The City of Encinitas is composed of a unique mosaic of native habitats and is home to many rare and endangered plant and wildlife species. The City is committed to preserving and restoring these resources in the community. The City established the Encinitas Habitat Stewardship Program to address the management and stewardship of City-owned open space areas to continue conserving and managing the habitats and biodiversity unique to the City.

To continue its commitment to responsible stewardship practices, City consultants created the Initial Site Assessment Report to determine what management actions are necessary to preserve or restore native habitats within City-owned open space. The Initial Site Assessment Report (2019) guides the prioritization, needs, and stewardship actions under this program. The field data and stewardship recommendations in the Initial Site Assessment Report are directed at providing a description of current site conditions, and an evaluation of five management categories as related to habitat quality including: presence of invasive plants, erosion and hydrology issues, access control (fencing and signage), trash and transient encampments, and fire abatement.

Ten City owned or managed sites were assessed as part of the Initial Site Assessment Report. The recommendations of the Initial Site Assessment Report are implemented by City contractors and volunteers. Since 2020 City contractors and volunteers have spent over 2000 hours and hosted over 100 volunteer events removing invasive plants, planting natives plants, correcting erosion issues and access controls. Stewardship activities are currently taking place at Cottonwood Creek Park Unimproved, Cottonwood Creek Drainage Areas B and C (Moonlight Beach Parcel), and Oakcrest Park.

The Initial Site Assessment Report (2019) can be found here.

Detailed map linked below.

City of Encinitas Multiple Habitat Conservation Program Focus Planning Area