The Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC) will host its quarterly Board Meeting Friday, Dec. 8, in Wheatland, CA. The day before, Dec. 7, the SNC will host a field tour of wildfire-recovery and community-resilience projects, including a visit and discussion of opportunities associated with holistic landscape-scale watershed protection at New Bullards Bar Overlook and the Camptonville Bioenergy facility.
View detailed tour and meeting information, including agenda items and how to submit a public comment.
SNC Strategic Plan (2024-2029) update
With the current SNC Strategic Plan (2018-2023) coming to a close, the Board will get an update on the next five-year plan of action. The Strategic Plan is a guide for the SNC when developing programs and policies that support the mission of “improving the environmental, economic, and social well-being of California’s Sierra-Cascade Region.”
The current Strategic Plan, Securing California’s Environmental and Economic Future: Protecting and Restoring the Health and Resilience of Sierra Nevada Watersheds and Communities, sets the Sierra Nevada Watershed Improvement Program (WIP) as the SNC’s overarching initiative. The WIP has been foundational to focusing SNC efforts to address five regional goals: healthy watersheds and forests; resilient Sierra Nevada communities; vibrant recreation and tourism; strategic lands conserved; and impactful regional identify.
A public comment period on the Strategic Plan update is planned for Spring 2024.
North Yuba Forest Partnership’s landscape-scale restoration efforts
Also at the December Board Meeting, three members of the North Yuba Forest Partnership (NYFP) will present on the landscape-scale approach to achieving forest resilience and community protection in the North Yuba River watershed.
The North Yuba Forest Partnership started in 2018 and focuses on prioritizing, planning, and executing landscape-scale, forest-health projects on 275,000 acres of federal land within the watershed. Made up of nine diverse perspectives and interests, this collaborative group addresses forest health for biodiversity, habitat, clean and abundant water, carbon storage, fire protection, and recreational opportunities.
The SNC has supported this watershed through grants and collaboration before and after the NYFP was established. As a direct example, in March 2020, the SNC Board approved a planning grant for the North Yuba Landscape Resilience Project to advance forest restoration and mitigate wildfire risk in the North Yuba River watershed. Soon after the plans were completed, this 275,000-acre project area was selected by the U.S. Forest Service in 2022 as one of 10 landscapes in its Wildfire Crisis Strategy and is now slated for a federal investment of $160 million.
View detailed tour and meeting information, including agenda items and how to submit a public comment.