Western Joshua Tree Conservation Plan – Comprehensive Management Actions

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife prepared the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Plan to provide a set of management actions to conserve western Joshua trees in California. As a tool to conserve a species that is abundant now but is projected to lose future habitat due to climate change, the Conservation Plan was developed in collaboration with the California Fish and Game Commission, governmental agencies, California Native American Tribes, and the public. The Conservation Plan serves as a landmark commitment by CDFW to integrate co-management principles with the Tribes by incorporating Traditional Ecological Knowledge into species conservation and providing for the relocation of western Joshua trees to Tribal lands upon a request from a Tribe.

ClearPath 2.0: Transforming Climate Action Planning for Local Governments

06.30.2025
Corey Alling
Special District, Climate, Local, Regional

ClearPath 2.0, a next-generation climate planning platform developed by ICLEI USA and ClimateView, is transforming how local governments visualize, track, and implement climate goals. The City of Elk Grove recently pioneered the platform’s implementation, demonstrating how this innovative tool addresses persistent challenges in climate action planning—from enhancing transparency to enabling precise impact quantification.

CEQA Wildfire Risk Evaluation – How Much Analysis Is Enough?

12.03.2024
Corey Alling
Local, State, Private Developer, Environmental

On October 23, 2024, the California First District Court of Appeal released its decision on People of the State of California Ex Rel. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, et al. v. County of Lake. The ruling addressed the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) prepared for the Guenoc Valley Mixed-Use Planned Development Project, a luxury resort consisting of residential estate villas, hotel units, and related infrastructure on 16,000 acres in an unincorporated and largely undeveloped area of Lake County known as the Guenoc Valley Ranch.

SB 2 Planning Grants Program Provides Technical Assistance to Local Jurisdictions for Planning Efforts

10.20.2021
Corey Alling
Urban Design + Planning, Local, Regional

The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) Senate Bill 2 Planning Grants Program provides technical assistance to local jurisdictions for planning efforts that accelerate housing approvals and increase housing production. As a part of the program, these toolkits.

midtown sacramento, neighborhood, street, homes

Sacramento’s Bold Strategies to Address Housing Needs and Homelessness

As California continues to face a housing crisis, the City of Sacramento has taken significant steps to address its housing needs that may provide valuable strategies for other cities to consider. On August 10, 2021, the Sacramento City Council unanimously approved a Comprehensive Siting Plan to Address Homelessness.

CalVTP – Integrating Biological Resource Protection into Wildfire Risk Reduction

On May 31, 2022, the Third District Court of Appeal determined that four bumble bee species are eligible for California Endangered Species Act listing.

SB 2 Technical Assistance Webpage Helps Cities and Counties Accelerate Housing Production

08.02.2019
Corey Alling
Urban Design + Planning, Local, Regional

On May 31, 2022, the Third District Court of Appeal determined that four bumble bee species are eligible for California Endangered Species Act listing.

Planning Issues and Innovations from the San Francisco Bay Area

05.25.2017
Corey Alling
Urban Design + Planning, Environmental, Climate, Regional

On May 31, 2022, the Third District Court of Appeal determined that four bumble bee species are eligible for California Endangered Species Act listing.

Project Learning

05.25.2017

2017 has been another year of challenging planning issues and innovative approaches in the San Francisco Bay Area. From regional plans to special-topic studies, the efforts are many and varied. This article provides an overview of a few of the region’s recent housing, land use, and transportation documents. The reports provide food for thought for planners, consultants, and policy makers addressing critical planning challenges, such as alternative transportation and affordable housing.

Plan Bay Area 2040

The Association of Bay Area Governments and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission released the Draft Plan Bay Area 2040 on April 3, 2017 and its Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on April 17, 2017. Plan Bay Area 2040 is the Regional Transportation Plan and Senate Bill 375-mandated Sustainable Communities Strategy that provides an integrated transportation and land use plan to accommodate projected household and employment growth in the nine-county Bay Area, while also achieving targets for greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions. Plan Bay Area 2040 is a limited and focused updated of region’s previous integrated transportation and land use plan, adopted in 2013. The public review and comment period of the Draft Plan and Draft EIR continues until June 1, 2017.

Rethinking the Corporate Campus: The Next Bay Area Workplace

Low density employment—SPUR terms it “job sprawl”—is resource intensive, lengthens commutes, increases GHG emissions, penalizes and isolates low-income households, and has long-term economic impacts. In this report, Rethinking the Corporate Campus, SPUR explores how employers make decisions about workplace location and form, finding that the major factors that drive workplace location decisions are: talent acquisition and retention, security and intellectual property, usable floor space, and growth and exit strategy. Based on these findings, SPUR describes several specific recommendations for local government to foster “a more efficient, sustainable and high-performance pattern of employment growth,” including updating zoning to permit employment growth near transit, devising specific plans that change single-use job centers to mixed use areas, and instituting shuttle routes between job centers and regional transit stops.

Silicon Valley Bike Vision

Only 1.7 percent of Silicon Valley residents bike to work. Joint Venture Silicon Valley and the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition examine bicycle infrastructure and identify challenges that prevent biking in the report, Silicon Valley Bike Vision. High-stress streets and intersections, and obstacles that force bicyclists far out of their direction of travel can deter all but the most confident cyclists. The report makes suggestions on how agencies can make biking a compelling alternative, including working actively with bicycle advisory committees who make recommendations to a City Council or Planning Commission, updating a bicycle master plan, and updating zoning code parking requirements to help reach traffic reduction targets.

Right Type, Right Place: Assessing the Environmental and Economic Impacts of Infill Residential Development through 2030

Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley and Center for Law, Energy and the Environment at UC Berkeley School of Law set out to evaluate environmental and economic impacts of three housing scenarios in terms of meeting California’s 2030 GHG reduction goal. The Centers concluded a scenario with all new development in infill areas provides the best results in terms of GHG reduction, while also generating economic benefits. Policy considerations for working toward this scenario include implementing urban growth boundaries, decreasing parking requirements, and rezoning for more multifamily housing.

At Risk: The Bay Area Greenbelt

Greenbelt Alliance describes development pressures in eight Bay Area Counties and rates farmland and natural areas as being at high, medium, or low risk of development over the next 30 years. The strong Bay Area economy and rise in housing prices has increased development pressure on the greenbelt, which can result in loss of natural and agricultural lands. Making the case that encroaching into open space is not the appropriate response to the Bay Area housing crisis, the Greenbelt Alliance suggests several policies for communities to consider to avoid sprawl, including decreasing parking requirements, supporting creation of in-law units for rent, and permitting taller development.

Gary Jakobs

CEO/Principal – Environmental

Western Joshua Tree Conservation Plan – Comprehensive Management Actions

ClearPath 2.0: Transforming Climate Action Planning for Local Governments

CEQA Wildfire Risk Evaluation – How Much Analysis Is Enough?

SB 2 Planning Grants Program Provides Technical Assistance to Local Jurisdictions for Planning Efforts

Sacramento’s Bold Strategies to Address Housing Needs and Homelessness

CalVTP – Integrating Biological Resource Protection into Wildfire Risk Reduction

SB 2 Technical Assistance Webpage Helps Cities and Counties Accelerate Housing Production

Planning Issues and Innovations from the San Francisco Bay Area

Project Learning

Plan Bay Area 2040

Rethinking the Corporate Campus: The Next Bay Area Workplace

Silicon Valley Bike Vision

Right Type, Right Place: Assessing the Environmental and Economic Impacts of Infill Residential Development through 2030

At Risk: The Bay Area Greenbelt

Gary Jakobs

Service

Urban Design + Planning

Environmental

Climate

Regional

Western Joshua Tree Conservation Plan – Comprehensive Management Actions

Governor Extends Environmental Law Suspension for Critical Wildfire Safety Projects