Valerie Cassity
Special to the Sun

On Friday, Dec. 19, the Sierra Nevada Conservancy unexpectedly announced that all grants would be frozen until further notice due to the State budget crisis. Just two weeks earlier, on Dec. 4, local groups were excited by the news that the Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC) awarded more than $2.6 million in grants to a variety of non-profit organizations and federal agencies throughout the Sierras, including funding two projects in Kern County. Local grantee included the Kern River Valley Heritage Foundation and Mojave Desert-Mountain Resource Conservation and Development Council.

The SNC initiates, encourages, and supports efforts that improve the environmental, economic and social well-being of the Sierra Nevada Region, its communities, and the citizens of California. It is a State agency within the Resources Agency created by bi-partisan legislation, co-authored by Assembly members John Laird and Tim Leslie, and signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger in September 2004. Thanks to Proposition 84, the Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coast Protection Bond Act of 2006, which California voters passed, SNC received $54 million to allocate in grant funding for 2007-2010. It is this funding which has been frozen due to state budget constraints. Grants should resume once California is once again fiscally solvent, but the SNC is uncertain when that might be. “We just don’t know what’s going to happen,” said an SNC representative.

The projects that were to be funded are both beneficial to the Kern Valley, and those involved in the project remain hopeful that the funds will become available soon so that the SNC can honor their grants. Kern River Valley Heritage Foundation was awarded $71,000 for their Bob Powers Gateway Preserve Strategic Plan, whose purpose is to provide a road map for the protection, development, management and operation of the Bob Powers Gateway Preserve, located at the highly visible southeast corner of the intersection of Freeway 178 and Highway 155. Since its acquisition in 2001, development of the Preserve has been relatively straight-forward consisting of biological inventories, maintenance, fencing and adding native plants, with no general public access. The Strategic Plan will provide a framework that assures the integrity of the wetlands as the Preserve transitions to its role as a resource available to the public; integrating the vision, planning, development, management and operation of the Preserve. It will take into consideration the history of the Preserve as well as its present condition and contemplated improvements, such as the creation of a nature trail, wildlife garden and visitor/interpretive center. Future functions such as outreach and educational activities, interface with wetland, and other properties in the vicinity are to be included in the plan, as well. The plan will include conceptual plans for the nature trail, wildlife garden and the visitor/interpretive center, as well as a Stewardship Strategy, identifying the tasks necessary for the long-term stewardship of the Preserve, which will contain things such as the type and frequency of habitat surveys and a strategy for monitoring and evaluating those water resources.

Mojave Desert-Mountain Resource Conservation and Development Council was awarded $75,200 for their Sand Canyon Environmental Education Program (SEEP) to expand and enhance the existing environmental education program by purchasing and replacing equipment, developing bags of outreach materials for classroom use, and developing a more expansive web site so that others may learn about the program and replicate it in their own communities. SEEP, which has been operating successfully for the past 14 years, provides classroom and field environmental education programs for fourth and fifth grade students in the Indian Wells Valley and surrounding communities. Coordinating with Sierra Sands School Unified School District, all materials are developed to support and meet the school curriculum framework. The program is also available to private schools, charter schools, and home school students, and reaches 400-500 students each year. Over 1,000 hours of volunteer time are contributed to the program annually, and SEEP receives about $10,000 in funding from the School District and the Indian Wells Valley Water District each year, which helps to support the program for ongoing needs, and approximately $30,000 in community support through in –kind services from public agencies, organizations, and the local Maturango Museum.

SNC goals include providing increased opportunities for tourism and recreation; protecting, conserving, and restoring the region’s physical, cultural, archaeological, historical, and living resources; aiding in the preservation of working landscapes; reducing the risk of natural disasters, such as wildfires; protecting and improving water and air quality; assisting the regional economy through the operation of the Conservancy’s program; and undertaking efforts to enhance public use and enjoyment of lands owned by the public.

The conservancy, which runs through the entire Sierra Nevada mountain range, encompasses 25 million acres divided into six subregions and supports 212 communities with more than 600,000 residents. Kern Valley is located at the southern tip of the Conservancy boundary in the South Sierra region, which includes Fresno, Inyo, Tulare, and Kern Counties. The SNC is governed by a 16 member Board of Directors with 13 voting members, consisting of three gubernatorial appointees, two cabinet members, two legislative appointees, one County Supervisor for each of the six districts, and the three non-voting members include a representative each from the National Park Service, US Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management.