Several years ago, the California Biodiversity Council began conducting two of its quarterly meetings in different bioregions across the state. (The CBC has identified 10 distinct bioregions in California: Klamath, Modoc, Sierra, Bay/Delta, Sacramento Valley, San Joaquin Valley, Central Coast, South Coast, Mojave, and Colorado Desert.) The purpose of the Council’s "traveling roadshow" is to learn firsthand of the different approaches people in different parts of the state use to conserve biological diversity. On April 12-13, 2000, the Council will meet in Palm Springs, California, in the Colorado Desert bioregion. This is the only bioregion the Council has not previously visited.

Like other bioregional Council meetings, the Palm Springs session will focus on a central theme related to the conservation of biological diversity. These themes are developed in concert with representatives from federal and state agencies within the region, community leaders, and local organizations. In Palm Springs, the Council will discuss the conservation of biological diversity within rapidly urbanizing areas such as the Coachella Valley. This theme was selected by local meeting planners because of the conservation challenges facing the region today, its past history in working together to resolve these challenges, and the early conservation strategies the region pioneered.

The two-day event will feature a field trip in the Coachella Valley, a dinner, presentations at the Council meeting, and a poster session conducted in concert with the meeting at the Riviera Resort & Racquet Club. These activities will enable participants to learn about the issues facing the region and how local developers, federal and state agencies, and private organizations are responding to them.

The field trip will be conducted on Wednesday, April 12, 2000, and will allow Council members the opportunity to gain a better understanding of current development trends and the impacts these trends hold for the region’s diminishing wildlife habitats. It will also allow them to see, firsthand, the efforts currently underway by residential and commercial developers, local government, and public and private organizations to conserve the region’s natural resources.

One of the planned stops on the field trip is Desert Willows Golf Course. This facility, owned by the City of Palm Desert, is nationally recognized for its use of native desert plants and arid landscaping amid grass fairways. Another tentative destination is the Bighorn Institute, an organization that hopes to turn around the declining population of bighorn sheep that live and breed in the nearby Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains. (Note: for further information on Desert Willows and the Bighorn Institute, see related articles elsewhere in this issue.) In addition, Council members will tour local residential developments and see the techniques being employed to make these developments more compatible with the needs of the region’s wildlife and natural heritage.

As of press time, a site for the Council dinner on April 12 had not been finalized. But wherever it occurs, the dinner will afford Council members to meet local decision makers in a casual, social setting. This event will also help members learn more about the area—its natural setting, history, and current trends—through special dinner speakers and presentations. Speakers will be announced prior to the meeting on the Council’s website: www.ceres.ca.gov/biodiversity.

The meeting of the California Biodiversity Council will be held on Thursday, April 13, in the Mediterranean Room at the Riviera Resort & Racquet Club in Palm Springs. This event will consist of discussions of the meeting’s theme, rapid urbanization in the region, as well as a session dedicated to Council business and a public comment period. The meeting agenda includes an overview of growth, development, and conservation in the Coachella Valley; a panel on planning efforts including the Coachella Valley Fringe-Toed Lizard Preserve Plan, the Coachella Valley Multi-Species Plan, and the Northern and Eastern Colorado Plan. In addition, there will be a facilitated discussion between Council members and the audience about resolving the challenges of implementing and monitoring plans to conserve species and their habitat. Topics to be addressed in this discussion include the use of partnerships to resolve conflicts between conservation and urban development, and the need for funding, regulatory changes, and biological monitoring. This meeting is free and open to the public. A final agenda will be posted on the CBC website in mid-March.

Additionally, participants at the April 13 meeting will have the chance to view posters displayed by local agencies involved in environmental and development issues in the region. These posters will be exhibited throughout the meeting in space adjacent to the conference room.

Many pages in this issue of the California Biodiversity News are dedicated to presenting the history and views of organizations that will be present at the Council meeting in April. Be sure to read pieces contributed by the Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy, the Building Industry Association of Southern California, the Desert Managers Group, and others. We hope that these articles will foment a better understanding of the myriad complex issues facing this rapidly-growing region, and will provide useful advance prep