Cañada de San Vicente Volume 1: FINAL - Land Management Plan [FINAL Ini al Study/Mi gated Nega ve Declara on: see vol.2] February 2016 California Dept. of Fish & Wildlife Prepared By: California State Parks SOUTH COAST REGION SOUTHERN SERVICE CENTER 3883 Ruffi n Road 2797 Truxtun Road San Diego, CA 92132 San Diego, CA 92106 This document represents the Final Land Management Plan WriƩ en comments or inquiries regarding this plan should be submiƩ ed to the address below: California State Parks - Southern Service Center Cañada de San Vicente Land Management Planning Team 2797 Truxtun Road San Diego, CA 92106 2016 California State Parks 2016 California Dept. Of Fish and Wildlife All Photographs copyright California State Parks and US Fish and Wildlife, unless otherwise noted. This document is also available as an electronic fi le at: h ps://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Lands/Planning/Canada-de-San-Vicente Acknowledgments The Southern Service Center of California State Parks appreciated the opportunity to provide their professional planning and resource services to California Department of Fish and Wildlife, in developing this innovative Land Management Plan. Being sister departments in the same agency, this collaborative eff ort was not only enjoyable but refl ects an effi cient use of public funding. California Department of Fish and Wildlife Christine Beck Environmental Scientist Richard Burg Lands/Wildlife Program Supervisor Karen Chadwick GIS Specialist Karen Miner Environmental Program Manager Jason Price Reserve Manager/Environmental Scientist Terri Stewart Environmental Program Manager Brandon Stidum Biologist California State Parks – Southern Service Center Alexander Bevil State Historian II Michael Bonk Research Program Specialist (GIS) Jeanice Davis Landscape Architect Barney Matsumoto Project Manager/Supervising Landscape Architect Marla Mealey Associate State Archaeologist Debbie Waldecker Environmental Scientist Michael Yengling Environmental Coordinator/Associate Parks and Recreation Specialist TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 - INTRODUCTION 1.1 Purpose of Acquisition 1-3 1.2 About the Department of Fish and Wildlife 1-4 1.3 Purpose of This Land Management Plan 1-5 1.4 Planning Infl uences and Considerations 1-6 1.5 Public Process 1-8 2 - PROPERTY DESCRIPTION 2.1 Geographical Setting 2-3 2.2 Boundaries and Adjacent Land Use 2-3 2.3 Easements 2-3 2.4 Existing Facilities/Uses 2-4 2.5 Geology and Geomorphology 2-4 2.6 Soils 2-6 2.7 Climate 2-8 2.8 Hydrology/Watershed 2-10 2.8.1 Water Conveyance 2-10 2.9 Cultural Resources 2-12 2.9.1 Archaeological and Ethnographic Overview 2-13 2.9.2 Historic Archaeological Resources 2-13 2.10 Aesthetics/Visual Resources 2-17 3 - HABITAT AND SPECIES DESCRIPTION 3.1 Vegetation Communities and Habitats 3-3 3.2 Botanical Resources 3-12 3.3 Sensitive Botanical Resources 3-12 3.4 Wildlife Resources 3-21 3.5 Sensitive Wildlife Resources 3-21 3.5.1 Birds 3-23 3.5.2 Mammals 3-28 3.5.3 Reptiles and Amphibians 3-32 Cañada de San Vicente - Land Management Plan | TABLE OF CONTENTS i 4 – MANAGEMENT GOALS, TASKS, AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS 4.1 Elements of the LMP 4-3 4.2 Goals and Tasks Within the LMP 4-4 4.2.1 Goals 4-4 4.2.2 Tasks 4-4 4.3 Management-Zones 4-5 4.4 Biological Elements: Goals, Tasks, and Impact Guidelines 4-8 4.4.1 Habitat Management 4-8 4.4.2 Species Management 4-15 4.4.3 Fully Protected Species 4-27 4.4.4 CNPS List 1B Species 4-28 4.4.5 Game Species 4-29 4.4.6 Biological Monitoring 4-31 4.4.7 Goals and Tasks 4-34 4.5 Public Use Elements: Goals, Tasks, and Impact Guidelines 4-43 4.5.1 Hunting 4-44 4.5.2 Educational/Interpretation 4-47 4.5.3 Environmental Research 4-47 4.5.4 Trails 4-48 4.6 Facility Maintenance Elements: Goals, Tasks, and Impact Guidelines 4-50 4.6.1 Existing Facilities 4-51 4.6.2 Vector Control 4-52 4.6.3 Wells, Springs, and Guzzlers 4-53 4.6.4 Roads, Bridges, and Culverts 4-55 4.6.5 Signage, Fencing, and Gates 4-56 4.6.6 Fire and Fire Management 4-57 4.7 Cultural Resources Elements: Goals, Tasks, and Impact Guidelines 4-66 4.7.1 Archaeological Sites (Prehistoric and Historic) 4-66 4.7.2 Historical Resources 4-72 5 – OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE SUMMARY 5.1 Funding and Staffi ng 5-3 5.2 Equipment 5-4 6 – CLIMATE CHANGE STRATEGIES 7 – FUTURE REVISIONS TO LAND MANAGEMENT PLANS 7.1 Minor Revisions 7-3 7.2 Major Revisions 7-4 7.3 Plan Status Reports 7-4 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS | Cañada de San Vicente - Land Management Plan 8 – APPENDICES 8.1 Vegetation alliances/groups occurring within Cañada de San Vicente Reserve 8-3 8.2 Plant species known to occur within Cañada de San Vicente Reserve 8-5 8.3 Special status plant species & vegetation communities & their status.... 8-11 8.4 Bird, mammal, reptile, and amphibian species known to occur ... 8-13 8.5 Special status wildlife species & their status.... 8-17 8.6 Roosting requirements of potentially occurring bat species 8-19 8.7 Proposed categories for archaeological sites 8-21 9 – DEFINITIONS 10 – ABBREVIATIONS 11 – REFERENCES LIST OF FIGURES 1 Location Map iv 2 Regional Map 2-2 3 Slope Map 2-5 4 Soils Map 2-9 5 Hydrography Map 2-11 6 Vegetation Map 3-20 7 Sensitive Species 3-22 8 Management-Zones Map 4-7 LIST OF TABLES A Management-zones Matrix 4-6 Biological Monitoring Elements: B Riparian and Other Wetland Habitats 4-37 C Oak Woodlands 4-37 D Chaparral, Scrub, and Grasslands 4-38 E San Diego Thornmint and CNPS List 1.B Species 4-38 F Quino Checkerspot Butterfl y 4-39 G Arroyo Toad 4-39 H Northern Harrier 4-40 I Burrowing Owl 4-40 J Pallid Bat 4-41 K Townsend’s Big-eared Bat 4-41 L Fully Protected Species 4-42 M Game Species 4-42 N General Technique Guidelines 4-62 O Treatment and Inspection Matrix for Cultural Resource Sites 4-69 Cañada de San Vicente - Land Management Plan | TABLE OF CONTENTS iii Parcel boundaries are approximate and should should and approximate are boundaries Parcel are Maps descriptions. legal considered be not intended for study purposes only. Rd e t n e c i Sa n V Cañada de San Vicente Sources: Esri, HERE, DeLorme, USGS, Intermap, increment P Corp.,Sources: Esri, HERE, DeLorme, NRCAN, Esri Japan, USGS, Intermap, incrementMETI, Esri P MapmyIndia, © OpenStreetMap contributors, and the GIS TomTom, China (Hong Kong), Esri (Thailand), User Community Date: 8/5/2015 Legend ~ Canada de San Vicente CDFW Lands Boundary Figure 1 Location Map μ Feet 01,0002,000500 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS | Cañada de San Vicente - Land Management Plan 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Purpose of Acquisition 1-3 1.2 About the Department of Fish and Wildlife 1-4 1.3 Purpose of This Land Management Plan 1-5 1.4 Planning Infl uences and Considerations 1-6 1.5 Public Process 1-8 1-2 INTRODUCTION | Cañada de San Vicente - Land Management Plan 1 Introduction 1.1 Purpose of Acquisition Cañada de San Vicente Reserve (Reserve) was acquired by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to conserve, protect, and restore core habitat areas, and provide crucial wildlife linkages in the San Diego County Subregional Plan, under the Multiple Species Conservation Program (MSCP). Per a 2007 agreement between CDFW and San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA), an approximate 392-acre portion of Reserve (a.k.a. Rancho Cañada) was purchased by SDCWA and ultimately transferred in fee title to CDFW, December 21, 2007 (see fi gure 8). The 392-acres provides mitigation for certain elements of SDCWA’s Carryover Storage and San Vicente Dam Raise Project, with the balance of the property providing a contribution towards conservation for the SDCWA’s subregional Natural Community Conservation Plan (NCCP)/Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). SDCWA provided CDFW $28,828.51 in start-up funds, $419,689 endowment funds, and $14,987.71 endowment interest for CDFW’s management of the 392-acres per the terms of the 2007 agreement. In June 2008, CDFW acquired 4,056 acres from The Nature Conservancy (TNC) for ≈$15,921,000 using a United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) section 6 grant (≈$6,221,000) and State Coastal Conservancy Subgrant #04-131 (≈$9,700,000) funds. The land was purchased for the protection of the natural resources including threatened and endangered species within San Vicente Reservoir watershed. In June 2010, CDFW purchased 311 acres (Spitsbergen property) for ≈$2,100,000.00 using a USFWS section 6 grant. This acquisition protected undisturbed grasslands, chaparral, oak woodlands, and riparian habitat along the San Vicente Creek watershed. It also enhanced existing federal, State, and local NCCP eff orts to secure key wildlife linkage and preserve core areas of habitat within the MSCP. In September 2014, CDFW acquired 256 acres (Bonfi ls property) for ≈$450,000 using a USFWS Conservation Planning Land Acquisition Grant (≈$292,500) and Habitat Conservation Fund (HCF), Proposition 117 (≈$157,500) funds. This acquisition secured a key wildlife linkages, protected a core area of habitat and enhanced the existing MSCP. In addition to the above purchases TNC provided funding for the operations and maintenance of the Reserve. For additional details on the Reserve’s acquisition history, refer to section 2.9.2 of the Historical summary. Cañada de San Vicente - Land Management Plan | INTRODUCTION 1-3 1.2 About the Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) The Mission of the Department of Fish and Wildlife is to manage California’s diverse fi sh, wildlife, and plant resources, and the habitats upon which they depend, for their ecological values and for their use and enjoyment by the public.