Blog

Northern Sierra Partnership Launched with $25M in private funding

High Sierra Rural Alliance — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:56:07 -0700

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today joined with environmentalists, business leaders and government officials to announce the launch of a public-private partnership between the State of California and the Northern Sierra Partnership to fund environmental preservation while supporting economic growth. The Northern Sierra Partnership, which consists of two local land trusts, a regional business council and two large conservation organizations, was created to complement the goals of the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, established when the Governor signed legislation in 2004 identifying needed actions across 25 million acres of land from the Oregon border to Kern County. To aid in these efforts, the Governor announced today that $25 million in private funds have been raised to date, including $10 million commitments each from the Morgan Family Foundation and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

View video and photos from the Public-Private Partnership announcement by Jim Branham, Sierra Nevada Conservancy and featuring Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The Sierra Business Council, the Feather River Land Trust, Truckee-Donner Land Trust have joined with The Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Lands in this new partnership that will work with private landowners, government agencies, other collaborating organizations, and local communities to provide public benefits such as a high-quality water supply, world-class outdoor recreation, and carbon sequestration; safeguard habitats crucial for native species and species diversity; and maintain a critical mass of working ranches, forests, and tribal lands. The alliance will also help residents make the transition to sustainable economic activities that promote community well-being and help keep local communities viable in the future.

The partners will pool resources and coordinate projects to achieve the following 5- to 10-year goals:

Protect over 100,000 acres of the region's large, unfragmented landscapes.
Attract $75 - $100 million in private funding.
Leverage $225 - $300 million in federal, state and local funds.
Build enduring political and cultural support for land and water conservation.
Serve as a model for collaboration in other regions.
Support sustainable local economies.

For more information visit the Northern Sierra Partnership Web site.

Read Tom Knudson's take on the announcement.

The Sierra's Enduring Gold

High Sierra Rural Alliance — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:20:08 -0700

It comes fast. Look out your window this week, and you'll notice: Summer's leaves have lost their luster, and lawns are looking wan. That bit of yellow creeping into your willow tree is a precursor of things to come.

If a fall color getaway is on your agenda, the time to plan is now. Timing is crucial, depending on where you want to go.

Developers No Longer Own Mountainside

High Sierra Rural Alliance — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:37:50 -0700

SUSANVILLE - A 6,700- acre mountainside planned for a four-season resort in Lassen County has a new owner.

A limited liability company seized control of the property from Dyer Mountain Associates, a development group planning to build a golf, ski and secondhome resort for up to 500,000 visitors a year.

The deed recorded Friday in Lassen County names Dyer Holding LLC as titleholder to the land that rises from Mountain Meadows Reservoir to the top of Dyer Mountain near Westwood.

Read more of Jane Braxton Little's article at the Sacramento Bee.

Key Sierra timber case pits California against Bush administration

High Sierra Rural Alliance — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:08:15 -0700

WASHINGTON – A stalled Sierra Nevada salvage-logging venture is sparking the Supreme Court's next major environmental showdown.

What began as a 238-acre Sequoia National Forest timber sale has drawn in big players on all sides. The fight, pitting California officials against the Bush administration, will determine how easy it will be to challenge future forest decisions nationwide.

"It's … whether or not the public has a right to be involved," Jim Bensman, an Illinois-based environmentalist who's involved in the case, said Friday. "The No. 1 priority for the Bush administration, aside from logging, has been to reduce public accountability."

Read the full story by Michael Doyle at the Sac Bee Website.

Op Ed: State's Water System at Breaking Point

High Sierra Rural Alliance — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:34:51 -0700

Community Voices from The Bakersfield Californian | Sunday, Jul 13 2008

California and Kern County is a brilliantly designed painting. From the farmlands in the Central Valley to the flowering landscapes of Southern California, the colors and diversity in texture are something out of a Monet masterpiece.

It is an extensive rearrangement of the existing natural order, created by the ingeniousness and will of man because of their use of one of our most precious natural resources: Water.

California is home to two of the largest water systems on the planet, as well as many small ones. Yet most of our residents do not realize that to live in California, especially the south half, is to bear witness to the most extensive rearrangement of nature's hydrology on the planet.

Unfortunately the original plumbing designed years ago to make our city, county and state what it is today isn't doing the job. California currently has 37 million people using a water system that was built decades ago for half that many people. Projections indicate our water use will triple over the next 25 years as our population balloons to an estimated 45 million by 2020. To date, there is no plan for building any significant new infrastructure to insure we will have the water we need.

For years, inept politicians have failed to resolve the water issues that will eventually bring California's economy to its knees. The recent emergency declaration by the Kern County Water Agency and the Board of Supervisors' resolution declaring "a potential disaster condition existing throughout the County" is nothing to take lightly.

In the late 1990s, California faced an energy crisis because it failed to build power plants to keep up with demand. Today we face an oil crisis because we have failed to allow more oil exploration and additional refining capacity. We cannot afford to make the same mistake with water.

Many say conservation is key to solving our water crisis. I agree it is a small piece of the puzzle, but it cannot solve our growing water crisis alone. A long-term, sustainable approach to California's water crisis is essential to maintaining California's economic stability.

California's trillion-dollar economy is the eighth largest in the world. California is the nation's largest agriculture producer. Kern County's agriculture production alone outpaces 20 of the 50 states nationwide. This is because of many factors, but it couldn't be done first and foremost without water.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein recently said, "I have just one statistic, one only, and that is 25 million people depend on Delta water for drinking water of the state. And the probability of a big earthquake over 6.7 is 75 percent in the next 30 years. And if that were to happen, there are all indications that the Delta could collapse, the water would be gone, there would be no water for drinking, there would be no water for agriculture, and there would be no water for fish, marsh, and ecosystems."

A scary comment from someone who truly knows the effects of our broken water system.

Investing in California's water infrastructure is essential to maintaining California's and Kern County's strong economy, as well as continuing to attract new employers to further stimulate our economic future. In the wake of the catastrophic Hurricane Katrina, we know all too well what can happen without serious forethought and planning.

We must all encourage our elected leaders to find quick and sensible solutions to more water storage and better water conveyance issues. Politicians and stakeholders must leave their egos and agendas at the door when developing a common sense plan to benefit all. For the future of our state and county, we must work together to address these issues.

Michael Young of Bakersfield is a local farmer and president of the Kern County Farm Bureau.

Tribe accepts deal to buy Clover Valley land for open space, culture center

High Sierra Rural Alliance — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:30:11 -0700

A Placer County Indian tribe has tentatively sealed a deal to buy 65 acres from the developer of Rocklin's Clover Valley for public open space and a cultural center.

Two ongoing lawsuits over the developer's housing project could delay recording of the purchase agreement and conservation easement.

"Depending on the outcome of the lawsuits, things could drag out for a while," Rocklin City Manager Carlos Urrutia said. "But I would hope the outcome would be favorable and we could move ahead."

Read the Sacramento Bee article.

Web site keeps Sierra updated on fire hot spots

High Sierra Rural Alliance — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:57:23 -0700

When it comes to coverage of California wildfires, newspapers and television pretty much have the story down cold: "Massive" or "wind-whipped" fires fed by "explosively dry" grasses or "tinderbox" forests "ripped" through "rugged terrain" as "weary" firefighters fought to "contain" the "conflagration."

People with lives or property at stake, however, simply want to know, "How close is the fire to me?" And they want to know straightaway.

That's where YubaNet.com comes in.

Read more about local citizen journalism in this article at the Sacramento Bee.

California and Nevada Governors Declare State of Emergency for Catastrophic Wildfire

High Sierra Rural Alliance — Fri, 30 May 2008 12:27:25 -0700

A state of emergency was declared Tuesday in the Lake Tahoe basin by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons, who took the advice of a two-state commission that declared the region ripe for catastrophic fire.

The emergency declarations mean more money and resources will be sunk into fuel removal projects, fire department personnel and fire prevention techniques over the next 10 years in an attempt to reduce the threat to life and property.

"We will not rest until this crown jewel is as safe as it is beautiful," Schwarzenegger said before the two governors brandished pens to sign the document, which affects Placer and El Dorado counties in California and Douglas and Washoe counties and Carson City in Nevada.

At that moment, the skies opened up and hail began falling, forcing the group of dignitaries, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein, to abandon the podium and scramble into a nearby fire station for shelter.

The rainy-day announcement came on the heels of the release of the 246-page California-Nevada Tahoe Basin Fire Commission final report, which made a series of recommendations on how to prevent catastrophic fires like the Angora Fire, which destroyed 254 homes last year.

Wilderness Compromise Surprises Both Sides

High Sierra Rural Alliance — Fri, 30 May 2008 12:02:01 -0700

When Congressman Buck McKeon visited the Eastern Sierra two weeks ago, the word on the street was that his wilderness legislation was dead in the water, and years of haggling and compromise between environmentalists and the motorized community seemed a monumental waste of time.

But McKeon surprised the skeptics and on Friday, May 23rd introduced the Eastern Sierra and Northern San Gabriel Rural Heritage Act (H.R. 6156), a wilderness bill that would establish over 470,000 acres of wilderness throughout the Eastern Sierra and the White Mountains, as well as wilderness in Los Angeles County.

Managing Tahoe Bears

High Sierra Rural Alliance — Tue, 27 May 2008 17:53:25 -0700

California and Nevada wildlife officials will pool resources to help prevent a repeat of last year's record-breaking season of bear problems in the Tahoe Basin.

Gathering last week at Donner Memorial State Park in Truckee, officials from the California Department of Fish and Game and Nevada Department of Wildlife agreed to try to minimize human-bear conflicts.

The departments will share personnel, databases, information and public education efforts to better address the black bear concerns, said Steve Martarano, Fish and Game's supervising information officer.

Both departments will help coordinate bear management policies with the volunteer BEAR League, as well as sheriff's departments and other local agencies, wildlife biologist Jason Holley said.

"We work with them anyway," he said, "but this will make it easier. We're … helping each other know where the problem bears are."

While exact numbers aren't known, there were "thousands of calls" about bear problems last year in the basin, Holley said. There were "at least a few hundred break-ins" and more bear deaths than ever before, he said.