Agreement includes pilot project to repopulate burrowing owls across San Diego County; comes in response to lawsuit filed over destruction of burrowing owls near airport

January 23, 2017 (San Diego) -- An agreement announced today between conservation and environmental justice groups and private developers will protect imperiled burrowing owls, increase renewable solar energy and conserve wildlife habitat to offset impacts from the redevelopment of San Diego’s Brown Field Municipal Airport. The airport — located near the Mexico border in Otay Mesa — will be redeveloped with new commercial and aviation facilities and include on-site solar energy to reduce energy consumption.

The agreement follows a lawsuit filed against the City of San Diego in 2013 by environmental groups to protect burrowing owls at the airport and protect their habitat.  Coalition for a Safe Environment's executive director Jesse Marquez stated at the time, "On one of our visits we discovered that the owl burrows had been poisoned to eliminate the owls in order to avoid having to relocate them. We must do everything possible to protect these owls from becoming extinct in San Diego."