"The addition of these agencies to the council broadens our scope to include a wider range of protective, regulatory, and conservation activities," said Council Chairman and California's Secretary for Resources Douglas P. Wheeler. "The presence and work of these agencies contributes to integrated management of ecosystems and to sustainability."
Joining the council are Felicia Marcus, regional administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Michael Fisher, executive director of the California Coastal Conservancy, James Strock, secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA), Peter Douglas, executive director of the California Coastal Commission, Denny Fenn, western regional director of the National Biological Service, James van Loben Sels, director of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), Charles Imbrecht, chairman of the California Energy Commission, John D. Morgan, associate director for information and analysis, U.S. Bureau of Mines, and John Conomos, acting regional director of the U.S. Geological Survey.
The council was created in 1991 under a memorandum of understanding signed by 10 state and federal land and resources agencies and the University of California. They pledged to cooperate, communicate, and foster regional efforts to promote biodiversity conservation. Later, the council added 16 members, including statewide regional associations of county supervisors, the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts, (CARCD), and additional federal and state agencies.
The mission of the member agencies is to voluntarily work together as local, state, and federal partners to conserve biodiversity in concert with natural ecosystem boundaries, and to cultivate appropriate and compatible economic development.
"We need not sacrifice the jobs and the well-being of California families to sustain and enhance our natural resources," Wheeler said. "These are compatible goals if carried out in the right way, and the council is devoted to realizing them."
New Executive Committee
At its Dec. 9, 1994, meeting in San Diego, the council created a nine-member executive
committee empowered to conduct administrative business, recommend
policy, and perform other assigned duties. The committee will meet eight times a
year, at each of the council's quarterly two-day meetings, and once between
meetings.
The executive committee, composed of senior level representatives of nine council member-agencies, will take on some duties of the liaison committee arranging meetings, working with watershed and grassroots groups, helping to prepare the budget, and assisting in expanding links with the California Environmental Resources Evaluation System (CERES), the state's innovative electronic data and information system. The council has a "home page" on CERES (pronounced "series") that informs users of the electronic data system about its purpose and activities, and is assisting in establishing home pages on CERES for local watershed groups.
The executive committee is composed of one member each from the Resources Agency, Departments of Fish and Game, and Forestry and Fire Protection, Bureau of Land Management, USDA Forest Service; two representatives of local government, and two from any of the council agencies at-large. Committee members will select a chair to serve for one year.
The four representatives of state and federal agencies will serve staggered terms to ensure smoother transition. All signatories to the council will be encouraged to participate on the executive committee.
Council Activities
The council is responsible for a number of activities, including its newsletter,
the quarterly California Biodiversity News, operation of a "help desk" to answer questions, and sponsoring local group forums at council meetings to discuss needs of
watershed, landscape, and bioregional groups. The council also conducts workshops for regional
managers and local agency staff to communicate the
council's purpose and activities. The workshops are to help managers coordinate local activities
on a regional scale, select and prioritize regional projects, and identify lead agency contacts; and
to help local agency staff focus on long-term objectives, encourage planning and ecosystem
management.