15 ATTACHMENT 1-4 - Laserfiche WebLink

Jones & Stokes will develop a classification system for vegetation and other land cover types in the study area that builds on similar classifications built for other regional conservation plans and other large-scale plans in and near the study area, including: ^ East Contra Costa County HCP/NCCP ^ San Joaquin County HCP ^ Santa Clara Valley Habitat Plan (Santa Clara County) ^ Alameda Watershed HCP (San Francisco Public Utilities Commission) ^ Vasco-Laughlin Resource Conservation Plan (City of Livermore) ^ North Livermore Specific Plan Draft EIR (Alameda County) ^ Alameda County Resource Conservation, Open Space, and Agricultural Elements (ROSA) Baseline Biological Report ^ Fallon Village Resource Conservation Plan (City of Dublin) The final classification scheme will be based on existing classification systems such as the CDFG Wildlife Habitat Relationship system, the Holland system, the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) Manual of California Vegetation, and other commonly used classifications. As best as possible, the classification scheme developed for the Conservation Strategy will be consistent with other systems in adjacent regional conservation plans to facilitate cross-county coordination. The scheme will also support the preliminary goals of the conservation strategy. All land cover types will be mapped to a 10-acre minimum mapping unit except wetlands, ponds, riparian woodland, and serpentine grassland, which will be mapped to a 0.25-acre minimum mapping unit. Jones & Stokes has used this approach effectively on other regional conservation plans, including the East Contra Costa County HCP/NCCP and the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Plan. Using the same mapping methods as these other plans will help to ensure data consistency across the region. Jones & Stokes will use in- house land cover mapping for areas adjacent to the study area to ensure land cover types and polygon boundaries match across jurisdictional boundaries. This process will provide an invaluable regional dataset across three Bay Area counties. Jones & Stokes will use other data sets to inform our interpretation of the color aerial photographs and to update the GIS where new development has occurred since the photographs were taken. Other data sets that may be used to inform the land-cover mapping include: ^ other aerial photography, if available ^ satellite imagery, if readily available ^ geology and soils data (important for serpentine grassland and chaparral and alkali wetlands) ^ regional park and preserve vegetation maps, if available from East Bay Regional Park District Eastern Alameda County Conservation Strategy August 2007 Scope of Work 3