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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - The population of the Sierra Nevada could more than triple in the next 35 years, threatening many of the mountain range's Gold Rush-era towns with sprawl, gridlock and pollution, according to a report released Tuesday. Much of the 400-mile-long range is designated as national forest, park land or wilderness. It also holds plenty of private land where development could change the face and feel of the mountains, warns the Sierra Nevada Alliance, a 12-year-old coalition of more than 60 environmental organizations. About 600,000 people live in the 20 California and three Nevada counties that divide the...

Eight towns would love to land the new Sierra Nevada Conservancy headquarters, projected to eventually have 70 employees and a $10 million budget. But only two showed up at the historic first meeting of the conservancy board Thursday in Sacramento, and both were from Nevada County. Nevada City used a laid-back approach in its pitch, but Truckee came on like a runaway snowboarder. Auburn, Colfax, Placerville, Amador City, Ione and Jackson were no-shows. “Give us your serious consideration,” said Truckee Mayor Craig Threshie in a lengthy speech that trumpeted the town’s location, history and commitment to the range. “We have...

The Sierra Nevada, historically a majestic battleground for competing local interests, comes under the stewardship of the state's newest and biggest conservancy this week. Proponents say the 25-million-acre Sierra Nevada Conservancy will be more than a protector of the mountain environment - it will also be an incubator for jobs and economic growth. The conservancy's 13 voting board members - seven state appointees and six county supervisors - will hold their first meeting at 10 a.m. Thursday in Sacramento at the state Energy Commission building, 1516 Ninth St. The Sierra Nevada Conservancy is the ninth conservancy created by the Legislature...

The Nevada City sales pitch to land up to 70 jobs and a $10 million budget with the Sierra Nevada Conservancy headquarters will be spurred today with an artistic boot. A four-color promotional booklet sent to conservancy directors and key state officials trumpets Nevada City's scenic grandeur, job base, schools and lifestyle as pieces of the perfect strategic location for the new agency. Julie Soderlund of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office said "I can't speculate" where the conservancy will eventually land, but that has not stopped a core group of Nevada City advocates from trying to acquire it. The conservancy was...

Bear River Canyon, Placer County -- Framed by a crystalline stream and steep slopes carpeted with ponderosa pine and black oak, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill Thursday authorizing the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, a new state agency dedicated to preserving the 25 million acres of forest, meadow and craggy granite peaks that comprise John Muir's "Range of Light."

After signing the Sierra Nevada Conservancy bill along the Bear River, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger gives a thumbs-up to dignitaries and the media. From left are Assemblyman John Laird, D-Santa Cruz; state Resources Agency Secretary Mike Chrisman; California EPA Secretary Terry Tamminen; and Assemblyman Tim Leslie, R-Tahoe City. The Union photo/John Hart Standing on a wide gravel bar with the Bear River flowing gently by him, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the Sierra Nevada Conservancy bill Thursday to the sound of bipartisan applause. "California is where the conservation movement began, and today we are happy to continue this noble tradition," Schwarzenegger said....

09-23) 16:56 PDT COLFAX, Calif. (AP) -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger chose a woodsy mountain setting Thursday to sign legislation establishing a 25 million-acre Sierra Nevada Conservancy, while also signing nearly 20 other bills to protect the Pacific Ocean, curb smog and clean up blighted urban land. With numerous strokes of the pen, Schwarzenegger opened 1,100 miles of car pool lanes to hybrid cars, established the nation's first Cabinet-level Ocean Protection Council in state government and barred cruise ships from burning garbage and dumping sewage inside state waters. He also banned commercial fishing fleets from bottom trawling along designated parts of...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger faces decisions on bills that would create a Sierra Nevada conservancy, require economic impact reports before local governments approve Wal-Mart-like superstores and promote recycling of cell phones. Also headed to his desk are measures that would bar kids under 14 from using tanning salons without a doctor's approval, require schools to notify parents when they serve students irradiated food and give consumers at least 30 days to claim rebates. California lawmakers gave final approval Wednesday to dozens of bills as they rushed to wrap up their 2004 session by Friday. The Sierra Nevada bill,...

SACRAMENTO - The Senate on Monday approved creation of a state conservancy to protect the majestic Sierra Nevada, but another environmental bill, which would ban smoking on state beaches, stalled as lawmakers began the last days of their 2004 session. The conservancy bill, by Assemblymen Tim Leslie, R-Tahoe City, and John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, cleared the Senate on a 21-14 vote and was returned to the Assembly, which approved a somewhat different version of the legislation in May. If the Assembly adopts the Senate changes, the legislation will go to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The beach-smoking bill, by Assemblyman Paul Koretz,...

Dear Sierra Friends, A very good Friday afternoon to you all! In case you had not heard, I wanted to make sure you knew that the Sierra Nevada Conservancy bill, AB 2600, will be heard on the Senate Floor this coming Monday, August 23. Senator Bruce McPherson (R—Santa Cruz) will be presenting AB 2600 as the bill’s official floor jockey. Below, I am including material we’ve put together on the highlights of the consensus reached by Assemblyman Leslie and Assemblyman Laird and the Schwarzenegger Administration. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me by phone or e mail....

State Sen. Sam Aanestad, R-Grass Valley, said he fears water rights in the Sierra could be jeopardized by a conservancy aimed at protecting the mountain range's resources, such as the South Yuba River, shown here off of North Bloomfield Road. State Sen. Sam Aanestad on Monday attacked the idea of a Sierra Nevada Conservancy, fearing it will infringe on property and water rights. Despite Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's endorsement of the plan, the Republican legislator last week voted against a compromised version of the bill, which would create an organization aimed at gathering grants and other funds to protect and improve...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California is set to spend more than $14 million on new river parkways and open land in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges under the budget signed Saturday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. But Schwarzenegger sliced the nearly $50 million sought by Senate leader John Burton, D-San Francisco, because the two new programs will start halfway through the budget year. It was unrealistic to expect to spend all the money in just six months, budget officials said. The now-$4.15 million mountain program is contingent on legislative approval of a new Sierra Nevada Conservancy, a sweeping new government...

Along a stretch of a state highway leading to Yosemite National Park, a band of conservationists has been buying up vacant land. The group has cobbled together about 400 acres in a desirable meadow off Highway 120. But the scrappy Tuolumne County Land Trust is no match for a proposed golf-course community that would rise next to its land onto a spur of Table Mountain, a 500-foot lava formation fabled by Western author Bret Harte. "A little land trust like ours - nobody even listens to us," said Marlee Powell, who also is Sonora's mayor. The only way to compete...

Freedom 21 Santa Cruz hosts a weekly two-hour show on Wednesday, July 07, 2004, on KFER 89.9 FM at 8 PM (PST). Topics King County 65-10 Rule Sierra Nevada Conservancy Summary In counties all over the country, onerous rules on use of private property are proliferating. Tonight, Rodney McFarland, President of Citizens' Alliance for Property Rights discusses the 65-10 Rule enacted in King County, WA. This rule requires that landowners to set aside 65 percent of their property and keep it in its natural, vegetative state. Also, the Sierra Nevada Conservancy clears another hurtle. The Conservancy gives unconstitutional authority to...

Dear Sierra friends, I am seeking your thoughts. As you know, I am carrying AB 1788, which would create a Sierra Nevada Conservancy. A state conservancy is an agency that delivers state funds to areas of special value, such as Lake Tahoe or the California Coast. It makes grants and undertakes projects for a wide range of efforts, from acquisition of habitat to fire prevention and economic development. Unlike entities such as the "Coastal Commission" or the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, a conservancy does not have any power to regulate lands. As a staunch defender of private property rights...

Socialist agenda being pushed through the California Legislature.ALERT:Hearing scheduled for Sierra Nevada Conservancy bills 6/29/04 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...

DATE: JUNE 16, 2004 TO: ALL GRASSROOTS AND CONCERNED CITIZENS FROM: ROSE COMSTOCK, ALLIANCE FOR AMERICA www.allianceforamerica.org PLEASE SHARE WITH YOUR LIST AND ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO RESPOND. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! WHAT: WILD LANDS PROJECT AT WORK - JUNE 29, 2004 - HEARINGS ARE SCHEDULED FOR TWO BILLS - AB1788 & AB2600 -EACH AUTHORIZE ESTABLISHING A SIERRA NEVADA CONSERVANCY IN CALIFORNIA TO ACQUIRE, AND DIRECT THE MANAGEMENT, OF PUBLIC LANDS LOCATED PRIMARILY WITHIN THE CORE SIERRA NEVADA REGION. STATUS: BOTH BILLS ARE CURRENTLY IN THE CALIFORNIA STATE SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WILDLIFE. THIS COMMITTEE IS CHAIRED BY ONE...

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...

RED ALERT!!! RED ALERT!!!There are three bills ready for a vote in the Assembly. Two would turn the entire Sierra Nevada mountain range into a conservancy. The other one would give the state total control over water and private property. Unless these bills are stopped, you can give up on CA.Ab 2600/a>Ab 1788AB 2631RED ALERT, RED ALERT!!!All bills are to third reading!!!

Sierra Conservancy bills - Gov needs to hear from you DATE: MAY 2, 2004TO: ALL GRASSROOTS AND CONCERNED CITIZENS . . . . . . . . . . . (PLEASE SHARE WITH YOUR LIST OF CONTACTS) FROM: ROSE COMSTOCK - PRESIDENT - ALLIANCE FOR AMERICA           www.allianceforamerica.orgWHAT:    Wednesday of this week the California Assembly Appropriations Committee approved two bills that would establish a Sierra Nevada Conservancy. Governor Schwarzenegger has indicated that he intends to create a Sierra Nevada Conservancy during his first term in office. These two bills-AB 1788 and AB 2600-present radically different...