The Agua Caliente Indian Reservation, home of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, consists of approximately 31,420 acres of land in the Coachella Valley. The Reservation landholdings include Tribal trust land, allotted trust land, and fee land. Individual sections of Reservation land are interspersed with public lands owned or under the control of various federal and state agencies. There are also privately owned sections.
The Tribal Habitat Conservation Plan (THCP) was developed to formally document the Tribe’s traditional strategies for managing land and natural resources within its jurisdictional territory and provide a conservation plan for the future. The THCP is designed to function as an adaptive tool, allowing the Tribe to update and revise baseline information, refine its conservation goals and management priorities, contribute to the conservation of the species, and complement other conservation efforts occurring outside the Plan area in the region.
The Tribal Habitat Conservation Plan establishes:
Mountains and Canyons Conservation Area (MCCA) in which certain lands are dedicated to the Habitat Preserve. It also includes general and species-specific conservation measures.
Valley Floor Conservation Area (VFCA) which addresses the acquisition and management of additional Habitat Preserve lands.
An additional conservation program includes avoidance and minimization measures, assurances for establishment of the Habitat Preserve, adaptive management and monitoring, implementation and funding, amendment procedures and conditions for changed and unforeseen circumstances.
Protecting and managing biological resources important to Covered Species.
Manage economic development within the Reservation and other Tribal Lands of the Plan area.
Provide a conservation plan that streamlines compliance with the Federal Endangered Species Act.
Formalize the Tribe’s traditional sovereign land and resource management policies and practices in a conservation plan.
Reservation lands will be used for spiritual and physical sustenance as well as self-sufficiency.
The Tribe will balance the need for economic development and self-sufficiency with the needs of wildlife and plant species, with special emphasis on Federally protected and Tribally-identified sensitive species.
Reservation lands designated for preservation by the Tribe will continue to provide open space and wildlife habitat for a number of Federally protected and Tribally-identified sensitive species.
The Tribe will assist and encourage the recovery of listed species and will proactively implement conservation measures for those species not yet listed to avoid the need for future listings.
The Tribe will continue to comply with all applicable Federal laws, including such statutes as the Clean Water Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and Federal Land Policy Act.
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Agua Caliente Tribal Habitat Conservation Plan - Visit Palm Springs
