The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, already partially managing the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve, announced it will be acquiring more land in the area with a $8.9 million grant.The purchase of the additional lands will be used to protect the land and the plant and animal species on them, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service. The Plateau Reserve above Murrieta is a part of the Western Riverside County Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan (USFWS). Many local city officials make up the USFWS board.The $8,971,625 grant is a part of more than $40.6 million in grants from the Federal Government used for conservation planning projects across the nation. The grant will be used to acquire and protect hundreds of acres of land within unincorporated Murrieta's French Valle
