Project Description

DRECP

The Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan

THE ISSUE

The Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP) is a Land Use Plan Amendment (LUPA) that balances renewable energy development with landscape conservation. It designates zones where renewable energy can be developed, and reduces hurdles to development in those areas. It also designates swaths of protected landscape known as the California Desert National Conservation Lands. 

The Plan was jointly developed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the California Energy Commission, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

THE CHALLENGE

Effective February 2021: The Biden Administration restored the DRECP, revoking amendments filed by the Trump Administration in January 2021.

It took almost a decade to put together with several rounds of public and stakeholder input and was finally approved in 2016. However, before it could be implemented, the Trump Administration announced it would reopen the DRECP, throwing the landscape back into uncertainty. Now that the Biden Administration has restored the DRECP, it’s time to provide the adequate resources and personnel to fully, successfully implement the Plan.

THE GOAL

It’s simple: Our goal is to protect the integrity of the Plan’s conservation measures as approved and ensure Conservation Management Actions are implemented.

As the future of the Plan unfolds, we will work to ensure that

  • The Plan has adequate resources and personnel to be fully, successfully implemented
  • Any changes or adjustments do not diminish protections for the fragile ecology of California desert public lands. These protections allow for the streamlined permitting of renewable energy in less sensitive development focus areas, and the balance between conservation and development should be maintained as the Plan is amended in the future
  • Any changes or adjustments necessary do not hold up the implementation of the plan
  • Landscape linkage and wildlife corridors retain their integrity across the California desert, even in the development focus areas

RESOURCES

More information about DRECP from the Bureau of Land Management website, the California Energy Commission website, and DataBasin.

CDC Position Paper

CDC Comment Letters

Letter from former Supervisor James Ramos in support of DRECP.

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