To: Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): Sonoma County Regional Parks
Staff Name and Phone Number: Jen Stanfield, 707-806-7696
Vote Requirement: 4/5th
Supervisorial District(s): First
Title:
Title
Sonoma Land Trust Grant Award
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Recommended Action:
Recommended action
A) Adopt a resolution authorizing the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors to accept grant awards from the Sonoma Land Trust in the amount of $118,000 to complete planning work under CALFIRE’s Fire Prevention Grant and authorizing the Director and/or Deputy Director to execute all documents necessary to carry out and administer the grant.
B) Adopt a resolution authorizing budgetary adjustments to the Fiscal Year 2022/23 adopted budget to increase grant revenue and expenditure appropriations in the amount of $42,000 in support of the first year of work under CALFIRE’s Fire Prevention Grant. (4/5th Vote Required)
C) Find the proposed planning work under CALFIRE’s Fire Prevention Grant program is exempt from CEQA under Title 14, Sections 15262 and 15306 of the California Code of Regulations.
(4/5th Vote Required) (First District)
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Executive Summary:
Sonoma County Regional Parks (Regional Parks) is seeking funding to conduct vegetation management planning for ecosystem resilience, fire hazard reduction, and climate adaptation at Hood Mountain Regional Park and Open Space Preserve. Grant funding from CALFIRE via Sonoma Land Trust to Regional Parks ($118,000) would fund a planning effort for 2 years and would produce vegetation management recommendations for use in perpetuity.
Discussion:
In the wake of the October 2017 fires, six different land-owning organizations in the Sonoma Valley area (Regional Parks, Ag + Open Space, California State Parks, Sonoma Land Trust, Sonoma Mountain Ranch Preservation Foundation, and Audubon Canyon Ranch) formed the Sonoma Valley Wildlands Collaborative (the Collaborative) to build landscape resilience by coordinating land management across parcel boundaries. One of the outcomes of this collaboration was the successful application by Sonoma Land Trust to CALFIRE’s Fire Prevention Grant Program for just under $1 million to implement fuels reduction, fire prevention, and planning in the Sonoma Valley area on lands owned by the Collaborative entities. Goals of the project include:
1. Reducing wildfire risks to life and property within the wildland-urban interface along the Hwy 12 corridor in the Sonoma Valley;
2. Increasing ecosystem resilience to wildfire, improving forest health, preserving ecosystem values and supporting landscape adaptation to climate change;
3. Build local capacity to manage and maintain fuel reduction efforts in partnership with CALFIRE’s LNU through a replicable model for public-private collaboration that addresses fire and vegetation management on a landscape scale.
Regional Parks is requesting the Board’s approval of grants from Sonoma Land Trust as sub-awards resulting from the successful grant from CALFIRE. The sub-award amount to Regional Parks is $118,000 of the total $934,286 grant from CALFIRE.
The Collaborative has met over several years and identified projects to reduce the risk of future wildfire. The Collaborative is already working closely with CALFIRE’s Sonoma Lake Napa Unit (LNU) to develop a cooperative multi-phase strategy that supports key elements of both the Strategic Fire Plan for California (2016) and the LNU’s Strategic Fire Management Plan (2017). In 2019, this collaboration resulted in the first ever prescribed fire in the history of Sonoma County Regional Parks and basic wildland firefighter training for Regional Parks staff.
The Collaborative has successfully received and expended similar grant awards. Acceptance and expenditure of a grant sub-award from CALFIRE via the Sonoma Land Trust was approved by the Board of Supervisors on August 20, 2019. That grant funded implementation of fuel reduction projects at North Sonoma Mountain, Sonoma Valley, and Hood Mountain Regional Parks.
Based on community feedback at various stakeholder meetings, this type of landscape-level coordination and treatment is exactly the type of work that Sonoma County residents support. In addition, the work will be done in alignment with the Sonoma County Climate Resilient Lands Strategy, which was developed through extensive technical, stakeholder, and public input.
Vegetation management planning is anticipated to begin as early as March 2023. Grant-funded planning activities will not interrupt ongoing operations of Hood Mountain Regional Park & Open Space Preserve. The grant funds will not be used to conduct any vegetation management activities.
The proposed planning work is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to the CEQA Guidelines at California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Sections 15262, which exempts feasibility and planning studies for possible future actions from the requirement to prepare an Environmental Impact Report or negative declaration, and 15306, which exempts from CEQA basic data collection, research, and resource evaluation activities that will not disturb environmental resources. The proposed project consists of planning activities, feasibility research and analysis, and the development of recommendations for potential future action, none of which will impact any environmental resources. Through acceptance of the grant and development of the plan the County is not committing to any course of action, and in particular, the County is not committed to approving or funding any subsequent vegetation management activities. .
Regional Parks owns and operates park lands throughout Sonoma County and conducts ongoing vegetation management as well as episodic or one-time vegetation treatments as needed at all park properties. This grant award focuses on a park within Supervisorial District 1, which was impacted by the 2017 Nuns Fire and 2020 Glass Fire; however similar activities will occur throughout Sonoma County and the Regional Park system.
Strategic Plan:
N/A
Prior Board Actions:
December 11, 2018 - The Board of Supervisors approved the Recovery and Resiliency Framework (Agenda Item #61) which addresses natural resources as one of five key strategic areas. Projects on Regional Parks properties resulting from this grant directly address priority actions within this key strategic area.
August 20, 2019 - The Board of Supervisors approved a sub-award agreement between SLT, Regional Parks, and the Ag + Open Space District to accept CALFIRE grant funds for fuel reduction and planning in Sonoma Valley.
Fiscal Summary
|
Expenditures |
FY 22-23 Adopted |
FY23-24 Projected |
FY 24-25 Projected |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
|
76,000 |
|
|
Additional Appropriation Requested |
42,000 |
|
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Total Expenditures |
42,000 |
76,000 |
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Funding Sources |
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General Fund/WA GF |
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State/Federal |
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|
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Fees/Other |
42,000 |
76,000 |
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Use of Fund Balance |
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Contingencies |
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Total Sources |
42,000 |
76,000 |
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Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
This item will increase revenue and expenditure appropriations by $42,000 for activities related to this grant. The remaining balance of the grant, $76,000, will be included as part of the Regional Parks FY 2023-24 annual budget submission.
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Staffing Impacts: |
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Position Title (Payroll Classification) |
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step) |
Additions (Number) |
Deletions (Number) |
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Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
None
Attachments:
Resolution
Budget Resolution
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None