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🥳 Happy New Year and Welcome to 2026!
A Look at Conservation and Mitigation Banking Program Success
As we welcome 2026, the Conservation and Mitigation Banking Program is proud to reflect on a truly impactful couple of years protecting and restoring our natural resources. Thank you for your continued partnership and dedication!
9 New Banks Established as of 2024!
In 2024 CDFW added more banking staff. Since then, 9 banks have been established, 4,279 acres have been protected, and 4,253 new credits have been added in various regions throughout the state.
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Big Tujunga Conservation Bank
Located in central Los Angeles County, near the northeastern corner of the City of Los Angeles, this bank consists of approximately 22 acres including a portion of Big Tujunga Creek streambed and floodplain. It contains various successional stages of southern mixed riparian forest, as well as mountain slopes vegetated with mixed sage scrub and grassland. The bank provides credits for stream, Santa Ana sucker, and mountain lion habitat.
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Smoketree Valley Conservation Bank
Located in Imperial County, this bank provides various credit types, including 640 acres of occupied desert tortoise habitat, 307 acres of stream, and 254 acres of desert dry wash woodland habitat. The bank site occurs within USFWS's Chuckwalla Desert Tortoise Critical Habitat Unit and the BLM’s Chuckwalla Area of Critical Environmental Concern.
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Vieira Ranch Conservation Bank
This 687-acre bank is comprised of annual grasslands and stock ponds located in the rolling hills of the Diablo Range. This bank provides credits for California red-legged frog (breeding and upland), California tiger salamander (breeding and upland), and San Joaquin kit fox (movement and foraging).
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Puzzle Creek Conservation Bank
Located in the Mojave Desert, this bank is home to more than 30,000 Western Joshua trees and is situated at an ideal elevation for continued species and ecosystem health. Puzzle Creek conservation bank covers 324 acres of land that includes an ephemeral wash that bisects the property and offers 323 credits. This bank provides credits for the Western Joshua Tree and Ephemeral Desert Wash Stream.
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Skyline Conservation Bank
Located approximately 5 miles east of the city of Jamul in southern San Diego County. The bank vegetation is dense in the northern part of the property, more open to the south, and dominated by chaparral associations. Engelmann oak woodland occurs near the center of the property and individual Engelmann oaks are scattered throughout chaparral on the bank. Across approximately 204 acres, this bank provides credits for the Hermes Copper Butterfly, Chaparral habitats, and Engelmann Oak Woodland habitats.
West Harper Conservation Bank
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This bank is located in the USFWS Fremont-Kramer Desert Tortoise Critical Habitat unit, which is also located within the Western Mojave Recovery Unit in San Bernardino County, within BLM land and outside of it. The Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan’s draft NCCP Reserve Design indicates that the bank is located in a “Biological Conservation Priority Area on non-BLM lands” within an “Interagency Plan-Wide Conservation Priority Planning Area.” The bank also occurs within the BLM's Fremont Kramer and Barstow Woolly Sunflower Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC), and so it expands permanent protected acreage within this ACEC. The bank property covers 643 acres of conserved land and offers 653 credits. Credits available at the bank include Desert Tortoise, Mohave Ground Squirrel, and Stream Preservation Credits.
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Butte Valley Conservation Bank
Located in Los Angeles County and established in June, 2025, this bank property covers 572.31 acres and provides 72.31 credits. Credit types include Western Joshua Tree, Stream, and Swainson’s Hawk Foraging.
Alton Lane Conservation Bank
Located in Sonoma County and established in June 2025. The size of the bank is 41.12 acres with 24 credits available for California Tiger Salamander.
Doolan Canyon Conservation Bank
Located in Colusa County and established in September 2025, this is CDFW's most recently established bank. The bank includes 1,168.29 acres of land which contains a variety of ephemeral environments and supports several California endangered species. This bank provides credits for California tiger salamander (breeding and upland); California red-legged frog (breeding and upland); San Joaquin kit fox (foraging); golden eagle (foraging); western burrowing owl (foraging); and 1600 (various - wetland, stream, marsh, etc.).
A list of all the established banks can be found in the CDFW webpage that can be accessed through following the link below. Contact information for each bank can also be found here.
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Thank you for supporting Mitigation and Conservation Banking
Please reach out with any questions or concerns
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