The Puente Hills Landfill Native Habitat Preservation Authority (Habitat Authority) is a local government agency (Joint Powers Authority) that owns and manages the more than 3,800-acre Puente Hills Preserve in southeastern Los Angeles County.  Our mission is to acquire, restore and manage open space in perpetuity with the primary purpose to protect the biological diversity.  In fact, the Agency was formed as mitigation for the Puente Hills Landfill! Also, we have also had a lot of additional experience with other mitigation projects over the last decade.

The Habitat Authority has facilitated numerous mitigation projects on the Puente Hills Preserve from within at least a 15 mile radius in both Los Angeles and Orange Counties.  Another recent example was cited in theWhittier Daily News on January 13, 2010.   We have worked successfully with public and private entities to restore more than 80 acres of habitat as mitigation, including coastal sage scrub, including for rare and endangered species, riparian and wetland habitats. These mitigation efforts were required for regulatory agency permits (e.g. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Section 7 permit, California Department of Fish and Game Streambed Alteration Agreement) as well as for Environmental Impact Report (EIR) mitigation.

However, we have much more potential for habitat mitigation on the Preserve. In 2007, the Habitat Authority completed a Resource Management Plan (RMP) that identified over 1,000 acres of restoration priorities over a variety of habitats including coastal sage scrub, chaparral, native grassland, oak and walnut woodland, and riparian.  The RMP also includes a priority ranking (low to high) for each restoration site, restoration guidelines, and recommended plant palettes.

Mitigation projects can either be implemented by the Habitat Authority through direct funding (cost determined on a case-by-case basis) where the Habitat Authority would assume full implementation and performance criteria responsibilities; guidelines for this option are available here.  Mitigation can also be  implemented by the applicant on the Preserve in coordination with and pending approval by the Habitat Authority; guidelines for this option are available here. 

Please contact Shannon Lucas, Ecologist, at (562) 945-9003 or slucas@habitatauthority.org if you would like more information about habitat mitigation opportunities at the Puente Hills Preserve.  To learn more about the Habitat Authority, visit our website at www.HabitatAuthority.org. We look forward to working with you to help you meet your project requirements and help us satisfy our agency’s mission.