CC SR 20230718 G - 2022 Preserve Annual Report
CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: 07/18/2023
AGENDA REPORT AGENDA HEADING: Consent Calendar
AGENDA TITLE:
Consideration and possible action to receive the 2022 Annual Report for the Palos Verdes
Nature Preserve.
RECOMMENDED COUNCIL ACTION:
(1) Receive and file the 2022 Annual Report for the Palos Verdes Nature Preserve; and,
(2) Authorize the City Manager to sign the Annual Report Certification Statement
required by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
FISCAL IMPACT: None
Amount Budgeted: N/A
Additional Appropriation: N/A
Account Number(s): N/A
ORIGINATED BY: Katie Lozano, Senior Administrative Analyst
REVIEWED BY: Cory Linder, Recreation and Parks Director
APPROVED BY: Ara Mihranian, AICP, City Manager
ATTACHED SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS:
A. 2022 Palos Verdes Nature Preserve Annual Report (made available to the
City Council and public on June 15, 2023)
BACKGROUND:
The City’s Natural Communities Conservation Plan/Habitat Conservation Plan
(NCCP/HCP) requires the City and the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy
(PVPLC) to submit an Annual Report to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and
California Department of Fish and Wildlife Service (CDFW), collectively referred to as the
Wildlife Agencies, each year and a Comprehensive Monitoring and Management Report
every three years. The NCCP/HCP also establishes the PVPLC as the City’s Habitat
Manager for the City-owned Palos Verdes Nature Preserve (Preserve) and in this role,
the PVPLC monitors and manages the biological objectives of the NCCP/HCP on behalf
of the City. These objectives include:
1
• Maintaining or increasing populations of covered species to ensure long -term
viability and sustainability of native ecosystem function
• Documenting changes in the population of covered species through monitoring
covered species within conserved habitats
• Maintaining or increasing the acreage of habitat for covered species within the
Preserve through enhancing and restoring wildlife connections to adjoining habitat
• Documenting the loss of and protection of covered species and their habitats in
the annual Habitat Tracking Report and Covered Species Report (reported in
Annual Report)
• Managing populations of non-native invasive plant species in the Preserve through
the Targeted Exotic Removal Plan for Plants (TERPP)
• Describing any new biological data collected, though this is not the primary focus
of the monitoring program
• Applying Adaptive Management to adjust conservation actions where needed
Per the City Council-approved Management Agreement between the City and the
PVPLC, below are some of the tasks the PVPLC conducts to implement the NCCP/HCP:
• Prepare the three-year Comprehensive Monitoring and Management Report
• Prepare the Annual Report
• Wildlife and botanical surveys for covered species
• Meet monthly and as needed with City Staff to coordinate Preserve management
• New habitat restoration (required minimum of 5 acres annually)
• Targeted Exotic Plant Control (5 acres or 20 small sites annually)
The PVPLC prepares the Annual Report based on the calendar year to evaluate the
implementation of the NCCP/HCP during the preceding year and evaluate the overall
progress being made toward reaching the NCCP/HCP conservation goals. Required
elements of the Annual Report are:
• Gains/losses to habitat within the Plan area by project, including a list of all covered
activities performed, the review process for each covered activity, and impacts to
covered species and vegetation from each project
• Impacts of public uses and recommendations, if necessary, for minimizing impacts
to the Preserve
• A summary of nighttime use of the Preserve
• All contributions toward the preservation of habitat lands
• Description of the management of invasive plant species
• Documentation of the habitat restoration efforts to enhance and restore native
plant communities and the results of biological monitoring
• Annual evaluation of management activities, enforcement activities, funding
needs, and ability to accomplish resource management goals
• A separate fiscal report prepared jointly by the City and PVPLC
2
• Summary of clerical changes made to the NCCP/HCP, including corrections to
maps or exhibits, changes made to survey, monitoring, or reporting protocols
The PVPLC also prepares the Comprehensive Monitoring and Management Report every
three years. The next Comprehensive Monitoring and Management Report will cover
2022-24 and is anticipated to be presented to the City Council in May 202 5.
Comprehensive Monitoring and Management Reports include a synthesis of all data
collected in the preceding three years and an analysis of trends in biological resources.
These reports include the following components:
• Updated Covered Species Surveys
• Updated Predator Control Plan
• Updated Habitat Restoration Plan
• Management recommendations based on species monitoring and management to
minimize loss or negative impacts to natural resources
• The Annual Report for the third year of the period covered
DISCUSSION:
2022 Annual Report
The 2022 Annual Report (Attachment A) for consideration this evening includes the
required annual submittals listed above, including habitat loss tracking for 2022. A more
comprehensive tracking of habitat loss associated with the NCCP/HCP for the past
duration of the permit term will be provided with the 2022 -24 Comprehensive Monitoring
and Management Report tentatively scheduled to be considered by the City Council in
May 2025. Below are some highlights and pertinent data pulled from the 2022 Annual
Report.
• Habitat Restoration Activity
Per the NCCP/HCP, 250 acres of habitat must be restored within the Preserve
over the 50-year NCCP/HCP permit term, typically by restoring a minimum of 5
acres of habitat each year. PVPLC performs this habitat restoration on behalf of
the City and creates habitat restoration projects in coordination with the City and
Wildlife Agencies every three years. In 2022, PVPLC’s active habitat restoration
project was the Abalone Cove Restoration Project, which is included in Annual
Report Appendix A. The Abalone Cove Restoration Project is an approximately
four-year project taking place in late 2019 through 2023 to restore 20 acres of
coastal scrub and mixed Southern California bluff scrub/southern cactus scrub.
PVPLC’s next habitat restoration project will take place 2023 -2025 at the new
Glass Reserve property (previously referred to as Lower Filiorum) and is further
detailed in the Additional Information section of this staff report.
• Wildlife Corridor Acquisition
In June 2022, the City, with PVPLC as co-buyer, purchased the 96-acre wildlife
corridor property from York Point View Properties, LLC through partnerships and
3
support from USFWS, CDFW, the California Wildlife Conservation Board (CWCB),
and the Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space District. This wildlife
corridor has been incorporated into the Preserve and has increased the overall
Preserve acreage from 1,402 acres to 1,498 acres (approximately 1,500 acres).
This land was targeted in the NCCP/HCP as potential future Preserve property,
and it creates the necessary corridor for wildlife to traverse between the inland
core reserve properties and the coastal reserve properties. The purchase price
was $21 million, of which the CWCB provided $17.4 million in Section 6 grant
funding, the Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space District provided
$1 million in grant funding, and PVPLC and the City each contributed $1.3 million.
• Trail Counter Data
The Annual Report includes trail counter data within Appendix I. The City has trail
counters at the following popular trailheads: Burma Road and Rattlesnake
Trailheads (installed December 2017) within the Portuguese Bend Reserve, and
Pirate (installed April 2018), Fossil, and Purple Sage (installed July 2021)
Trailheads within the Forrestal Reserve. The monthly average at these five
trailheads in 2022 was 26,831. To compare trail use pre -pandemic, during the
pandemic, and post-pandemic, the City uses data from the Burma and Rattlesnake
Trailheads, which were the only trail counters installed pre-pandemic. During
pandemic-related closures, trail managers throughout the region (including the
City of Rancho Palos Verdes) experienced significant spikes in use. The following
monthly average trail counter data from Burma Road and Rattlesnake Trailheads
show that trail use at these trailheads are trending toward pre-pandemic use levels.
Burma Road and Rattlesnake Trail Counter Data (monthly averages):
• 2019: 20,100
• 2020 (during pandemic-related closures): 31,500
• 2021 (after pandemic-related closures lifted in May): 20,100
• 2022: 21,330
• Management Recommendations
The Annual Report includes management recommendations to help reduce
natural resource impacts resulting from Preserve public use, and management
recommendations more directly related to enhancing habitat restoration and the
health of natural resources. Below are the key management recommendations
related to public use included in the 2022 Annual Report:
1. Continue to fully staff the City’s Open Space Management Division and PVPLC
Field Operations Specialist position and continue support for the PVPLC
volunteer programs: These positions and programs work together to educate
the public, shape public use, enforce public use regulations, and address
damage caused by public use of the Preserve. The most detrimental damage
caused by public use in 2022, and earlier, is identified as spur trail creation.
Creation and use of spur trails fragments habitat and causes stress and
4
negative impacts to sensitive species nesting activity, covered species habitat,
and sensitive plant species typically located off trail.
2. Continue Coordination Between City and PVPLC staff and volunteers: The City
and PVPLC coordinate closely on NCCP/HCP implementation and Preserve
management. City and PVPLC staff meet monthly, and often more frequently
to coordinate specific projects and activities. Additionally, Park Rangers meet
monthly with the PVPLC’s Volunteer Trail Watch Program leaders. The
Volunteer Trail Watch is an excellent proactive PVPLC volunteer program by
which volunteers patrol the Preserve in uniform, educate Preserve users with
interpretive and rules information, and provide the City and PVPLC with
detailed monthly reports on public use and maintenance observations. The
2022 Annual Report emphasizes the importance of this continual
communication and coordination. Additionally, PVPLC biologists work with
Park Rangers to educate Park Rangers on Preserve locations containing more
sensitive habitat and plant and animal species for more targeted enforcement.
3. Continue to monitor and maintain current regulatory signs and identify locations
where new or additional signs are needed without causing a proliferation of
signs. Signs are an important element of public education, and it enables
enforcement personnel to issue citations when necessary. The 2022 Annual
Report emphasizes the importance of signs, recommends maintaining existing
signs when vandalized, and continuing to identify any new locations where
regulatory signs are needed. In 2022, City Staff worked with Trump National
Golf Club staff to improve wayfinding, interpretive, and regulatory signage
within Ocean Trails Reserve.
Annual Report Certification Statement
Since 2011, the City and PVPLC have been jointly submitting Preserve Annual Reports
and Comprehensive Reports to the Wildlife Agencies. As of recent, the USFWS now
requires, as part of its Section 10 permit, that the City submit an Annual Report
Certification Statement thereby certifying that the information contained in the Annual
Report is factually correct. The City Council is being asked to authorize the City Manager
to sign the required Certification Statement.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Wildlife Agency Permits for the NCCP/HCP
The NCCP/HCP was adopted by the City Council in November 2019 and in April 2020,
the USFWS issued their Section 10 Permit for the HCP. The City is waiting on the permit
decision from the CDFW on the City’s NCCP permit. The City believes it will be issued by
fall of this year.
Report Submittal Timeline
Per the NCCP/HCP and City-PVPLC Management Agreement, the PVPLC completes the
Annual Reports and Comprehensive Reports on behalf of the City in February of the year
following the reported upon period and submits the reports to the Wildlife Agencies for
5
review. Once the Wildlife Agencies and City review and make recommendations, the
PVPLC makes the changes, and submits the final reports to the City Council in May. The
delay in presenting 2022 Annual Report is primarily due to additional review time needed
by the Wildlife Agencies. The 2023 Annual Report is scheduled to come before the City
Council for consideration in May 2024, and the 2022 -2024 Comprehensive Monitoring
and Management Report in May 2025.
Public Notification
On June 15, 2023, a message was sent to the subscribers of the Palos Verdes Nature
Preserve listserv group announcing the 2022 Preserve Annual Report would be
considered at the July 18, 2023, City Council meeting. This message also provided a link
for the public to access the Annual Report for early review prior to the City Council
meeting. The report was also discussed at the July 12 Preserve Public Forum. Notices of
the July 18 City Council meeting were posted at several major trailheads. Hard copies
are also available at City Hall for public review upon request. To date, no public comments
have been submitted to the City.
Glass Habitat Restoration Plan
PVPLC has drafted and the City has approved the next multi-year habitat restoration plan.
The Glass Habitat Restoration Plan will take place from fall 2023 through 2025 and will
restore 12 acres of coastal sage scrub and 5 acres of southern cactus scrub for benefit
of the NCCP/HCP covered species and goals. Section 2.6 of the City-PVPLC
Management Agreement establishes the approval process for Habi tat Restoration Plans
to include PVPLC drafting a plan for review and approval by the City Manager, Recreation
and Parks, Public Works, Community Development Departments, and City Geologist. The
City has reviewed and approved the Glass Habitat Restoration Plan, and it was published
in the July 12 City Manager’s Weekly Administrative Report and discussed at the July 12
Preserve Public Forum.
CONCLUSION:
Staff recommends the City Council receive and file the 2022 Annual Report and authorize
the City Manager to sign the Annual Report Certification Statement.
ALTERNATIVES:
In addition to the Staff recommendation, the following alternative action s are available
for the City Council’s consideration:
1. Identify additional information to be included in the 2022 Annual Report and
direct Staff to return at a later date with an updated annual report.
2. Take other action, as deemed appropriate.
6