Mountain Lions Along The Central Coast And In Southern California Receive Protections Under The California Endangered Species Act

On February 12, 2026, the California Fish and Game Commission voted to list certain distinct populations of mountain lions in Southern California and the California Central Coast as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act. This listing status provides protections for the mountain lion at a time of increasing incidents involving mountain lions in urban settings, pitting habitat protection against housing development.

The mountain lion populations given these protections are located in a broad swath of California from the San Francisco Bay Area, down along the California Central Coast to San Diego County, and out toward the Inland Empire. By listing these populations as threatened, any development project that would result in the “take” of a mountain lion, such as projects that would harm a mountain lion, will require the developer to obtain an incidental take permit from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife in order to avoid the risk of violating the California Endangered Species Act. 

The processing of an incidental take permit application can be a time-consuming effort, often resulting in a permit with onerous conditions and mitigation requirements, such as erecting protective fencing around sensitive habitat within construction sites and limited construction periods to avoid denning or breeding seasons. In addition, issuance of an incidental take permit requires environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act, which can add even more time and cost to development applications.

This listing decision by the Commission comes in the midst of a recent spate of media attention on mountain lions found in urban settings or at the urban-wildland interface. For example, the San Francisco Chronicle recently reported on a mountain lion found in the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco. (San Francisco Chronicle, S.F. Mountain Lion Tranquilized, Will Be Released into Wild, Jan. 27, 2026.) Some local governments have gone so far as to take the position that the presence of mountain lions in their community is enough to stop development.

For example, in 2022, the Town of Woodside declared itself exempt from the landmark housing bill SB 9, which requires local agencies to provide a ministerial approval process for any proposed housing development consisting of two residential units within a single-family zone, and for any proposed subdivision of an existing parcel within a single-family zone into no more than two parcels. The Town took the position that no parcel in Woodside would be eligible for an SB 9 project because “Woodside – in its entirety – is habitat” for mountain lions. 

In response, the California Attorney General's Office issued a letter informing the Town that this determination was unfounded and in violation of SB 9 and potentially other housing laws intended to “combat the crisis-level housing shortage,” as described by the California Attorney General. The Town backpedaled on its position that SB 9 could not be used on any parcel within Woodside because it was mountain lion habitat.

The California Fish and Game Commission's recent decision to list the mountain lion as threatened probably won't affect this détente between the Town of Woodside and the California Attorney General's Office one way or the other. The listing decision, while significant from a wildlife protection standpoint, does not create a new legal basis, in and of itself, for local governments to impose blanket development prohibitions or to sidestep state housing laws. As explained by the California Attorney General's Office in its letter to the Town of Woodside, local governments must ground any reliance on wildlife protections in substantial, project-specific evidence. The same principle should continue to apply notwithstanding the listing decision. Nevertheless, the listing is still a significant development for projects because, if anything, it heightens scrutiny of potential impacts to mountain lions and increases the likelihood that focused studies could be required.

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