A. Governmental Partners
1. Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB)*
http://www.web.ca. ~ov/Pages/wcb brief ovcrview.htm
The WCB is a separate and independent Board with authority and funding to carry out an acquisition and development program for wildlife conservation. The WCB’s three main functions are land acquisition, habitat restoration, and development of wildlife oriented public access facilities. These activities are carried out under the following eight programs: Land Acquisition Program, Public Access Program, Habitat Enhancement and Restoration Program, -Inland Wetlands Conservation Program, California Riparian Habitat Conservation Program, -Natural Heritage Preservation Tax Credit Program, Oak Woodlands Conservation Program, and The Rangeland, Grazing Land and Grassland Protection Program.
Currently the County is planning to seek funding from WCB under its Oak Woodlands Conservation Program. Many other opportunities exist.
2. Georgetown Divide Resource Conservation District (RCD) and El Dorado County RCD*
hun ://carcd.or2/wisn/ueorszetoxvn/index.htm
The Georgetown Divide RCD was organized to address resource management problems and promote sound management of natural resources in El Dorado County. It works with landowners on a voluntary basis to promote good stewardship. The RCD is continuously looking to develop partnerships that lead to good resource management and has studied the South Fork of the American River basin and the Upper Cosumnes River basin. The District’s work could he a major source of data for implementation of the OWMP, particularly in the conservation of woodlands in and adjacent to riparian areas.
3. Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) httn ://www.nrcs.usda. gov/ artners/
The NRCS is the federal agency that works hand-in-hand with the American people to conserve natural resources on private lands. Formerly the Soil Conservation Service, NRCS brings 60 years of scientific and technical expertise to the Partnership.
Locally, the El Dorado County and Georgetown Divide Resource Conservation Districts are colocated with the NRCS and are normally the point of contact.
4. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) httn://www.fire.ca. Rov/rsrc-nut.php
The Resource Management Program within CDF has a goal of maintaining the sustainability of natural resources. Several programs under the Resource Management Program can help to protect oak woodlands. The Vegetation Management Program (VMP) is a cost-sharing program that focuses on the use of prescribed fire, and mechanical means, for addressing fire fuel hazards. The VMP allows private landowners to enter into a contract with CDF to use prescribed fire to accomplish a combination of fire protection and resource management goals. The Forest Legacy Program (FLP) is a voluntary program to protect working forests, including oak woodlands. The FLP promotes the use of conservation easements to maintain traditional forest benefits as timber production, wildlife habitat, watershed protection and/or open space. The California Forest Improvement Program (CFIP) is a forestry incentive program whose purpose includes the protection, maintenance, and enhancement of forest resources. The CFIP is a cost-share program that can fund preparation management plans, RPF supervision, oak tree planting, thinning, and pruning activities. While meeting its responsibilities under The Forest Practice Act, CDF is actively involved in timberlands that contain much of the County’s Black Oak population.
5. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) http ://www.blm. ~ov/ca’folsom/
The BLM has a long history of collaborating with communities to manage public lands for multiple uses in three broad categories: commercial activities, recreation, and conservation.
The Folsom Field Office is directly responsible for approximately 230,000 acres of Public Land
scattered throughout fourteen Central California counties from Yuba County (in the north), to
Mariposa County (in the south). Most of the acreage, with the exception of Cosumnes River
Preserve in southern Sacramento County, is within the historic Mother Lode region of the Sierra
Nevada Range.
The Folsom Field Office has completed a Sierra Draft Resource Management Plan (RIVIP) that will guide the management of all public lands under the jurisdiction of the Folsom Field Office for years to come. The RMP contains goals, objectives, and land-use allocations, as well as specific rules and regulations for different activities. It is literally that office’s “blueprint for action.”
The BLM lands along the major rivers and streams of El Dorado County will be critical in developing/maintaining large areas of oak woodlands and the needed linkages. Conservation of blue oak woodland is an objective in the draft RMP.
6. United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service httn://www.fs.fed.us/r5/eldorado/
The Eldorado National Forest (ENF) extends into the eastern boundary of the OWMP planning area. Black oaks are emphasized in the Forest Management Plan as important components of the ecosystem. Opportunities to develop cooperative efforts with the ENF may exist.
7. University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE)* http://ceeldorado.ucdavis.edu/
The Natural Resources Program provides research and education in areas specific to forestry, water and air quality, watershed resources, wildlife, land use issues and range, and oak woodlands management.
The Program’s goal is to promote sound management and conservation of the region’s natural resources, through research, educational activities, and good working relationships with a broad range of people. The main clientele for this position are private landowners; resource management professionals working on private, State, and Federal lands; and other groups such as users of public lands, conservation organizations, and the agriculture and forest products ii:
industries.
The extension service is frequently the source of many of the articles and publications about oak woodlands. Bill Frost, our County Director, has been a major contributor to the scientific knowledge about oaks in our area.
8. City of Placerville
http://ci.ylacerville.ca.us/
The City of Placerville General Plan identifies the retention of tree canopy, which includes oaks, as important. The City currently is contemplating a comprehensive plan for Hangtown Creek, which is a major tributary of Weber Creek. Placerville and the County share land management planning responsibilities for very critical oak woodland along Weber Creek and several other major tributaries of the South Fork of the American River.
9. El Dorado hills Community Service District httn://www.edhcsd.or~/
The El Dorado I hills Community Service District has an extensive network of greenbelts. Opportunities may exist to plant small areas of oaks and to conduct fuels treatment activities within the greenbelts.
10. Cameron Park Community Service District http://www.cameronpark.or2/
Several of the largest preserves in El Dorado County exist within or adjacent to the Cameron Park Community Service District boundary. The preserves support a mixture of chaparral and woodland types. Some opportunities for oak planting or enhancement of existing stands may exist.
11. El Dorado County Agriculture Department*
http://www.co.ei-dorado.ca.us/agtroQrams.html
The Agriculture Department’s mission is to protect, enhance and promote the preservation of agriculture and the environment while sustaining the public health, safety and welfare of all citizens, and to provide consumer and marketplace protections though the fair and equitable enforcement of laws and regulations.
Through other General Plan objectives and policies, the Department can help identify ways to maintain or to establish links between oak stands in agricultural areas.
12. El Dorado County Parks and Recreation*
htty://www.co.el-dorado.ca.us/narks/index.html
The Parks and Recreation Department manages the River Management Plan on the South Fork of the American River. The Plan overlaps important oak woodland corridors along the river. The Department is responsible for the development of regional parks and smaller parks within the County. An objective of the 2004 General Plan includes acquisition and development of regional parks. Opportunities to establish major regional parks may be combined with conservation of major oak woodlands. A new Master Plan for Parks and Recreation should be started in 2007. This new plan should identify the needs and possibly some locations for regional parks.
The Parks and Recreation Department is currently charged with managing the portion of the Sacramento-Placervillc Transportation Corridor (SPTC) that is within the County. The SPTC was purchased by El Dorado County, the County of Sacramento, the Sacramento Regional Transit District, and the City of Folsom under a joint powers agreement in 1996. This agreement
covers a 53-mile corridor of the old Southern Pacific Railroad and stretches from 65 Street in
Sacramento to approximately Ray Lawyer Drive/Forni Road in Placerville. Twenty-eight miles 7 of the corridor within El Dorado County ranges in width from 66 feet to 200 feet. Along the -corridor are excellent examples of oak types in the County. This corridor offers a great core area
that could be widened to 500 feet as feasible and expanded to enhance oak woodland conservation and also help meet the critical needs for regional parks.
14. El Dorado County Department of Transportation* httn://www.co.el-dorado.ca.us/DOT/index.html
General Plan Circulation Element assigns to the Department of Transportation (DOT) the responsibility of coordinating the planning and implementation of roadway improvements to ensure safe movement of people and goods, and to maintain adequate levels of service. The County CJP Program sets forth the plan for delivery of these projects. DOT understands its role as stewards of the environment and intends to be held to the same reasonable standards as other development projects. DOT is seeking compatible opportunities and solutions for preservation and protection of trees and their habitat that will, at the same time, not unreasonably interfere with the use of the streets, street facilities, utilities, or public safety.
15. Sierra Nevada Conservancy*
http://www.sienanevadaconservancy.ca. ~ov/
The Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC) was established as a new Statc agency in 2004 to initiate, encourage, and support efforts that improve the environmental, economic, and social well-being of the Sierra Nevada Region, its communities, and the citizens of California (PRC Sections 333000 et. Seq.). Proposition 84, the Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coast Protection Bond Act of 2006, includes $54 million for the SNC to distribute to eligible organizations for the protection and restoration of rivcrs, lakes and streams, their watersheds and associated land, water, and other natural resources. The SNC offers grants for acquisition and/or site improvement/restoration projects under two programs, the Competitive Grant program and the Strategic Opportunity Grant (SOG) program.
