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2/21/2014 The Sierra Resource
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June 2013
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IN THIS ISSUE Events | Campaign Updates | Resources | Funding | Comic of the Month | Recent News
ALLIANCE UPDAT ES
Early Bird Registration ends July 1st forthe Alliance's 20th Annual Conference!
Only a short time left for Early Bird prices! Registerby June 30th and save up to 37% off PreRegistration prices and up to 50% off Walk Inprices! Click here to register.
Conference Scholarships
We are pleased to announce that The Rose Foundationfor Communities & the Environment are sponsoringscholarships for Member Group representatives andSierra activists. Please email Lynn with any questionsand for more information.
Come celebrate 20 years of accomplishmentsprotecting and restoring the Sierra Nevada. Reflect onour Sierra heroes, stories and lessons learned, buildingon our past to guide future actions. Engage generationsof leaders to discuss diverse and creative actions wecan take today and tomorrow to save our beloved Sierra.
Here are a few of the exciting speakers and programswe will be offering:
Bill McKibben - named 'the planet's best greenjournalist' by Time Magazine - will open theAlliance's 20th Anniversary & Conference onFriday, September 13, 2013.John Muir Laws - naturalist, educator and artist -will give the closing keynote on Saturday,September 14, 2013.Sunset Dinner Cruise on the Tahoe Queen - Helpus celebrate 20 years of accomplishments in the
Sierra Nevada with a paddle wheel cruise onLake Tahoe. The night will include dinner, drinks,spectacular views and the 20th Anniversaryawards ceremony.
To register for the conference click here
Click here to view the Program and Workshops.
FUNDING
Resources Legacy Fund: WesternConservation Program
A program to provide targeted grants, contracts, and
CAM PAIGN UPDAT ES
Our monthly update on projects the Regional Climate Change Program is working onas part of our effort to maintain and improve the health of our beautiful "Range of Light."
2nd Annual Sierra Water Work Group Summit aSuccess!
June 20, 2013By Gavin Feiger Regional Climate Change Program Associate, Sierra Nevada Alliance
The Regional Climate Change Program had a leading role in the 2nd Annual SierraWater Work Group (SWWG) Summit in North Tahoe last week. Building on thesuccess of last year’s Summit, we lengthened the Summit to three days to includemore robust discussions of legal, tribal, and disadvantaged community issues specificto integrated water management. We also included more networking opportunities.This year was a huge success judging by the attendance (approximately 140); we arestill compiling the evaluations. Working with the State Bar of California, EnvironmentalLaw Section, we were able to offer free continuing education credits for lawyers andprovide a networking reception after the first day of the Summit. As part of ourcontinued work with the Inyo-Mono IRWM group, we offered a full day of speakers,workshops, and discussions focused on both Native American tribes anddisadvantaged communities, highlighted by a water ceremony shared by the WashoeTribe of Nevada and California on the shore of Lake Tahoe Thursday morning.
The Alliance has a long history of working with Integrated Regional Water Management(IRWM) groups in the Sierra. IRWMs are regional, collective efforts to more holisticallyaddress water-related issues and projects. We help IRWM groups to build capacity,engage diverse stakeholders, plan events, share knowledge, advocate for policy andresources at the state level, and provide climate change knowledge. The Alliance hassupported SWWG since its inception and we look forward to continuing our support ofthe SWWG, the Inyo-Mono IRWM Program, and all of the Sierra IRWM programs inthe coming years.
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A program to provide targeted grants, contracts, andlow-interest loans to protect and restore ecologicallyimportant lands and corridors, improve resourcemanagement systems, and build environmentalconstituencies in the Sierra Nevada, California CentralValley, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, NorthwestMexico, and increase land trust capacity and efficacythroughout the west.
Click here for more information.
Rose Foundation: Northern CaliforniaEnvironmental Grassroots Fund
The Grassroots Fund supports small grassroots groupsthroughout greater northern California that are tacklingtough environmental problems including toxic pollution,urban sprawl, sustainable agriculture, climate change,environmental degradation of our rivers and wild places,as well as, of our communities and our health.Maximum grant size is $5,000. There are fourapplications deadlines each year, and grants areawarded approximately 7 weeks after the deadline.While groups that have $100,000 or less in annualexpenses are eligible, most of our Grassroots granteestend to be very small groups - 60% have annualexpenses of less than $25,000, and 80% haveexpenses of under $50,000.
Click here for more information and application.
California Self-Generation Incentive
Program
Get paid to generate your own energy! The Self-Generation Incentive Program provides financialincentives for the installation of distributed generation
technologies installed on the customer's side of theutility meter. The electricity generated by the systemprovides a portion or all of the customer’s electric load.SGIP gives incentives to retail electric and gascustomers of the investor-owned utilities in California –Pacific Gas and Electric, Southern California Edison,Southern California Gas Company and San Diego Gas& Electric. The California Center for Sustainable Energyadministers the program within the SDG&E serviceterritory.
Click here for more information.
RESOURCES
Position Opening: Ventura CountyPlanning Division, Planning Division Staff
Biologist
Description: The ideal candidate for this position will bea person who possesses a combination of education,skills, and experience in the areas of biology andenvironmental policy planning. This candidate will haveexperience working on biological surveys including bothgeneral surveys and surveys of endangered species orspecies and habitats of special concern. This candidatewill have experience developing environmental policy orregulations within a land use setting. He or she will be areliable and detail-oriented individual who can identifyand solve problems and demonstrates strong writtenand oral communication skills. The candidate selectedfor this position will primarily be assigned to perform
2013 Sierra Water Work Group
Thank You, Alex Riemondy
The Regional Climate Change Program could not be successful in our work without ourtalented and dedicated interns. Alex has been with us in January 2013 and for the pastsix months has compiled and published this newsletter each month, updated our LandUse tracker for Sierra Nevada counties, researched and compiled model policylanguage for county General Plans, and helped plan and organize Program events andtrainings. Alex is headed to graduate school at Florida State University to pursue landuse and transportation planning. We thank Alex, wish her well in the flatlands ofFlorida, and hope for her speedy return to the Sierra.
Primary CEQA Bill a Mixed Bag
June 20, 2013By Craig Breon Regional Climate Change Program Director, Sierra Nevada Alliance
We’ve just past the deadline in the statehouse for bills generated on one side of thebuilding to be passed on to the other (e.g. Assembly bills go to the Senate and viceversa). At this point, barring last minute “gut and amend” bills, we know pretty muchwhere we stand on protection of California’s oh-so-important Environmental Quality Act(CEQA). It appears that we stand on pretty solid ground, with one bill now the mainfocus of discussion in Sacramento and across the State—SB 731, authored by theSenate’s leading Democrat, Darryl Steinberg.
Ever since Senator Marco Rubio—who was to lead the charge against CEQA’senvironmental protections— resigned from the Senate to take a job with Chevron,
insiders have assumed that Steinberg’s bill would be the heavyweight in the remainingfield of contenders. They were right: SB 371 passed through the Senate on aunanimous vote (bipartisanship is not, evidently, dead) and thus has considerablemomentum in the Assembly.
So, what does the Steinberg bill do? It would eliminate analysis of aesthetics in manydevelopments, which has been controversial for many local organizations. In myopinion, this is rarely the biggest issue in a development, and thus an OK concessionto make. It would direct that thresholds of significance be published for certainimpacts, such as noise, parking, and transportation, primarily in infill developmentareas. This could help some infill and transit-oriented projects to get faster approvals—arguably a good thing. There are a variety of provisions to smooth the administrativeprocess for CEQA documents, such as requiring that a record of the proceedings (i.e.what people sue on) be prepared simultaneous with the proceeding if a projectapplicant chooses to. This should allows lawsuits to be decided more quickly—neithergood nor bad. The bill would establish a position in the Governor’s office to assist theapproval of renewable energy projects—good for the climate, perhaps bad for deserttortoise and other sensitive species. The last provision of the bill that I will mentionwould require that projects with mitigation and monitoring plans (i.e. most largeprojects) submit an annual report on compliance with their mitigation measures, andthat such reports must be available online. This could be a significant advancement forCEQA, as currently it is often difficult to establish whether mitigation commitment havein fact been complied with.
So, as expected, a mixed bag. There will likely be some further amendments in theAssembly, and then the Governor should sign it. As I mentioned above, we will stillneed to be vigilant regarding the possibility of an August surprise, when an unrelatedbill could be gutted and CEQA “reform” language substituted at the last minute. Also,we should be turning our attention to the good CEQA bills—such as those by SenatorEvans—which didn’t quite make it this year but have been turned into two-year bills.
As a reminder, you can go to CEQAworks.org to see the latest on CEQA inSacramento as well as to peruse some of the great things this fundamental law has
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for this position will primarily be assigned to performbiological review for land-use permits in the PermittingSection, but will also work with Long-Range Planningstaff to develop new policies and draft supportingtechnical documents for revisions to County ordinancesand Area Plans. A Master’s degree in Biology,Environmental Planning, Natural ResourceConservation, or a closely related field, is desired. Click here for more information
Location: Ventura, CA
Position Opening: Google Sustainability,
Associate
Description: As a member of the team, you'll beresponsible for defining, evaluating, advocating, andimplementing the most impactful environmentalstrategies for Google, our users, and the world. Workingcross-functionally, you can find yourself investing inlarge scale renewable energy projects or developingsmart sustainable business solutions that scale beyondGoogle. You have extensive technical expertise, andanalytical and problem solving skills. Sample projects
include: building the strategic framework for clean
energy procurement at Google's offices, identifyinginnovative clean or efficient technologies we can deployin our own operations, developing supply chainprograms to ensure sustainability of our products andvendors, investing in innovative renewable energyprojects, developing and implementing green benefitprograms for employees, and devising ways to useGoogle's products to help our users be moresustainable.
Click here for more information
Location: Mountain View, CA
Position Opening: Defenders of Wildlife,California Program Associate
Description: This professional-level position isresponsible for implementing assigned work plans forthe California Program of Defenders of Wildlife. Theprimary responsibilities include implementation ofprograms, strategies, campaigns, and projects focusingon strategic plan priorities in California. This positionalso involves a wide variety of responsibilities supportingthe program and operations of the California Programfield office. Programmatic and technical assistance willbe provided to the Director and other staff members inthe California Program. It serves as the Director’s liaisonto other staff, federal and state agency personnel,elected officials and their staff, Defenders’ members andthe general public. The California Program Associatemust possess a general knowledge of all programs andprojects within the California Program in order to assistthe Director with oversight, implementation of worksplans and compliance with procedures and schedules.This position requires substantial discretion indetermining how to meet assigned goals and competingdeadlines. Click here for more information
Location: Sacramento, CA
Position Opening: Environmental Defense
Fund, Agriculture Project Analyst, WorkingLands
Description: EDF’s Land, Water, Wildlife Programworks with agriculture producers, foresters and ranchersto improve management practices on private lands. We
Sacramento as well as to peruse some of the great things this fundamental law hasdone for the Golden State.
EVENT S
South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL) River AmbassadorKickoff Party
June 22nd is the River Ambassadors first day on the River, and we will be celebratingthe program’s kick-off with fun and games for the whole family. Come play fish pong,paint river flags, guess Yuba River trivia and visit with SYRCL’s mascot Flo. Comedown to the river anytime between 10:00 am and 5:00 pm and share in the fun ofbuilding community while caring for the River.
Date: June 22nd Place: Nevada City, Highway 49 Crossing (old bridge), Anytime between 10am and5pm More Information: Contact Andrew Collins-Anderson SYRCL’s AmeriCorpsStewardship Coordinator - [email protected] or (530) 265-5961 ext. 209
Raft the Mokelumne with Foothill Conservancy
Celebrate the Wild and Scenic River-eligible Mokelumne by rafting the river! See thesection that would have been flooded if the Foothill Conservancy and partners had notstopped the expansion of Pardee Reservoir. On Sunday, June 23, O.A.R.S. will berunning raft trips down the Electra-Middle Bar run of the Mokelumne River for thebenefit of the Foothill Conservancy and our efforts to preserve and protect the river. Dueto high demand for this trip, we have just added an 8 am trip. Reserve your seatstoday! The cost for the trips is $70 per person.
Date: Sunday, June 23, Trips at 8am, Noon, and 4pm More Information: Contact Randy at the Foothill Conservancy office from 9 am -Noon, at 209-295-4900 or by e-mail . Be sure to provide your daytime phone number,e-mail address, number in your party, and preferred time of trip -- 8:00 am, 12:00 pm or4:00 pm. The noon and 4 trips are nearly full. They will get back to you withconfirmation and details.
Sierra Nevada Alliance 20th Anniversary & Conference
Only a short time left for Early Bird prices! Register by June 30th and save up to 37%off Pre Registration prices and up to 50% off Walk In prices! Come celebrate 20 yearsof accomplishments protecting and restoring the Sierra Nevada. Reflect on our Sierraheroes, stories and lessons learned, building on our past to guide future actions.Engage generations of leaders to discuss diverse and creative actions we can taketoday and tomorrow to save our beloved Sierra.
Date: September 13-15, 2013 Place: South Lake Tahoe, CA More Information: Click here to register or email Lynn
COM IC OF T HE MONT H
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to improve management practices on private lands. Weseek to provide economic incentives for these producersto adopt environmentally-beneficial practices. Our teamhas worked for several years to develop farmingpractices that generate greenhouse gas reductions,accounting systems that quantify these reductions, andpolicies to allow offsets to be sold in voluntary andcompliance markets. In addition, EDF has led ground-
breaking greenhouse gas protocol development and pilotprojects for rice production, rangeland grazing, andfertilizer management to test these incentiveopportunities by working with agriculture stakeholders,scientists, and policymakers across the nation. Ourgoal is to achieve 100 MMT of offset credits from theagriculture and forestry sectors by 2020, worth at least$1 billion in revenue for producers. Click here for more information
Location: San Francisco, CA
Newsletter contents prepared by Anna Olsen. If you have articles, events or announcements that you would like included in
this newsletter or if you have feedback, please [email protected].
RECENT NEWS
Sierra News
Public input sought on removal of Incline Lake damSacramento Bee, Barbara Barte Osborn 06.16.2013
Sierra Link : Comments are being accepted for the removal of the dam at Incline Lake. The removal hopes to restore the groundwater dependantecosystem to a system of ponds, fens and marshes.
Supreme Court agrees to hear Sierra Nevada forest caseStar-Telegraph, Michael Doyle 06.10.2013
Sierra Link : The outcome of the Supreme Court case, scheduled to be heard during the 2013 term starting in October, can affect the detail ofForest Service management plans, like those governing the 11 Sierra Nevada forests.
State News
California Senate unanimously backs changes to CEQASacramento Bee, Amy Gerbert 05.29.2013
Sierra Link : Senate Bill 731 recently passed without opposition. Among the bill's many provisions, unsubstantiated opinion would no longer beallowed as new evidence in court and project aesthetics would not be be taken into consideration as a part of CEQA review.The bill also seeks tospeed up legal challenges and standardize state thresholds for environmental impacts.
Climate change threatens California's stock of native fishPublic Radio International, Steve Curwood 06.12.2013
Sierra Link : Cool water native fishes and amphibians are the ones most vulnerable to the predicted 4-6 degree increasing stream temperatures,which will cause a decline, but this will cause an increase in non-natives like catfish, bass, and carp.
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which will cause a decline, but this will cause an increase in non-natives like catfish, bass, and carp.
National News
Ski industry demands action on climate changeGreenBiz.com, Robert Kropp 06.07.2013
Sierra Link : Warming winter temperatures and shorter sk i season will not only affect the sk i industry and the tourism dollars it brings, but also canlead to further decreased snowpack leading to less water to support drink ing and agriculture.
Climate change mission shifting focus from prevention to adaptationABC15.com, Associated Press 06.15.2013
Sierra Link : After years of losing the fight against rising global emissions of heat-trapping gases, governments around the world are emphasizing"managing the unavoidable" and moving towards adapting to changes that are already starting to occur.
Sierra Nevada Alliance
P.O. Box 7989South Lake Tahoe, CA 96158
phone: 530. 542. 4546
fax: 530. 542. 4570
www.sierranevadaalliance.org
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Since 1993 the Sierra Nevada Alliance has beenprotecting and restoring Sierra lands, water,wildlife and communities. The regional climatechange program shapes and implements countyand regional resource plans that promote smartland use, incorporate sustainable watermanagement practices, aggressively reducegreenhouse gases and adapt to climate change.
