There are several Habitat Conservation Plans (HCP) and Natural Community Conservation Programs (NCCP) underway in the region, including the Yolo Natural Heritage Program, the Yuba-Sutter NCCP/HCP, the Placer County Conservation Plan, the South Sacramento HCP, and El Dorado County's Integrated Natural Resource Management Plan. These efforts involve a range of stakeholders and deal with a variety of resource conservation issues in order to address federal requirements for HCPs and state requirements for NCCPs. While these efforts take a number of years to complete, they are worth it. First and foremost, they help protect lands that are valuable for habitat, agriculture, environmental services (e.g., water purification), and recreation. HCPs provide clarity on where development is envisioned, what resource impacts need to be mitigated, and where that mitigation should occur. They also define mitigation ratios, impact fees, and how resource lands will be managed. This transparency reduces the time and cost of environmental review and permitting for land use and transportation projects, a welcomed improvement from the often lengthy and uncertain project-by-project review and permitting process to which most projects are currently subjected.