Nearly 1,300 acres of property in Proctor Valley have been bought by conservancy groups, saving that land from potential development and habitat fragmentation that would have threatened multiple rare species endemic to San Diego.
The Nature Conservancy, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the California Wildlife Conservation Board, and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service worked together to acquire approximately 1,291 acres of in an area adjacent to the Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve and the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge.
The package of land that was up for potential development would have threatened the rare, biodiverse coastal sage scrub habitat that hosts the Quino checkerspot butterfly, the San Diego fairy shrimp, the coastal California gnatcatcher, and the golden eagle.
That property successfully links and connects the reserve to the refuge conservation area. It will be owned and managed by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife as an expansion of the Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve. The purchase is part of a larger effort to preserve environmental resilience and biodiversity in the region.