Sierra Nevada Resource Conservation and Development Councils Celebrate Collaborative Successes and Opportunities with Sierra Nevada Conservancy

Published on Sep 25, 2008 - 8:19:37 PM

By: Natural Resources Conservation Service

DAVIS, Calif., Sept. 25 2008 - Today the RC&Ds in the Sierra Nevada celebrated their recent collaborations with the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, totaling $272,252 in community assistance projects. The projects capitalize on the unique natural resource strengths of small rural communities in the Sierra Nevada and seek to translate these into sustainable economic opportunities as well.

The celebration is part of the nationwide Resource Conservation and Development Council Week (September 21-27, 2008) highlighting the achievements of the 375 Councils across the Nation engaged in similar pursuits and projects. National RC&D Week coincides with the anniversary of the Food and Agriculture Act of 1962, which established the Resource Conservation and Development Program that is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS).

California's Sierra Nevada Coalition of RC&Ds has spent the past year developing outreach materials to showcase the opportunities available to communities throughout the region. These materials --- a video DVD and booklet --- were presented today to Jim Branham, Executive Officer for the Sierra Nevada Conservancy. Ed Burton, State Conservationist for the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service in California which oversees RC&Ds, made the presentation. Also attending the presentation were Joan Smith Freeman, President of the National Association of RC&D Councils, and Bob Pickard, President of the California Association of RC&D Councils.

The seven collaborative projects, funded by the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, include:

-- Improving small communities' ability to fight fires by producing the Inventory and Geographic Reference of Firefighting Water Resources in Yuba County, a project that will use GPS to assist five fire districts to locate and inventory water sources in their jurisdiction

-- Distribution of the "Welcome to the Foothills" booklets for Mariposa, Madera and Fresno counties, and creating the Tulare County version

-- Producing videos for California Amer-Asian Resource Education (C.A.R.E.) to help share resource conservation information with the southeast Asian communities that utilize the Sierra Nevada for hunting, fishing and recreating

-- Central Sierra Smart Growth Conference that will explore the concepts of Smart Growth, emphasize positive impacts, and make the connection to concept implementation in our local rural communities, which will be held October 9 and 10 in Tuolumne

-- Putting on Agri/Nature Tourism workshops for Fresno and Tulare counties, to help small business developments maintain the working landscapes by keeping agricultural producers on the land caring for the watersheds

-- Calaveras Healthy Impact Product Solutions Project (CHIPS), for developing local business solutions to access and utilize small diameter wood and underbrush from private and public lands in northwestern Calaveras County

-- Sierra Nevada Alliance Yard & Garden Grant will work with homeowners on plans to address erosion and runoff; offer advice on irrigation efficiency; promote use of native plants for water and fire considerations; and landscape for wildlife benefits.

The just-published booklet, "Resource Conservation & Development Councils in the Sierra Nevada: A Great American Success Story," released today, focuses on watershed health, market-based conservation, and agriculture tourism and recreation. The booklet's companion piece is a 13-minute video highlighting other conservation-related successes, entitled "Sierra Nevada Coalition of RC&D Councils."

Both the booklet and video are available by contacting Kay Joy Barge at (530) 823-5687, ex. 115, or one of the RC&Ds listed above. For additional information on the RC&D program, contact Jim Kocsis, USDA-NRCS California RC&D Program Manager, at (530) 792-5605. The booklet and video were produced by USDA-NRCS.

Those interested in learning more can also contact any of the participating RC&Ds in the Sierra Nevada Coalition of RC&D Councils. These Include the Central Sacramento Valley RC&D (Orland); Central Sierra RC&D (Jackson); Desert Mountain RC&D (Ridgecrest); High Sierra RC&D (Auburn); North-Cal Neva RC&D (Alturas); Ore-Cal RC&D (Tulelake); San Joaquin Valley RC&D (Fresno); and Yosemite/Sequoia RC&D (North Fork).

To view RC&D success stories online, go to the California NRCS Web site: http://www.ca.nrcs.usda.gov/news/stories/.

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