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Habitat Connectivity and Wildlife Movement Program <br />January 23, 2017 <br />Page 2 of 2 <br />Currently the County's regulatory structure does not consistently incorporate review <br />standards and General Plan policies that protect the viability of these corridors. For <br />example, while potential impacts to wildlife corridors and habitat linkages are evaluated <br />during the environmental review process for discretionary development, this review <br />process only addresses a limited range of projects (e.g., subdivisions or conditional use <br />permits). Unfortunately, development that is approved on a ministerial basis or that which <br />is exempt from regulatory approval is not reviewed at all for its potential impact to habitat <br />and wildlife movement corridors. <br />As such, the Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency (COSCA) is in support of <br />revisions to the County's development review process that would establish a consistent <br />evaluation process and standard for a proposed project's potential to impact wildlife <br />movement corridors and habitat linkages. Of the three work program options that have <br />been presented, COSCA supports Option 1 because it would result in the necessary <br />comprehensive set of land use management tools to minimize habitat fragmentation, <br />maintain existing corridor widths, and minimize direct and indirect barriers to wildlife <br />movement. <br />Thank you for your consideration, <br />i <br />Shelly Mason <br />Manager, Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency <br />H:\COMMON\COSCA\Correspondence\Habitat Connectivity and Wildlife Movement Program Support Letter — BoS 20170123.docx <br />A Joint Agency <br />City of Thousand Oaks/Conejo Recreation and Park District <br />2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, CA 91362 <br />(805) 449-2100 (805) 495-6471 <br />