**IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE METROPOLITAN BAKERSFIELD HABITAT CONSERVATION PLAN,
PLEASE CONTACT THE APPROPRIATE JURISDICTION BELOW**
Kern County: (661) 862-5044 or visit https://kernplanning.com/metropolitan-bakersfield-hcp-incidental-take-permit
City of Bakersfield: (661) 326-3786 or visit https://bakersfieldcity.us/gov/depts/community_development/habitat.htm
The Bakersfield Habitat Conservation Plan
The new Bakersfield Habitat Conservation Plan (BHCP) is a joint plan proposed by the City of Bakersfield and the County of Kern intended to provide regional conservation strategies and specific development guidelines to protect natural resources while improving and streamlining the permit process. The BHCP intends to support an effective framework for agencies to conserve, protect, enhance, and restore natural resources in the area addressed by the Metropolitan Bakersfield General Plan,
while allowing appropriate and compatible growth and development.
The BHCP would replace lengthy and costly project-by-project permitting, which often results in uncoordinated and biologically ineffective mitigation, with a comprehensive permitting process planned to provide more effective recovery of threatened and endangered species in Central California.