From 1997 to 2006, SWCA conducted a multi-year cultural and paleontological resource monitoring and mitigation program for the Talega project, a master planned community located in San Clemente, California. The project area comprises 3,700 acres and contains numerous paleontological and archaeological sites.

• Paleontological monitoring and salvage
• Laboratory analysis
  

Results:
For the paleontological monitoring and mitigation program, all excavations within paleontologically sensitive sediments were monitored full-time. The field monitoring and mitigation program was designed to identify and salvage scientifically significant paleontological resources and associated data as rapidly as possible in order to prevent construction delays. Approximately 750 fossil specimens from over 200 fossil localities were collected. These include many large specimens such as whales, sharks, sea cows, sea lions, walruses, leatherback turtles, desmostylids, brontotheres and a variety of other extinct vertebrate species, as well as fossil invertebrates and plants. The fossil collection is of great scientific importance because of some of the unusual fossils it contains as well as exceptional preservation from a time period that is poorly known in this part of California. All fossils have been prepared in SWCA’s paleontological laboratory and transferred to the San Diego Natural History Museum for permanent storage.