The Western Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority (RCA) was created in 2004 to implement one of America’s most ambitious environmental efforts, the Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP), protecting 146 native species of plants and animals and preserving a half million acres of their habitat. This effort to set aside habitat and protect species allows the development and transportation infrastructure necessary for a healthy economy to move ahead without sacrificing our region's environment and quality of life.

Of the 1.26 million acres covered by the MSHCP, 500,000 acres have been designated for preservation: 347,000 acres are already conserved as public or quasi-public land and another 40,000 acres have been acquired as habitat by RCA. All together, Riverside County has reached 77% of the goal in the MSHCP.