Coastal Cactus Wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus sandiegensis) occurs almost exclusively in thickets of cholla (Opuntia prolifera) and prickly pear (Opuntia littoralis and Opuntia oricola). (Photo Credit: Alexandra Houston, USGS)
San Diego is one of the most biodiverse regions in North America, featuring urban canyons, world-famous coastlines, scenic lagoons and rivers and thousands of acres of open space that provide habitat for dozens of rare, threatened and endangered species.
Much of the conserved and/or preserved land in San Diego was protected using funds from environmental mitigation agreements.
San Diego Foundation (SDF) holds the mitigation funds in a protected endowment in perpetuity, so that environmental and community nonprofits will always have access to money to support monitoring and managing the conserved and/or restored lands over time.
While many San Diegans appreciate these conservation outcomes where they can recreate, few know how these special places were protected.
Through our “Conservation Legacies” series, we’re honoring several of the key individuals who brought these projects to life.
This work aligns closely with the Environment focus area of Fifty & Forward, SDF’s multi-year fundraising and grantmaking campaign to support future leaders, strong families and healthy environments while raising $1 billion to help shape San Diego’s future.
SDF’s Candace Wo directs our mitigation program, and sat down with one of our region’s conservation legacies, Jim Whalen, to share his story.
Candace Wo: Tell us about your role. What do you do as it relates to environmental mitigation, conservation, or restoration?
Jim Whalen: My firm, J. Whalen Associates, represents the landowners who want to develop their land. Often, I work with home builders, public utilities, renewable energy developers, and families. We help property owners as they plan for, entitle, and permit the development’s impact on the natural environment. We can represent the landowner in their negotiations, and structure their mitigation transactions, including assisting with who will hold the mitigation endowments.
Our hallmark is achieving consensus-driven solutions to seemingly intractable development issues. We can communicate to business leaders the meaning of wildlife conservation. For example, when large property owners oppose environmental conservation, we can open a conversation with the right environmental agencies, and can bridge good biological judgement and good business practices.
Meet the team at J. Whalen Associates: Jim Whalen and Roselei Redrick. (Photo Credit: J. Whalen Associates)
CW: How did you get interested in this line of work?
JW: I graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in wildlife biology, and started out my career as an aquatic biologist. My first job out of college was with an electric utility in Ohio. In time, I worked for Chevron Land and Development, which transferred me to San Diego. I founded my own firm, J. Whalen Associates, in 1993.
Since then, we’ve helped with habitat planning and agency negotiations for most of the large-scale developments in San Diego County, including San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E), as it became the first utility company not only California, but the entire United States, to voluntarily develop a Natural Communities Conservation Plan (NCCP)/Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) under the federal Endangered Species Act and state Natural Communities Conservation Plan Act in 1995.
Coastal sage scrub is important to the endangered California gnatcatcher, San Diego thorn mint, San Diego horned lizard, San Diego barrel cactus, and patch-nosed snake. (Photo Credit: Kris Preston, SDMMP)
CW: What impact or project are you most proud of?
JW: The creation and implementation of SDGE’s NCCP and San Diego’s Multiple Species Conservation Program (MSCP) – which is a permanent process to conserve more than 100,000 acres that has materially changed the landscape of this area.
We have essentially doubled the amount of open space that was the standard exchange for habitat and development in the 1990s. When I started this work, the exchange for habitat conservation and development was essentially 1:2, meaning one acre was conserved for every two acres that was developed. Now, the equation has flipped, and more land is conserved than is developed.
The result is that we’ve preserved the natural beauty of San Diego and still have home building for people who need homes, and energy to power them. If you look out your window today, most of the open land that remains is protected. There’s not much natural habitat remaining that will ever be developed.
CW: What do you trust the SDF to do when it comes to environmental endowments?
JW: I trust the team at the San Diego Foundation to secure the rates of return for the mitigation endowments, and to fund the distribution accounts so the preserves can be maintained in perpetuity.
CW: What’s next for mitigation and conservation in our region?
JW: While single-family home building has slowed (we’ve built out most of what was zoned for development), the endowment model approach to mitigation has applicability to other areas, including climate change. I believe we can expand on what we’ve learned from traditional development and apply it to renewable energy, community benefits, and beyond.
CW: What do you hope for in the future?
JW: I hope the quality of the habitat is maintained and enhanced at each of the protected sites. The biggest challenge the preserve owners face today is maintaining the integrity of the land, enhancing the habitat for the species that live there, and balancing the demand for public access to so many of the sites. Thankfully, the MSCP plans were designed with those needs in mind.
CW: What’s next for you?
JW: I could retire if I wanted to, but as long as I can keep going, I’ll still do this work. It (the work) is bigger than me. It is hubris to think we can control the natural environment. But we can tap business expertise to create a more expansive natural environment, instead of postage stamp-sized pieces of disconnected habitat that benefit no species, and no people.
Who’s talking?
Candace Wo, Senior Director, Complex Gifts, San Diego Foundation, and Jim Whalen, President, J. Whalen Associates, Inc.
