From: Chang, David
Sent: Monday, December 03, 2007 11:21 AM
Subject: [SBCWMA News] December 2007
SBCWMA
News December
2007
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News
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Notice of Hearing to Adopt Amendments
to the County’s CEQA Guidelines
A hearing to adopt by resolution the necessary amendment to Santa Barbara
County’s CEQA Guidelines and Environmental Thresholds documents to
effectuate a Beneficial Ecological Restoration Project definition and habitat
replacement requirements [07-01104], will be held on Tuesday December 4, 2007
in the Board of Supervisor’s Hearing Room, County Administration
Building, 105 E. Anapamu St, Santa Barbara.
The amendment seeks to ensure that restoration projects, particularly small
projects can successfully be implemented and to avoid current experience where
the permitting process exceeds the level of the project and thus results in
less interest by property owners, agencies and interest groups to do beneficial
restoration projects. The intent is to provide the definition and criteria for
beneficial restoration projects within the County Guidelines for the
Implementation of CEQA. Beneficial restoration projects are those
projects where habitat restoration is the primary purpose of the project, and
where there are no significant, unmitigated adverse impacts on biological
resources.
Tashina Simon, agricultural biologist with the County of Santa Barbara
Agricultural Commissioner's Office, found a new species of aphid, Sipha maydis,
during an inspection of a native plants nursery. This species was not previously known to
occur in North America, thus making this find the first record of this species
on our continent. They have been given a Q rating. The Agricultural
Commissioner's Office is tracking down the source of the aphids and whether
infested hosts of wild rye (Leymus condensatus) have been transplanted elsewhere in the
county. The aphids are very striking with dark, shiny bodies covered with
tiny hairs which make them look kind of like tiny hedgehogs. Please
report any findings of this species to the Agricultural Commissioner's Office
at (805) 681-5600.
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Grant Opportunity
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Wildlife Conservation Board Ecosystem
Restoration on Agricultural Lands (ERAL)
The Wildlife
Conservation Board (WCB) has funding for grants specific to Ecosystem
Restoration on Agricultural Lands (ERAL). Under Proposition 84 the WCB received
$5 million dollars to “Assist Farmers in Integrating Agricultural
Activities with Ecosystem Restoration and Wildlife Protection.”
The following statement references some of the
principles that were applied in developing the guidelines. Agricultural lands
function as habitat for a wide array of wildlife species in California,
representing significant natural landscapes and in many cases providing
important wildlife corridors and linkages with protected habitat areas. Many
members of the farming community have a deep connection with the natural
attributes of their land and are interested in maintaining and enhancing these
habitat values in conjunction with the sustained operations of their
farms. Their challenge, however, may be a lack in capital or expertise to
enhance and restore these habitat areas. The funding provided under ERAL will
be for those farmers interested in enhancing or restoring portions of their
land for habitat in ways that co-exist and potentially complement the continued
operations of their farms.
If you have questions regarding WCB funding matters contact Dave Means,
Wildlife Conservation Board
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Volunteer Opportunity
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Volunteer to Control Weeds on Santa Cruz Island
Channel Islands Restoration is seeking volunteers to control invasive weeds and
trees on Santa Cruz Island. Two trips are scheduled for December: Friday
December 7 – Monday December 11 and Friday December 14 - Monday December
17. Volunteers stay at the University of California Reserve Field
Station. Please contact volunteer coordinator Cindy Kimmick
ckimmick@library.ucla.edu
to sign up or to ask any questions. For more information, visit http://www.channelislandsrestoration.com/sci/index.htm.
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Educational Opportunity
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Sedgwick Public Hikes
The next in a series of monthly interpretative hikes on the beautiful Sedgwick Reserve
in the Santa Ynez Valley will be held on Saturday, December 8 at
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Acknowledgement
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This newsletter is compiled from various sources, including
emails I receive from people who are involved in the invasive weed field, and
from listserves. I modify the emails, but sometimes they are inserted
here nearly verbatim. I thank those people for this information and for
their devotion to protecting and conserving habitat. If you recognize
something that you wrote and object to its use here or on my website, contact
me and I will promptly remove it from my website.
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Sincerely,
David Chang
Agricultural
Commissioner's Office
County of
Santa Barbara
(805)
681-5600
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