This habitat connectivity study was initially undertaken to assist California Energy Commission, County of San Luis Obispo, California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in assessing baseline conditions in the Carrizo Plain where large-scale solar projects are proposed. Carrizo Plain is home to a number of sensitive species that could be detrimentally affected by loss and fragmentation of their habitat and their ability to move through the region. Three species of special management concern: tule elk (Cervus elaphus nannodes), pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana), and San Joaquin kit fox (Vulpes macrotis mutica) were selected as focal species. It is assumed that maintaining habitat connectivity for these species will not only sustain their long-term population viability, but will also help to maintain healthy populations of other native species, as well as provide resilience to native ecosystems, and the ecological processes that they support, in the face of climate change. The three focal species use portions of the proposed project areas for foraging, reproduction, and/or movement between other areas to varying degrees.

This study is intended to provide insight into the existing baseline conditions of the landscape, and how that landscape provides habitat and movement opportunities for wildlife. The results of the baseline conditions analyses will be used by the County of San Luis Obispo to analyze potential impacts of the proposed solar projects, both in isolation and cumulatively, on the focal species and evaluate proposed mitigation options and strategies that were not expressly addressed by this study.

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