To: Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, Board of Directors of Sonoma County Water Agency, Board of Directors of Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District
Department or Agency Name(s): County Administrator’s Office, Sonoma County Regional Parks, Sonoma County Water Agency, Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space
Staff Name and Phone Number: Yvonne Shu 565-1739
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Delegation of Authority for Obtaining and Managing Grant Assistance Provided by the State of California’s State Coastal Conservancy Forest Health and Wildfire Resilience Program.
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Recommended Action:
Recommended action
A) Adopt a concurrent resolution authorizing the Director and/or Deputy Director of Sonoma County Regional Parks, the General Manager and/or Assistant General Manager of the Sonoma County Water Agency, and the General Manager and/or Assistant General Manager of the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District to, among other actions, take all necessary steps to obtain grant funding from the State of California’s State Coastal Conservancy Forest Health and Wildfire Resilience Program, including entering into required funding agreements and related instruments in form approved by County Counsel, and
B) Authorize the General Manager and/or Assistant General Manager of the Sonoma County Water Agency to negotiate and execute subagreements in total amount not to exceed $306,000, contingent upon Sonoma Water receipt of the subject grant funds, compliance with applicable procurement process for each subagreement and/or contract, and approval of each subagreement and/or contract by County Counsel as to form.
C) Authorize the Director and/or Deputy Director of Sonoma County Regional Parks to negotiate and execute subagreements in total amount not to exceed $365,650, contingent upon County receipt of the subject grant funds, compliance with applicable procurement process for each subagreement and/or contract, and approval each subagreement and/or contract by County Counsel as to form.
D) Make exemption determinations under the California Environmental Quality Act and authorize the filing of Notices of Exemption as to several of the subject projects.
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Executive Summary:
The State Coastal Conservancy’s Forest Health and Wildfire Resilience Program supports projects that improve forest health and reduce the risk of catastrophic fire in areas where people are living near wildlands. Sonoma County Regional Parks is slated to receive $196,650 for the creation of shaded fuel breaks at Shiloh Ranch Regional Park, and $149,000 for the expansion of grazing infrastructure at Taylor Mountain Regional Park. Sonoma County Water Agency (Sonoma Water) is slated to receive $277,166 for hazardous fuels reduction at Spring Lake Regional Park. Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District (Ag + Open Space) is set to receive $661,250 for the creation of shaded fuels breaks and understory thinning at Saddle Mountain. The proposed concurrent resolution would authorize the remaining steps necessary to obtain the grant funding for the related projects and delegate authority to Sonoma Water and Regional Parks to execute and procure contracts for the work to be funded by the grants.
Discussion:
The Coastal Conservancy’s Forest Health and Wildfire Resilience Program supports projects that improve forest health and reduce the risk of catastrophic fire in areas where people are living near wildlands. Funding for this program came from a block grant from the Department of Conservation’s Regional Fire and Forest Health Capacity Program, the California Climate Initiative Program, Proposition 68 and Proposition 84.
The application period in April 2021 was open for just three weeks in order to encourage near-term implementation of projects. In order to preserve eligibility for the funds, Regional Parks, Sonoma Water, and Ag + Open Space filed applications for their respective projects. Those applications have already been reviewed and approved by the State Coastal Conservancy.
Regional Parks Projects
Sonoma County Regional Parks was approved to receive $196,650 for the creation of shaded fuel breaks at Shiloh Ranch Regional Park, and $149,000 for the expansion of grazing infrastructure at Taylor Mountain Regional Park. At Shiloh Ranch, the funding will enable a total of 50 acres and five miles of trail corridor to be treated with hand tools. Work on each trail is estimated to take two to four weeks to complete. Regional Parks will be contributing $20,000 to the effort.
At the recently acquired, 54-acre Cooper Creek addition to Taylor Mountain Regional Park, Regional Parks will install 6,000 feet of fencing and develop water delivery and storage to expand cattle grazing. Prescribed grazing is one of the most cost-effective tools for long-term management of annual grasses, control of which is critical due to Taylor Mountains’ location to residential neighborhoods. Regional Parks will install the grazing infrastructure in Fall 2021, in anticipation of the return of cattle to the park in early 2022.
The projects involve small-scale management of existing landscape and minor alterations to the land and do not involve removal of healthy, mature, scenic trees or other features. Other areas of the parks are already subject to similar vegetation management practices, grazing, and fencing. The projects also are necessary for public life, safety and health, to mitigate wildfire risks in fire-prone areas close to heavily-populated residential and urban areas, said wildfire risks only being exacerbated by existing drought and climate change conditions. As such, the projects are categorically exempt under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), including pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15301 (existing facilities), 15304 (minor alterations), and 15269 (emergency projects).
Sonoma County Water Agency Project
Sonoma Water, in coordination with Regional Parks, will reduce hazardous fuels around Spring Lake Regional Park. Hand crews will trim, remove ladder fuels, and chip on site, and targeted grazing and mowing will also be implemented. The grant funds of $277,166 will support 12 months of work. Sonoma Water will contribute $28,834 to the effort.
The project involves small-scale management of existing landscape and minor alterations to the land and does not involve removal of healthy, mature, scenic trees or other features. Other areas of Spring Lake Regional Park are already subject to similar vegetation management practices and grazing. The project is necessary for the protection of life, safety and public health, to mitigate wildfire risks in a fire-prone area close to heavily-populated residential and urban areas. These wildfire risks are presently being exacerbated by existing drought and climate change conditions. The project is categorically exempt under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), including pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15301 (existing facilities), 15304 (minor alterations), and 15269 (emergency projects).
Ag + Open Space Project
Ag + Open Space was approved to receive $661,250 for the creation of shaded fuels breaks and understory thinning at the Saddle Mountain Open Space Preserve, which was left by the 2020 Glass Fire with extensive standing dead material in the forest understory and surviving but encroaching Douglas-fir saplings. The grant funding will help to establish a roughly one-mile long shaded fuel break along an existing preserve road and to help complete understory thinning on approximately 40 acres of oak woodland and mixed hardwood forest. The shaded fuel break has been planned in coordination with Cal Fire and follows a road used for emergency personnel access; the shaded fuel break will also be used as a control line for future prescribed burns and will ensure safer access and defensibility during wildfire events. Ag + Open Space will contribute $115,000 to the project.
The project is fully addressed in and part of the management plan for the Saddle Mountain property, and as such is covered by the plan’s previously- adopted mitigated negative declaration (MND).
Prior Board Actions:
Fiscal Summary
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
Offsetting revenue and expenditure appropriations for these projects will be appropriated by the departments and agencies in conjunction with the County Administrator Office’s budget team as part of the FY 2021-22 first quarter consolidated budget adjustment process.
Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
None
Attachments:
1 - Coastal Conservancy resolution
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None