Caltrans Earmarks $7 Million for Conservation Efforts in Coachella Valley

The Coachella Valley Conservation Commission will receive $7 million in state support for conservation plans to expand protected habitat for toads, turtles, lizards, sheep and other wildlife, it was announced Tuesday.

The money comes from this year’s State Highway Operation Protection Program.

“Caltrans strongly supports the objectives outlined in the Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan,” said John Bulinski, director of Caltrans District 8, which covers Riverside County.

“By working together, Caltrans and leaders in the Coachella Valley have been able to maintain and improve roads while preserving the desert’s natural environment,” he said. “This funding commitment also is a reflection of Caltrans’ new mission statement and our commitment to sustainability, partnership and accountability.”

The Coachella Valley Conservation Commission is a sister agency of the Coachella Valley Association of Governments.

The conservation plan was approved in 2008 and lays out a 75-year strategy for protecting 240,000 acres of land and 27 species of plants and animals, by increasing breeding grounds and natural linkages on which the fringe-toed lizard, desert tortoise and peninsular big horn sheep may roam.

--City News Service; Image via Caltrans