Special Status Species Defined

Special Status Species include:

Designated (rare, threatened, or endangered) and candidate species for listing by the California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW).
Designated (threatened or endangered) and candidate species for listing by the US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFW).
Species considered to be rare or endangered under the conditions of Section 15380 of the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines, such as those identified on lists 1A, 1B, and 2 in the 2001 Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants of California by the California Native Plant Society (CNPS).
And possibly other species which are considered sensitive or of special concern due to limited distribution or lack of adequate information to permit listing or rejection for state or federal status, such as those included on list 3 in the CNPS Inventory or identified as animal “California Special Concern” (CSC) species by the CDFW. Species designated as CSC have no legal protective status under the California Endangered Species Act but are of concern to the CDFW.

If you would like to learn more about species on your property, your options are:

Invite your RCD* representative to visit and comment on the possible presence of species
Invite a CDFW or USFW regulatory official to visit the property and comment on species present
For Timber species, invite CalFire to visit to ensure compliance with the Forest Practices Act
Request a biological resource assessment performed by a qualified consultant

*Resource Conservation District's (RCD) in Sonoma County:

Gold Ridge Resource Conservation District includes West Sonoma County and is bordered by Marin County to the south, the Russian River to the north, the Pacific coastline to the west, and the Laguna de Santa Rosa to the east.
Sonoma Resource Conservation District includes the Russian River, Petaluma River, Sonoma Creek, Stemple Creek, and Gualala River Watersheds.