Biodiversity Programs Highlight Governor's Natural Resources Budget for 1997-98

Governor Wilson's 1997-98 Natural Resources Budget, building on California's nationally recognized leadership in ecosystem management, proposes nearly $33 million in new initiatives to protect and enhance biodiversity on the Pacific coast and in key watersheds and to advance habitat planning under the Natural Community Conservation Planning (NCCP) program.

Coastal Initiative - $12.9 million
Funding and policy proposals under the Governor's Coastal Initiative will help to improve public access to the coast, move ahead on plans for a 1,100-mile Coastal Trail for walking and hiking, help local governments prepare and implement Local Coastal Plans, enhance coastal wetlands and specific beaches, improve coastal water quality, and expand the use of information technology in coastal planning, management, and permitting.
The initiative is intended to help fulfill the vision for the coast that led to voter-passed Proposition 20 in 1972 and the California Coastal Act in 1976. The measure funds programs under the State Coastal Conservancy, California Coastal Commission, San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, Department of Boating and Waterways, San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), State Water Resources Control Board, and CERES.

Watershed Initiative - $3.8 million
In keeping with California's transition to environmental improvement on a watershed scale, rather than the conventional project-by-project and species-by-species approaches, the Governor's Watershed Initiative calls for more comprehensive and effective prescriptions that can also save time and money for landowners, permit holders, local governments, and the state.

To mitigate adverse environmental impacts in key watersheds, the initiative will integrate water quality monitoring, setting of standards, permitting and inspection, non-point source management. groundwater protection, and other programs that promote more efficient use of personnel and funding resources.

The measure provides funding for the Departments of Fish and Game, Conservation, Forestry and Fire Protection , and State Water Resources Control Board. Activities include inter-agency watershed management teams, grants for local resource conservation districts and habitat restoration, technical assistance for community based watershed groups, and greater community involvement in water quality control plans.

Natural Community Conservation Planning (NCCP) - $16 million
Governor Wilson's NCCP program is the nation's leading effort at comprehensive ecosystem planning.

Additional funding for NCCP will advance habitat planning across 6,000 square miles of Southern California in five counties: Orange, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Los Angeles.

Specifically, the budget proposes:

-- $6.4 million to acquire coastal sage scrub and other habitat for NCCP plans,
-- $5 million for the State Coastal Conservancy to acquire and restore coastal wetland and watershed habitat for the San Diego Multiple Species Conservation Plan (MSCP), a component of NCCP;
-- $3 million for the State Coastal Conservancy to acquire land along the Otay River and create a new river parkway to help implement the MSCP in San Diego, and
-- $1.6 million for the Department of Fish and Game to assist local governments in establishing and implementing local NCCP plans.

(Visit the Resources Agency's web site on CERES for more details at http://ceres.ca.gov/cra/)

Read it again at http://ceres.ca.gov/biodiv/newsletter/v4n3/