Building Wildlife Habitat and Community Resilience on Working Lands - Roots 178
Summary
SCH Number
2025100250
Public Agency
California Wildlife Conservation Board
(WCB)
Document Title
Building Wildlife Habitat and Community Resilience on Working Lands - Roots 178
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
10/7/2025
Document Description
The San Benito Agricultural Land Trust (SBALT) acquired the 540-acre Nyland property in June 2023. This working cattle ranch has a healthy riparian forest along all except the last 1,800 feet of a creek that eventually flows under Highway 156 and leaves the property. There is also a 900-foot-long unvegetated tributary to the creek. Project goals include replacing and installing wildlife-friendly fencing to exclude cattle from the creek and active restoration efforts by the Amah Mutsun Land Trust's (AMLT) Native Stewardship Corps, student volunteer planting events facilitated by Point
Blue's STRAW Program, and working in collaboration with local partners to support pollinator plantings and invasive weed removal and management. The AMLT will support the habitat restoration work by collecting and propagating native plant seeds and planting them in the riparian area. Founded by the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band (AMTB), AMLT is an Indigenous-led nonprofit that combines traditional Indigenous environmental management with contemporary restoration, scientific research, and cultural revitalization to steward the lands and waters within the ancestral territories of Indigenous Mutsun and Awaswas peoples. Several small mammals, such as coyote, bobcat, skunk, long-tailed weasels, as well as birds and pollinators, will benefit from native plant resources from this newly established vegetated riparian corridor. (WCB Project Tracker ID: 2022065).
Contact Information
Name
Rebecca Fris
Agency Name
Wildlife Conservation Board
Job Title
Deputy Executive Director
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Location
Cities
San Juan Bautista
Counties
San Benito
Regions
Unincorporated
Parcel #
012-140-022-000 and 012-140-028-000
Township
12S
Range
04E
Section
32
Other Location Info
Approximately 5,461 linear feet of wildlife-friendly fencing will be installed and 7.21 acres of wildlife and pollinator habitat will be planted on the Nyland property in San Juan Bautista in San Benito County, California. Township 12S, Range 04E, Section 32 of the "San Juan Bautista" 7.5 quadrangle.
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Categorical Exemption
Type, Section or Code
Class 4 exemption (CCR Section §15304) covers minor alterations to land
Reasons for Exemption
WCB has determined that the objectives of enhancement and restoration of wildlife and pollinator habitat, and the implementation activities as designed for this project, will result in minor alterations to land and vegetation, and therefore fit within the CCR Section 15304 exemptions.
County Clerk
San Benito
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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