On November 19th, the CBC and the California State Association of Counties held their first joint meeting in Pasadena. Panels moderated by Mike McCoy (UC Davis Information Center for the Environment) and Bob Braitman (Braitman Associates) examined the history of California’s environmental programs and outlined contemporary thinking about early collaborative engagement of all sectors of government in the planning process.

The bare facts of planning without collaboration were easily seen in statistics presented by Mike McCoy of filings under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). From 1982 and to mid–1999 California had 1,992 agencies leading review of 93,516 projects to the production of over 250,000 documents to 80 state agencies.

Tom Mullen, Riverside County Supervisor, then explained the Riverside County Integrated Project. It differs substantially from the single project review models of the past; it plans for the entire Western portion of the County and its growth, transportation, and environmental needs for the next 20 years. This bold plan accommodates three million residents while setting aside 153,000 acres of private property protecting over 140 plants and animals.

Ron Rempel, Deputy Director, Department of Fish and Game, gave credit to the local leadership and political will at all levels that was needed to craft such a plan. Janet Fairbanks, Sr. Environmental Planner, San Diego Association of Governments, lent more than a decade of experience with the San Diego Multi–Species Habitat Conservation Programs to the panel. She discussed the critical nature of leadership, partnership, commitment, and education in shaping enduring and successful collaborative planning.

Margaret Sohagi, Fox and Sohagi, closed the panel presentations with a review of how CEQA still needed to be woven into large scale, long term, collaborative plans. She stressed that even though CEQA is a legal instrument, its greatest strength is realized when people use it to set out facilitation and mediation of differences over projects and their possible impacts.

Mary Nichols, Resources Agency Secretary, led a lively discussion that found active participation from county supervisors and CBC members interested in everything from funding planning to reviewing the science of comprehensive plans.

Bob Braitman opened his panel by explaining Local Agency Formation Commissions (LAFCO) and their role in coordinating local government. These little known bodies exist in each California county and consist of elected city and county officials who represent their jurisdiction in this area–wide governing body. LAFCOs have the legal authority to set city and Special Use District boundaries and are thus an excellent venue for forming planning collaboratives. Bob was joined by Steve Bennett, Ventura County Supervisor, who represented the forward looking urban boundary approach his county has taken towards planning for growth while protecting resources.

Tal Finney, Acting Director of the Governor's Office of Planning and Research and Terry Roberts, Director of the State Clearinghouse, reviewed the hopes for more vigorous LAFCO leadership in response to California's planning challenges. Roberta McGashan, mayor of Citrus Heights, stressed the importance of LAFCO in organizing and consolidating existing County population nodes into incorporated cities in order to provide services, develop infrastructure, and protect open space and the environment.

Mike Pool, Bureau of Land Management State Director, closed the session, encouraging the audience to use what they had learned to engage each other in cooperative, collaborative plans so that the body of the whole might do what any individual unit of government might not accomplish.

Trip to the Angeles National Forest

For the first day of the meeting in Pasadena, Council members and staff were treated with a trip up the San Gabriel Canyon in the Angeles National Forest. Staff from the Forest as well as the City of Azusa, the California Environmental Project, and Congressman Dreir’s office were on hand to discuss urban/wildland interface lessons for community planning and collaboration, in order to protect natural and recreational resources.

At right, Forest Supervisor Jody Cook, talks about the intense impacts of the Curve and Williams fires on the Forest as well as the need for pro–active planning. “It is so important to plan for open space up front,” says Jody. “As California’s population grows, you will eventually be the backyard.”

The Angeles accounts for 24 percent of the land base of Los Angeles County and 72 percent of the open space in the County. However, due to the steep slopes in the foothills, only four percent of the Forest is accessible for recreation. An average high–visitation day in summer will reach 30,000 visitors to the forest per day.

Through the years, the Forest has worked creatively with city, county, and regional groups to make it a fun and available place for recreation. From creating the Adventure Pass program to deploying “EcoTeams” from the California Environmental Project, the Angeles has a lot to offer in the way of unique solutions to the astonishing population pressure of southern California.