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planning for growth
As San Diego County grows, our natural areas are threatened by encroaching development. Partially in response, California's Natural Community Conservation Planning Act (NCCP) has fostered the development of regional preserve systems that aim to maintain natural areas while balancing growth. In the city of San Diego (city program) and the County of San Diego (county program), this preserve system has become known as the Multiple Species Conservation Plan (MSCP). The North County cities are working with the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) developing an additional plan for their area called the Multiple Habitat Conservation Program (MHCP) 
Today, monitoring and managing that preserved land is the weakest part
of the NCCP; it is presumed each agency will perform its own monitoring,
yet there are few funds to pay for it. While not the complete answer
to this problem, the non-profit conservation community has stepped up
to the plate to help. Network member the Endangered
Habitats League is a tireless advocate for establishing additional
funding for land monitoring and management. Network member the San Diego
Tracking Team has demonstrated that volunteers trained to do wildlife
monitoring can become a valuable resource for NCCP monitoring. The Tracking
TeamÕs protocol for wildlife monitoring was designed with the goals
of scientific validity and clarity in mind and has been approved by
California State Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), the federal US
Fish and Wildlife Service, and the City and County of San Diego. The
wildlife surveys have produced data that has been accepted by government
agencies in the identification and design of wildlife corridors to be
protected.
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