Service Areas
Rancho Estrellita Mitigation Bank provides compensatory mitigation credits for qualified projects in California. Credit types have designated Service Areas. Service Areas are defined in coordination with regulating agencies for each credit type to encompass the specific geographic region from where project mitigation is biologically suitable within the Bank Lands.
VERNAL POOL SERVICE AREA
Vernal Pools within the Bank Lands are part of the Carrizo Vernal Pool Region. The Service Area encompasses the Carrizo Vernal Pool Region, Central Coast Vernal Pool Region, and the San Joaquin Valley Vernal Pool Region, where similar hardpan vernal pools exist that support similar rare and endangered species, such as the federally threatened vernal pool fairy shrimp.
WETLANDS/WATERS SERVICE AREA
The Bank supports Ephemeral Streams, an Intermittent Stream, and wetlands within two separate watersheds, the Salinas Watershed and the Estrella Watershed. The Bank has separate Service Areas for each watershed. The Salinas Watershed Service Area encompasses approximately 755 square miles of land centered on the upper Salinas River and surrounding tributaries, extending from near Cuesta Pass north to near San Miguel. The Estrella Watershed Service Area is larger, encompassing approximately 3,230 square miles of land extending from southeast San Luis Obispo County into western Kern County and north across the Cholame Hills to Soledad in Monterey County.
VERNAL POOL FAIRY SHRIMP SERVICE AREA
The Service Area for vernal pool fairy shrimp encompasses the Carrizo Vernal Pool Region, Central Coast Vernal Pool Region, and San Joaquin Valley Vernal Pool Region. All or portions of the following counties are included: San Luis Obispo, Kern, Tulare, Kings, Fresno, Madea, Merced, San Benito, Stanislaus, San Joaquin, Alameda, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Monterey.
CALIFORNIA TIGER SALAMANDER SERVICE AREA
The California tiger salamander service area extends throughout the range of the Central Coast Distinct Population Segment of the species, from southern Santa Cruz County south through Monterey County to northeastern San Luis Obispo County. Far western edges of Kern, Kings, Fresno, and San Benito counties are also included.
SOUTHWESTERN POND TURTLE SERVICE AREA
The Service Area for the southwestern pond turtle extends from northern Los Angeles County northward through Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, and southern San Benito counties.
WESTERN SPADEFOOT SERVICE AREA
The Bank supports all life cycles of the northern population of western spadefoots. The Bank lies within the Carrizo Spadefoot Region. The Bank Service Area encompasses the following Spadefoot Regions, as defined by USFWS: Carrizo, Santa Barbara, San Joaquin Valley, and Central Coast. It extends from northern Santa Barbara County through San Luis Obispo, Monterey, and San Benito counties, into southern Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Joaquin, Stanislas counties, and east into Merced, Madera, Fresno, Tulare, and Kern counties.
CROTCH'S BUMBLEBEE SERVICE AREA
The Service Area for Crotch’s bumble bee is situated in central California, extending from San Mateo, Alameda and San Joaquin counties south through the Coast Range to Ventura County, and east to the central valley in western Kern, Tulare, Kings, Fresno, Madera, and Merced counties.