Chapters 1 - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

2 The Planning Process
2.1 Preparing a Comprehensive Conservation Plan
The purpose of the Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) for the Seal Beach NWR is to guide
the management of the Refuge over the next 15 years. The CCP and an associated EA have been
prepared to meet the dual compliance requirements of the Improvement Act and NEPA.
Development of the CCP is also guided by Refuge Planning Policy as outlined in Part 602, FW 1, 3,
and 4 of the Service Manual (USFWS 2000). Service policy, the Improvement Act, and NEPA
provide specific guidance for the planning process, such as seeking public involvement throughout
the planning process and analyzing a “reasonable” range of management alternatives, including a
“no action” alternative, that reflect current conditions and management strategies. The
management alternatives analyzed in this document, including the proposed action (Alternative C),
are described in detail in Chapter 3.
Key steps in the CCP and parallel NEPA processes include:
Preplanning
Public scoping and involvement
Identifying issues, opportunities, and concerns
Defining and revising vision statement and Refuge goals
Developing and assessing alternatives
Identifying preferred alternative plan
Draft CCP and EA
Revising draft documents and releasing final CCP
Implementing the CCP
Monitoring/feedback
Figure 2-1 shows the overall CCP steps and process in a linear cycle, but the planning process is
actually a non-sequential movement among the steps, with many revisions occurring during plan
development.
2.2 Preplanning
Preplanning for this CCP began in October 2006 with the establishment of a core planning team.
The team consists of the Refuge Manager, a refuge planner, and other members of the San Diego
NWR Complex, as well as Environmental Program staff at NWSSB. Appendix B lists the
members of the planning team, as well as other participants who provided important insight
regarding planning issues and ongoing refuge management. The State was invited to participate
as a core team member, but due to time constraints, was not available to participate at this level.
The State did however participate as part of an extended planning team.
One of the first tasks of the core planning team was to identify preliminary issues, concerns, and
opportunities. To do this, the team relied on information derived from wildlife and habitat
monitoring and field experience associated with the past management of the Refuge. Through this
process, three primary areas of focus were identified: habitat management, endangered species
Draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan/Environmental Assessment 2-1