Posted on 06/08/2004 9:40:48 PM PDT by calcowgirl
Two bills that would create a Sierra Nevada Conservancy are set to move into the state Senate.
The two efforts, AB 2600 and AB 1788, are progressing despite lingering questions over the degree of local control in the legislation. The aim of a conservancy is largely to coordinate funding and conservation efforts for the 400-mile long mountain range.
The Sierra Nevada Conservancy is an almost five-year effort by conservationists to focus funding on an area that they say has largely been looked over. The California coast and Lake Tahoe both have conservancies, but the Sierra Nevada as a whole is left to piecemeal together conservation programs with limited funding.
"This would be a huge step in correcting a historic imbalance in how state funding is distributed," said Steve Frisch of the Sierra Business Council, an organization that has pushed for the conservancy for four and a half years. "The Sierra Nevada has acted as a natural resource plantation for the rest of the state."
Frisch said it is now time to invest in the mountain range that has provided for the state for so long. But a potential sticking point of moving the effort forward - and a difference between the two bills - is the amount of local control that county and town officials will have over conservancy decisions.
This week the Nevada County Board of Supervisors approved a letter opposing the two bills. The letter, originally written by Supervisor Drew Bedwell, is being reworked to remove some of the harsh and combative language, which Perry Norris, executive director of the Truckee Donner Land Trust, called "flat out libelous and full of falsehoods."
Placer County has thrown its support behind AB 1788, authored by Republican Assemblyman Tim Leslie. Democrat John Laird's bill, AB 2600, has already passed the assembly and is now in the Senate. It is likely that the two bills will be formulated into a single legislative effort that Republicans, Democrats and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger can support, Frisch said, adding that the question of local control issues is a legitimate concern.
"I don't think that there is a split on this issue, I think that this is a legitimate issue," said Frisch. "For a conservancy to be effective there needs to be strong local participation."
But Frisch said that there are already portions of the bill that protect local property rights and water rights, and will ensure tax revenue generation.
But the biggest advantage of the conservancy, and one that will likely drive it through the state process this summer, remains the funding opportunities for the region.
"The Sierra Nevada represent 20 percent of California's land mass and provide 65 percent of the state's water, but we get only one percent of the state's funding for conservation," said Norris. "We see the creation of the Sierra Nevada Conservancy as absolutely necessary for the Sierra to get its fair share of funds."
And... where do those funds come from??
When Arnold Schwarzenegger campaigned for governor last fall, he called the Sierra Nevada "one of the state's crown jewels" and said that if he was elected he would support establishment of a Sierra Nevada conservancy. The Sierra deserves all superlatives, but it is an asset under stress. The governor should fulfill his promise this year.Victory? I would proclaim alot of things. Victory is not one of them.The Assembly has passed AB 2600 by Assemblyman John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) to create a Sierra conservancy within the state Resources Agency. It would be similar to eight other such groups established by the Legislature since 1973, including the Santa Monica Mountains, the Coastal and the Lake Tahoe conservancies. These organizations identify and work to conserve wildlife habitat, watersheds, historic and cultural areas and open space. They may use state bond funds or grants from nonprofit foundations to purchase prime private lands threatened by development.
(snip)
The natural resources that make the region so attractive to both new residents and new businesses need protection. Too many areas, including the Mammoth Lakes region, could succumb to the syndrome of "loving it to death," awaking too late to the need for regional planning and protection of resources.
Both the Laird and Leslie bills passed and went to the Senate, which should work out an acceptable compromise on the issue of local participation. Then the governor could sign the legislation in a ceremony beside a sparkling creek and meadow abutting lofty spires of Sierra granite. Everyone could proclaim victory.
http://www.ephemeranow.com/av/av222.htm
John Kerry & Harry Truman cooking dinner? Now that's a range!
Socialist agenda being pushed through the California Legislature by our "Republican" governor.
AB 2600 (Laird)
SUMMARY : Creates within the Resources Agency the Sierra Nevada Conservancy (Conservancy) to acquire and manage land for various specified public objectives, and to make grants for those purposes, in the Sierra Nevada-Cascade Mountain Region.
AB 1788 (Leslie)
SUMMARY : Creates within the Resources Agency the Sierra Nevada Conservancy (Conservancy) to acquire and manage land for various specified public objectives, and to make grants for those purposes, in the Sierra Nevada Region.
AB 2631 (Wolk)
SUMMARY : Establishes an interagency council (more government bureaucracy) to consider ways to coordinate state efforts to eradicate and control invasive species.
They will fund through General Fund support, statewide propositions and other sources.
This scary document outlines the enormous amount of money the conservancy will request, and some ideas about how to get it.
http://www.sbcouncil.org/SNRINA.pdf
Mine was kind of a rhetorical question... where will the money come from... the taxpayers pockets! LOL.
Thanks for that link. I tried to track down the document a month or so ago. They sure have their eyes set on a variety of projects. Somehow I think the state could survive without an $8 million expenditure to move a Mining and Mineral Museum.
When I see "The Trust for Public Land", many things other than "Trust" comes to mind. ;-)
Just what we need. The LA Times.
Can you contact this Supervisor? I think he told the truth and they are trying to suppress this document by "reworking" it!!! Do we have a champion in Bedwell that needs our support? I'll bet we do!!!
These GANG-GREEN groups are like chamelions and frequently morph their appearance to try to look more mainstream. This one wants everyone to think it's like a Chamber of Commerce for the Sierran Region AND NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH!!!
I read the article on the next round of the poisoning of Lake Davis (Lake Davis on hook again, May 31, 2004) dreading what it portends for the rest of the state. This will soon be the standard.They said they were going to publish it but that was before Reagan's passing.AB 2631 is an invasive species bill that has passed the Assembly and is now in the Senate. The intent is to go after mitten crabs and star thistle. The implications are much worse.
Are we going to go after barred owls that are displacing the spotted owl? How about the wild horses roaming the arid areas? Are we going to change our policy on coho salmon? Archeology shows these fish are not native to CA. What about all those eucalyptus trees? Shall we cut them all?
And the budget! How is the creation of a whole new bureaucracy going to effect that?
And to those who think that the ESA took their property rights away, wait until you can’t build that dream house or plow that field or graze those cattle because they want to promote some native grass, endangered or not.
Drew Bedwell has been diagnosed with Hodkins disease and has resigned from the County board of supervisors, sorry to say. He is a great conservative who spearheaded the defeat of "Natural Heritage 2020".
There is a live call-in show on tonight from 8-10PM on KFER in Santa Cruz County which will discuss the establishment of the Sierra Conservancy. It is broadcast live on the net and you can get to a listen live link by going to
http://www.freedom21santacruz.net/radio/
A link called "Listen by Web" is found on the right hand side of the page. You can click on it and listen online.
To phone in, please call 888 24 LIBERTY (888-245-4237)
Here is a summary:
The Emerging Plan for the Sierras: the Sierra Conservancy
Through a series of bills, the state of California is determined to create another conservancy organization, this time encompassing a 20-county area in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
You should know that the state already owns more than 50% of the land in this area -- up to 80% of some counties.
You should also know funding must come from the general fund, which required a $15 billion bond just to keep afloat only a few months ago.
The effort to create this conservancy is worrying as the state has difficulty funding and managing the millions of acres it already owns and the conservancy's impact on private property rights will be devastating.
You all are welcome to call in. The show will feature representatives from the state grange and a legislative assistant from Rep. Leslie's office, who authored AB1788. Hopefully other folks will call in who represent the cattle and timber industry as well.
Interesting things were said last night by Jedd Medafine.
He said that the Laird bill would impose a soviet system to manage the conservancy and Leslie's bill would at least allow some of the board to be elected.
He also said when asked why are they creating a conservancy, that it was because Schwarzenegger wants it.
Here is text from the governors website:
***
Do you support the Sierra Nevada Framework, a management plan for the Sierra crafted by the Clinton administration but opposed by timber companies, the Bush administration and some rural counties?
The Framework evolved from a consensus-building process over nearly two decades of hard work by all stakeholders, during a period covering both Republican and Democratic administrations in Sacramento and Washington. The Sierra Nevada Framework has been widely hailed as a model of forest ecosystem resource protection. As Governor, I will direct all relevant state agencies to work with their federal counterparts to comply fully with the Framework and call on the federal government to honor its pledge to abide by the policies set forth in this unprecedented compact. If changes are needed in the Framework, we must engage in the same consensus-building process that resulted in the existing agreement.
Further, the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range is one of the state's crown jewels. Yet, unlike many of California's other natural treasures, it has no conservancy. As Governor, I will propose establishment of a Sierra Nevada Mountains Conservancy.
Call the governors office on monday, and quietly ask the constituent handler why the governor wants the sierra nevada conservancy.
You will be suprised at the response you get!
Oh, and if the handler says, he does not have a public statement on the matter, remind the person his state website says:
"As Governor, I will direct all relevant state agencies to work with their federal counterparts to comply fully with the Framework and call on the federal government to honor its pledge to abide by the policies set forth in this unprecedented compact. "
I know one thing... Governor Reagan would NEVER enslave the entire Sierran Region into another unnecessary layer of unaccountable bureaucratic and expensive government!!!
This is an obscenity being foisted on the greatest state of our United States of America!!! It will be an infernal monument to unconstitutional degradation of American founding principles and a stench on the integrity of any politicians not successfully stopping it!!!
It certainly will not represent any compliment to the Reagan Legacy! Rather it smears it with a Commonistic stain!!! That's the way I see it on this day of rememberance of California's greatest Governor of all time...
I think there is an opportunity for us to succeed, because when I talked to people in the governnor's office and in Forest Service office, they fear they are found out. They know what they are doing is wrong, they know they cannot legally merge 20 counties without legislative action and a vote of the people.
We really need to hammer them on this aspect. Also, the act gives the conservancy the ability levee fees and taxes, to buy and sell real estate and give real estate to other NGOs of their choice.It is a monumental rip off of taxpayer dollars and citizen's right to a constitutional and open government.
We need help to put the heat on. Leslie's office has already admitted their bill, in their view, is the lesser of two evils, which in my book, still makes it evil.
Legislative Calendar and Deadlines
Senate Daily File (go here to find committe meeting times and bills to be considered)
Committee members:
Senator Sheila Kuehl (Chair)
Senator Rico Oller (Vice-Chair)
Senator Dede Alpert
Senator Debra Bowen
Senator Jeff Denham
Senator Dennis Hollingsworth
Senator Deborah Ortiz
Senator Byron Sher
Addresses & Staff:
Principal Consultants:
Bill Craven and Syrus Devers
Assistant Consultant:
Tam M
Ma
Assistant:
Patricia Hanson
Phone:
(916) 445-5441
FAX:
(916) 323-2232
Room:
407
We need to hit the committee with as many letters as we can and keep the pressure up on the governor.
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