Editordude: Last Sunday I took the Proctor Valley Road out of Jamul to once again check out what I could see of the newly purchased 1300 acres of open space and wildland. A couple blocks from downtown Jamul, the road turns to dirt and it’s worthwhile slowing to a crawl to observe the nature that has now been saved. Thanks to the Sierra Club and other environmental groups and President Biden.
By Tammy Murga / San Diego Union-Tribune / Jan. 26, 2024
Nearly 1,300 acres of wildland in southwest San Diego County once envisioned for housing development will remain undisturbed under a successful land swap.
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife has acquired and will manage the swath of land where a developer had planned to build more than 1,000 homes just east of Chula Vista and south of Jamul along Proctor Valley Road.
On Thursday, Jan. 25 the $60 million sale became final.
Green circle approximate location of Proctor Valley and eco-reserve.
Multiple conservation agencies are funding the acquisition: $30 million from the state Wildlife Conservation Board, $25 million from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and $5 million between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and The Nature Conservancy.
The $25 million from Homeland Security came from a July 2023 settlement between the Sierra Club and President Joe Biden’s administration involving lawsuits over the construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall under former President Donald Trump. Construction was harming local wildlife, the Sierra Club had argued. As part of the deal, the federal government agreed to stop further construction and provided the funding to the state so that it could purchase the land.
The Proctor Valley land is now part of the Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve, a site with “open grasslands that provide foraging habitat for abundant and diverse raptor species,” according to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. It also now has the potential for future public use such as wildlife viewing, day hiking, bird watching, and photography, the department said.
Jamul at top of photo, with Proctor Valley Road running generally north-south.
GDCI Proctor Valley, a limited partnership including real estate agency Genstar and the San Diego-based Jackson Pendo Development Company, had plans to turn the site into more than 1,000 homes, commercial storefronts, a new fire station and an elementary school, a project that required construction on various unconnected parcels. The developer had purchased the land in 2014 for nearly $40 million.
In 2019, the county Board of Supervisors approved the project with support from local fire officials, who assured board members that the development was safe despite it being proposed in an area prone to wildfires.
Multiple environmental groups challenged the project on grounds that it would actually bring residents to a high fire hazard zone. Those groups, including the Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity and the California Chaparral Institute, were backed by the California attorney general.
And a San Diego Superior Court judge also agreed with the environmentalists. In October 2021, Judge Richard Whitney struck down the county approval of the Adara at Otay Ranch project, citing concerns about wildfire risks and greenhouse gas emissions and that it did not set aside affordable housing units. For more of this article, please go here.
Here’s the Sierra Club’s statement
Important natural lands will become part of the Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve following legal settlement
Thanks to the efforts of a coalition of environmental organizations, including the Sierra Club, 1,300 acres of highly sensitive habitat lands in Proctor Valley near Jamul will be permanently preserved as part of the Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve as a result of a legal settlement. The Nature Conservancy purchased the property today for conservation.
Home to a wide variety of endangered animal and plant species and surrounded by other nature preserve lands, the preserved property is located in Proctor Valley. Development of the larger Otay Ranch, including the conserved property, was approved in 1992. More recently, a 2,166 luxury home sprawl development was approved by the Board of Supervisors in 2019.
“The value of this acquisition cannot be overstated,” said Sierra Club San Diego Chair Lisa Ross. “It truly took an entire village of organizations to get this done. It’s been a 30-year journey for the Sierra Club.”
The property conservation acquisition is the direct result of a lawsuit and settlement by Sierra Club, the Center for Biological Diversity, Preserve Wild Santee, the Endangered Habitats League, California Native Plant Society, and the California Chaparral Institute, whereby the developer agreed to sell the property for conservation.
“This is truly the best possible outcome,” said Sierra Club’s counsel Josh Chatten-Brown. “And the pivotal factor was the successful litigation by the Sierra Club and its partners, compelling the sellers to become willing participants in the permanent preservation of Proctor Valley’s crucial habitat for endangered and threatened wildlife.”
Proctor Valley is vital to the survival of endangered species such as the California gnatcatcher, San Diego fairy shrimp, Otay tarplant, San Diego button celery, golden eagle, and Quino checkerspot butterfly, among others.
“Anyone following news on the environment knows that nature is taking a beating across the world. So, it’s great to be able to share some really good news that a place of global significance will be protected forever,” said Dave Hogan, Sierra Club Legal Committee Chair.
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The Biden Administration, San Diego Sierra Club and all others involved in preserving this 1,000 acres for biological preserve are to be congratulated. Between 1974 and 1998, I worked as an environmental management specialist on land development permits that threatened this and many other habitat areas in San Diego County. The biggest save in my tenure was the land that is now the National Wildlife Preserve in Jamul, which came to pass because of the collapse of the banks in the early 1990s and spared a hugely significant landform from a proposed golf course and housing project. I applaud the various government and citizen groups that worked to save this property for the benefit of wildlife and the voting tax payers who live in the County of San Diego.