ICOET FIELDTRIP |
Transportation Challenges in Inland San Diego CountyThis trip will focus on environmental challenges and opportunities addressed by recent transportation and mitigation projects in inland San Diego County. The tour will begin in southern San Diego County with a review of two projects near the international border. This leg of the tour will include some large vernal pool mitigation sites, as well as review of design features and mitigation measures to facilitate wildlife movement in the Otay Mesa area. The tour will then head north on SR-94, where participants will see the effects and restoration challenges posed by the devastating 2003-04 wildfires. The next stop will be the Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve, operated by the California Department of Fish and Game. This site is an important component of the Multiple Species Conservation Program (MSCP) multi-habitat preserve system in southwestern San Diego County, supporting large areas of coastal sage scrub, annual grasslands and riparian habitat. The Reserve is adjacent to the Otay-Sweetwater Unit of the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge. After a picnic lunch and tour at the Reserve, the tour will head north and east to view wetlands mitigation sites along SR-56, as well as bridges over wildlife corridors.
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