Although the environmental community and the building community are often seen at odds with one another, and in some segments of our community believed to be enemies, here in the Coachella Valley nothing could be further from the truth.

For years in this area, environmentalists and builders have worked together to maintain the beauty of our desert and surrounding mountains, and to preserve those local endangered species that are fighting to survive. In fact, the Coachella Valley Fringed Toed Lizard Preserve was one of the first of its kind in the United States, and was the result of the two communities sitting down together and coming to an agreement on how to protect both the lizard and the economic well being of the region at the same time.

Since then, the building community of the Valley has been involved in maintaining clean air by working with local cities, the county, and the Air District in writing PM-10 dust control rules; working to preserve open space by supporting legislation to protect our mountain vistas; being part of local environmental groups raising money to buy land to protect open space and endangered species; and, perhaps most importantly, being at the table during the planning and formation of the Valley=s Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP).

Creating the MSHCP has been a long process, and the Plan is not expected to become a reality for another year. One of the reasons for this is the delicate balancing act necessary to protect the environment wile not crippling growth in the Coachella Valley. We are hopeful that this lengthy process will result in both opportunity for the building industry and protection for endangered species.

The building community is vitally interested in the health of our environment for both economic and community concern reasons.

Economically, we recognize that the beauty of the natural surrounding mountains and the maintenance of our original desert floor environment are important tools in selling our product. We know that our future residents and visitors love to experience the open space of our area and to hike in the mountains and look down on the orderliness of our desert communities.

As for community concern, we recognize that we have a responsibility to respond to the wishes of our valley residents and maintain the environment that caused our buyers to move to the desert in the first place. We consider ourselves guardians of our valley environment and work hard to make sure that the impact we cause while providing housing for our community is mitigated to the largest extent possible. In fact, the building community provides more controlled open space than any other entity in the Coachella Valley.

For years, the environmental community has looked to the building community to pay for protection of species, even though everyone enjoys the resulting set-aside of land. We are hopeful that state and federal governments will recognize their responsibility to provide funds to help in the acquisition of land necessary for the conservation of endangered and threatened species.

The Coachella Valley building community is proud of our partnership with the environmental community and looks forward to many years of cooperative effort.