs and NCCPs providing an organization that works closely with landowners to tailor land transactions in the process.