Key conservation objectives for maintaining the Natomas Basin GGS population include:

Developing a network of restored marsh habitat and adjacent rice fields linked by water supply canals.

 
 

Developing reserves of 400 acres or more and maintaining at least 50 percent of mitigation lands in rice production and 25 percent in managed marsh.

Key conservation objectives for maintaining the Swainson’s hawk population in the Natomas Basin include:

Maintaining upland habitats for nesting and foraging.

Maintaining up to 25 percent of the mitigation land base in uplands.

Providing foraging habitats (e.g. native grasslands, alfalfa fields and grazed pastures).

Preserving and restoring riparian areas for nesting.

Secondarily, the NBHCP is designed to protect other listed wildlife species that also depend upon upland habitats. Important listed species include burrowing owls, tricolored blackbirds, white-faced ibis, and pacific pond turtles among others.