Protection and Management

Protection and Management

To assess the risks to biodiversity from potential development, there is the need to identify where such changes might occur. To that end, land in the study region was evaluated for its current degree of protection and management for biodiversity. The method for classification follows that used by the National Biological Service, in which the program of land use, and not ownership, is the principal rating factor. Similar classifications for the study area have been made by state and regional planning agencies. If land could be classified by two or more categories, the category representing more protection for biodiversity was mapped. The eleven categories used for this study are described below and are shown in figure 11.

Biological Reserves Šthe most protected
National Forests
Bureau of Land Management Lands
State, County, and Local Parks
Steep or Wet Land
Military Impact Areas
Military Maneuver Areas
Indian Reservations
Agricultural Land
Private Holdings
Urban Areas Šthe least protected

Of all of the types listed, only in Category 1, Biological Reserves, is the conservation of biodiversity defined as a primary management objective. Land on these sites is maintained in a natural state either by allowing natural disturbances, such as fire and flood, to occur or by simulating such events through management practices. Examples of Category 1 include the San Mateo National Wilderness and the Research Natural Areas of the Cleveland National Forest, Caspers Park, and the Santa Rosa Plateau Reserve, which is managed by The Nature Conservancy and other local agencies. Categories 2 through 4, which include lands administered by the National Forest, the Bureau of Land Management, and state and local government agencies, also contribute to the area's current high biodiversity, but do not conserve biodiversity as a predominant management or program objective.

Land in categories 5 through 11 can be developed given appropriate technologies and economies. Category 5, Steep or Wet Land, is difficult to develop, and may be protected by local building codes. Category 7, Military Maneuver Areas, could, in most cases, be converted to another use. Category 8, Indian Reservations, can be developed based on the decisions of the governing Native American tribes. Category 9, Agricultural Areas, and Category 10, Private Holdings, could be developed, and Category 11, Urban Lands, is already developed.

One category that requires a special note concerning the management of biodiversity is Category 6, Military Impact Areas. These are tracts that receive incoming ordnance from training exercises. As a result of this use, few people enter these areas and the threat of unexploded shells will make it difficult to develop this land in the future. Yet despite this, and perhaps because of the relative isolation from most human activities, many species are known to move through these areas and to use them for forage and nesting purposes. The frequent fires that accompany this land use also contribute to the quality of the grassland habitat, which requires burning for regeneration.

Figure 12, 'Constrained Land,' shows all developed land and all land assumed to be protected from urban development and Camp Pendleton's Impact Areas in their land cover colors. All other land, everything that can be developed at some point in the future, is shown as light gray shaded terrain.