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East Contra Costa County Habitat Conservation Plan – Natural Community Conservation Plan

Contra Costa County

The East Contra Costa County Habitat Conservation Plan/Natural Community Conservation Plan (ECCC HCP/NCCP) area, located in the foothills east of Mount Diablo, supports a rich array of species and habitats and diverse topographic, climatic, hydrologic and geologic conditions from the valley to the peak. The foothills and grasslands are a remnant of a once extensive natural habitat that ran from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in Contra Costa County southward to the end of the San Joaquin Valley. As development continues in and around eastern Contra Costa County, the varieties of species that inhabit the area are in jeopardy of losing valuable local habitat and regional population connections. The ECCC HCP/NCCP Priority Conservation Area provides an opportunity to maintain habitat connections to the San Joaquin Valley so that species, such as the San Joaquin kit fox, do not become isolated and subsequently extirpated. The ECCC HCP/NCCP Priority Conservation Area also presents an opportunity to protect and create substantial connections among existing parks and open space areas, including the Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve, Mount Diablo State Park, Cowell Ranch, the Morgan Territory and Round Valley Regional Preserves, Los Vaqueros Watershed, the conservation lands around the Byron Airport, and the conservation areas in Alameda and San Joaquin Counties. Lands conserved through the ECCC HCP/NCCP will be open for public enjoyment, including hiking, horse-back riding, bicycling, and camping.

For more information about this area, please contact:

John Kopchik
Contra Costa County Department of Conservation & Development
jkopc@cd.cccounty.us
925-335-1227
http://www.co.contra-costa.ca.us/index.asp?NID=546

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