CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF RESOURCE CONSERVATION CONSERVATION DISTRICTS

Representing Resource Conservation Districts in the counties of:  
Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, and Tulare

Officers: Terry Sandridge, Chairman - Neil McDougald, Vice Chairman 
 Jeannie Habben, Secretary - Toby Horst, Treasurer - Tom Wheeler, Facilitator

California Association of  Resource Conservation Districts 
San Joaquin Valley Region
Fall 2011 Meeting

Please bring a raffle item

to support the region

Date:                 Friday, October 21, 2011 

Location:          Farm Advisor’s Office, 1031 South Mt. Vernon, Bakersfield, 93307  

THE MEETING WILL BEGIN PROMPTLY AT 9:00 a.m. - REFRESHMENTS PROVIDED

8:30 a.m.           Please arrive early to register and purchase raffle tickets- LUNCH $15.00 

9:00 a.m.           WELCOME

                        Hosted by:  North West Kern Resource Conservation District

                                           Terry Sandridge, Regional Chairperson

                                            Neil McDougald, Vice Chairperson

                                            Tom Wheeler, Facilitator

Pledge of Allegiance, Agenda review,   Minutes review, Roll call, Public Comment, Correspondence

                        Treasurer’s Report                       

9:30 a.m.          Holly King

                        High Speed Rail  

10:00 a.m.         Dan York – The Wildlands Conservancy

                        Windwolves Preserve and its educational impact on our youth 

10:30 a.m.          AGENCY REPORTS

                        Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS )

                        Department of Conservation (DOC)                       

11:00 a.m.          Regional Speak-Off Competition

                        2011 Topic:

“What can RCDs do to help bridge sustainable conservation practices with food safety practices?”

12:00 p.m.                    LUNCH - $15.00

12:30 p.m.        Brian Hockett – North West Kern Resource Conservation District

                        Mobile Lab 

1:15 p.m.          RCD Reports 

3:00 p.m.          ADJOURN  

           Please RSVP to Jeannie Habben

(559)642-3263 or info@cfwatershed.org

By October 17, 2011

Representing Resource Conservation Districts in the counties of:  
Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, and Tulare

Minutes: May 13, 2011 
Hosted by: Chowchilla - Red Top Resource Conservation District
At
Farnesi’s Steakhouse

The meeting was called to order at 9:00 a.m. by Tom Wheeler, who acted as facilitator of the meeting at the request of the directors of the Chowchilla - Red Top RCD.  Tom led the Pledge of Allegiance. 

Motion was made to approve the agenda by Jack Fry, second by Sharon Boyce.

Motion made to approve the minutes of the last meeting by Norman Kuhr, second Cathy Weber.

Roll call, in attendance: Chowchilla –Red Top RCD, Coarsegold RCD, Sierra RCD, East Merced RCD. 

Chairperson Report - As a new Chairman has yet to be seated, Tom reviewed obligations of the office and made a call for nominations for Regional Chairperson and Secretary.  A motion was made by Sandra Faust to nominate Jeannie Habben for the office of Secretary, which she accepted, second by Cathy Weber.  Motion was made by Toby to nominate Terry Sandridge for Regional Chairperson, who accepted the nomination, second by Jack and approved by all.  

Coarsegold RCD will be hosting their annual Dinner Dance and Auction on May 21, 2011.

Town Hall meeting with Congressman Jeff Denham will be held at the Oakhurst Community Center May 19, 2011 at 6:00p.m. 

Natural Resources Conservation Service, Curtis Tarver - while funding may be getting tighter it is still possible to get conservation projects on the ground by working closely with your district conservationist, building new partnerships, fully utilizing existing partnerships and tapping into new and alternate resources such as the NRCS Earth Team Volunteers. Ed Burton will be touring field offices throughout the state as part of an initiative to get field office staff back in the field doing planning with private land owners and operators. As a result of budget cuts the Resource Conservation and Development program has been defunded.

The Yosemite Sequoia RC & D, Central Sierra RC & D and High Sierra RC & D offices will be closed. The NRCS partnership with the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians has created the second Tribal Conservation District in California. The North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians is working on becoming the third. 

Department of Conservation, Jenny Di Stefano – The Proposition 84 Watershed Coordinator Grant Program is in contract development.  You will hear from your grant coordinator soon. A consolidation primer is being prepared to assist RCD’s if they are considering consolidation. A benefits survey is being conducted among RCD employees to gather information that will be compiled to produce a primer for RCDs to use when creating their own benefits programs.  The Watershed Portal is now available on the DOC website and they would like your contributions and feedback. Please take a look. The state budget crisis is making it more important than ever for the RCD’s to tell their stories to keep support strong. Get the word out, at all levels, about the good work you are doing, including your legislators and the media. 

Treasurers’ Report, Toby Horst – Current reports were distributed (attached).  Toby requested that James RCD and Grassland RCD be given an “inactive” status as dues have not been paid in three years. Motion to accept the report by Nancy Beaver, second by Terry Sandridge. 

Kole Upton Sr., Director, Chowchilla Water District and Chairman, Friant Water Users Authority gave a terrific talk that included a brief history of the San Joaquin River and anecdotes about his dealing with other agencies and the courts as the river restoration project has progressed. Kole also spoke about the high speed rail and efforts to implement the Coordination Process which provides the tools to resolve issues created by Federal and State government encroachment into local agency jurisdiction. He encouraged everyone to actively take interest in the High Speed Rail project regardless of your proximity to the proposed corridors.  

Tom Wheri, CARCD Board President – CARCD’s primary initiative for 2012 will be outreach to the local districts and their directors. With a 50/50 agreement from NRCS Tom will be visiting each RCD in the state. CARCD wants input from the agricultural community so Tom will be working to arrange meetings with the central valley districts.  A 15 person policy group has been organized to provide legislative information and get feedback from the local districts.   

Karen Buhr, Executive Director CARCD – Karen, the CARCD Board and the new policy committee need input from this area. They want to know what issues and needs you think should be address so that the

RCD’s and CARCD can remain relevant. The CARCD State Conference will be held in Stockton, November, 9-12, and the theme will be “The RCD’s Roll in Statewide Issues, The Bay Delta Example”. This year the meetings proximity to Sacramento will bring focus to the districts roll in statewide issues.  There will plenty of training available on a range of topics.  Scholarships will be available.

The state priority to move state government functions back to the local level may have an impact on RCD’s. Three immediate possible impacts to note:

1)      An accountability and review committee was established by the State Assembly to review Special districts.  Three proposals were made as a result of the committees work:

a) Any Special Districts that receive tax funding, that funding they receive would be pulled back and given              to the county for distribution.

b) Any reserve funds amassed by any special district will be pulled back into the state coffers to help balance the state budget.

c) Special districts would be consolidated with other, not necessarily similar in objective, districts.

      These proposals were not passed this year but could be on the table in the future.

2)  California Forward is a nonprofit that is also looking at moving state government back to the local level.     Their initial work does not appear to consider the RCD’s in the redistribution process.

3)  The Bell scandal has resulted in many new regulations to improve transparency that may prove to be a        burden to the operations of many districts.

Many efforts are being made by CARCD to “tell the story” of the great work being done by RCD’s on every level and to make tools and opportunities available for every RCD to get their own story out. 

Meghan Hartel, and Laura Jensen, Migratory Bird Conservation Partnership, Audubon California – Wish to work with agricultural producers who would like to explore the tools and resources available for establishing migratory bird habitat on ag land, particularly forage crops. Workshops will be held in June in Los Banos and Woodland or they can be reached at mhertel@audubon.org, and (916) 471-8935. 

Edgar De Jager, owner Double DJ Farms – Edgar spoke about innovative methods and equipment they are employing to minimize fresh water use in their dairy operation and in crop production, and how their waste water is fully utilized before being applied on their crops.  Later he led us on a tour of an Arrundo impacted waterway adjacent to his fields and we had an opportunity to see some of their water saving practices in action.  The meeting was adjourned from the dairy.

Prepared by Mira Dick