Two bills making their way through the California Assembly would create a Sierra Nevada Conservancy. If passed, the conservancy would direct money to help manage the public lands in the mountain range.
The Union photo/Pico van Houtryve
Posted on 04/03/2004 3:32:33 AM PST by calcowgirl
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Two bills making their way through the California Assembly would create a Sierra Nevada Conservancy. If passed, the conservancy would direct money to help manage the public lands in the mountain range. The Union photo/Pico van Houtryve |
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It spans nearly 500 miles, supplies the water that nourishes California’s economy and has provided vocations and vacations for generations, but the Sierra Nevada has no benefactor like the conservancies that care for Lake Tahoe or the state’s vast coastline.
That could change this year, however, if one of the two bills now winding through the Legislature is approved - or if the two morph into one. The bills, AB 2600, authored by a Democrat, and the Republican-drafted AB 1788, would create a Sierra Nevada Conservancy.
The conservancy’s nonregulatory board would coordinate the millions of dollars that flow into the mountain range each year from various sources for a variety of conservation uses. Essentially, it could serve as a clearinghouse for the money, which would go toward the most-needy areas instead of being scattered.
“The Sierra is something that cries out for a conservancy,” said John Laird, a Democrat assemblyman from the central coast who authored AB 2600.
Laird, chairman of the Assembly Select Committee on California Water Needs and Climate Change, said the 28-year-old California Coastal Conservancy has served the region - and the state - well. The Sierra, he said, could use the same help.
“A Sierra Conservancy will give people in the Sierra a seat at the table,” he said. “I think the model of the Coastal Conservancy has worked very, very well.”
Unlike the California Coastal Commission, which regulates land use and issues development permits, the nonregulatory Coastal Conservancy works as an intermediary among local governments, public agencies, nonprofit groups and private landowners to purchase, protect, restore and enhance coastal resources.
Republicans seek bigger role for locals
The Lake Tahoe Conservancy is in Republican Assemblyman Tim Leslie’s district. And while he has supported its efforts over the years, including raising thousands of dollars for environmental projects by supporting the Lake Tahoe license plate program, Leslie’s chief of staff, Jedd Medefind, said his boss is generally hesitant when it comes to creating such entities.
“He had to decide to oppose it on principal or get involved to make things better,” Medefind said about why Leslie brought AB 1788 forward.
Surprisingly, Leslie’s involvement was spurred by none other than the state’s top Republican, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. It may have rankled some of his fellow Republicans, but Schwarzenegger’s environmental action plan pledges to create a Sierra Nevada Conservancy.
“I think this is a case where the governor is showing his independent streak,” Medefind said.
Given that the Legislature is controlled by Democrats, the Republicans are drawing up another version of the conservancy plan. While the two bills differ on the boundaries of the proposed conservancy, the biggest differences are the makeup of its governing board and exactly what kind of input local governments will have.
Laird’s bill would have the conservancy’s seven-member board consult with local agencies on proposed projects. Leslie’s proposal has a 20-member board, including two county supervisors from each of the conservancy’s five subregions.
“At this point, we’re working to convince the Schwarzenegger administration that a form of conservancy that cuts locals out of the decision process is unacceptable,” Medefind said.
Conservancy control issues
The Sierra Fund, a Nevada City-based foundation that links donors with conservation projects, is a main proponent of a conservancy for the mountain range and is supporting Laird’s bill. But Izzy Martin, the fund’s Sierra Nevada campaign director and former Nevada County supervisor, said that to increase the chances that the conservancy proposal passes, there is hope that the two bills will become one.
Still, how the issues of local control versus regional and state priorities play out will be key.
The last effort to create a conservancy for the Sierra was derailed two years ago. Although it sailed through the Assembly, it never made it to the Senate floor for a vote. What scuttled the bill were differences on the makeup of the governing board and whether individual counties and towns could opt in or out of the conservancy.
“The more pertinent argument is that already, hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent in the region, and the Sierra doesn’t have a say,” Martin said. “There is no defined, formal role for where the money is being spent.”
Despite Assemblyman Leslie’s aversion to conservancies, Medefind agreed that one could help tackle some of the issues facing the Sierra, like forest and watershed health.
“It conceivably could become an excellent forum to address serious issues,” he said.
Staff from Leslie and Laird’s offices have been in communication on the two bills, and it’s “definitely conceivable” that the bills could come together, Medefind said.
Because the conservancy idea is something Schwarzenneger is behind, Laird agreed that bipartisan support might be easier to come by this time around.
AB 2600 is expected to be heard in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee by April 19.
Ok every one is coming back tomorrow. I should put you guys in direct contact because gobetweens only mess up the plans. I can't remember if I have contact info for you or not. I will email you.
That would be great.
CURRENT BILL STATUS
MEASURE : A.B. No. 2631
AUTHOR(S) : Wolk.
TOPIC : Natural resources: invasive species.
HOUSE LOCATION : ASM
+LAST AMENDED DATE : 05/06/2004
TYPE OF BILL :
Active
Non-Urgency
Non-Appropriations
Majority Vote Required
Non-State-Mandated Local Program
Fiscal
Non-Tax Levy
LAST HIST. ACT. DATE: 05/20/2004
LAST HIST. ACTION : From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 16. Noes 5.) (May
19). Read second time. To third reading.
FILE : ASM THIRD READING
FILE DATE : 05/24/2004
ITEM : 249
TITLE : An act to add Division 37 (commencing with Section
71500) to the Public Resources Code, relating to natural
resources.
The other two bills are still at second reading level.
Thanks for keeping us informed. Thought I'd post a review from your earlier post on what a third reading means.
Whuts thuh deal on this? Aliens, er whut? Shud I fone George Noree? Art Bell? I know nuthin about this turkey!!!
AB 1788 (Leslie) - As Amended: April 13, 2004
SUBJECT : Sierra Nevada Conservancy.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Sacramento Mother Lode Regional Association of County
Supervisors
Sierra Business Council
Opposition
Amador County Farm Bureau
Butte County Farm Bureau
California Farm Bureau Federation
California Forestry Association
El Dorado County Farm Bureau
Foothill Conservancy
Kern County Farm Bureau
Lassen County Farm Bureau
Taxpayers Association of El Dorado County
Tehama County Farm Bureau
AB 2600 (Laird) - As Amended: April 13, 2004
SUBJECT : Sierra Nevada Conservancy.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
ADRO Environmental, Inc.Opposition
Amador Land Trust
American Land Conservancy
American Rivers
Butte Environmental Council
California-Nevada Conference of Operating Engineers
California Oaks Foundation
California Trout
California Wilderness Coalition
City of Nevada City
East Bay Municipal Water District
Eastern Sierra Advocates Network
Eastern Sierra Land Trust
Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch
Environment California
Environmental Priorities Network
Foothill Conservancy
Friends of Deer Creek
Friends of Hope Valley
Friends of the River
Grass Valley Neighbors
Jumping Frog Research Institute
Lassen Forest Preservation Group
Los Angeles Water Conservation Council
Mono Lake Committee
Mountain Alliance
Mountain Area Preservation Foundation
Mountain Lion Foundation
Mountain Meadows Conservancy
Natural Heritage Institute
Placer Land Trust
Planning and Conservation League
Restore Hetch Hetchy
Rural Quality Coalition
Salmonid Restoration Federation
Sequoia Riverlands Trust
Sierra Business Council
Sierra Buttes Lakes Basin Coalition
Sierra Foothills Audubon Society
Sierra Nevada Alliance
Sierra Watch
Snowlands Network
South Yuba River Citizens League
The Sierra Fund
Truckee-Donner Land Trust
Tuolumne River Trust
numerous individuals
Amador County Farm Bureau
Butte County Farm Bureau
California Farm Bureau Federation
California Forestry Association
El Dorado County Farm Bureau
Fresno County Farm Bureau
Kern County Farm Bureau
Lassen County Farm Bureau
Taxpayers Association of El Dorado County
Tehama County Farm Bureau
1 individual
-------------------------Input Comments to Author of AB 1788 (Leslie) HERE
Input Comments to Author of AB 2600 (Laird) HERE
Thanks. Things are moving on my end. I'm meeting with our lobbyist tomorrow to set some plans.
CA freepers, RED ALERT RED ALERT!!! All bills are to third reading!!!
CA Assembly
Posted on 05/25/2004 9:09:15 AM PDT by farmfriend
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 1788
AB 2631
RED ALERT, RED ALERT!!!
Good news... hope they're moving RIGHT. <>
ping
ping
Ditto the post I just made to you on another thread.
In addition I'd say start the recall effort. I'm behind you.
CURRENT BILL STATUS
MEASURE : A.B. No. 1788
AUTHOR(S) : Leslie.
TOPIC : Sierra Nevada Conservancy.
HOUSE LOCATION : SEN
+LAST AMENDED DATE : 05/26/2004
TYPE OF BILL :
Active
Non-Urgency
Non-Appropriations
Majority Vote Required
State-Mandated Local Program
Fiscal
Non-Tax Levy
LAST HIST. ACT. DATE: 05/28/2004
LAST HIST. ACTION : In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for
assignment.
TITLE : An act to add Division 23.3 (commencing with Section
33300) to the Public Resources Code, relating to the
Sierra Nevada Conservancy.
Now there's a barf alert! Izzy Martin was a one-time elected supervisor who won by 12 votes and was defeated in the next primary over her fanatical advocacy of a land use survey/inventory/regulation scheme deceptively called "Natural Heritage 2020."
So nice she has a job, but she also has a very big axe to grind.
Bump.
Thanks, we need all the bumps we can get.
bump
How did you get those to go in columns?
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