On Thursday, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 39 (Laird), a bill that reorganizes the subregions of the Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC) to better facilitate coordination among counties that already share regional strategies and priorities. SNC’s boundaries were expanded in 2021 by Senate Bill 208 (Dahle) to add sections of the Pit watershed and the Trinity, Upper Sacramento, and McCloud watersheds. SB 208 made conforming changes to add Siskiyou and Trinity Counties to the “North Sierra subregion,” and directed SNC to report back to the Legislature on the makeup of its subregions to align with the expansion.
SB 39 is a result of the SNC’s follow-up report, which suggested a realignment of four counties within its region to new subregions to better facilitate existing collaboration between those counties. The bill also includes language from the report that codifies the SNC Governing Board’s commitment to efforts that advance climate resiliency and equity. SNC serves all or part of twenty-four California counties, of which twenty-two are RCRC members.
RCRC’s letter of support is available here. For questions or more information, contact RCRC Senior Policy Advocate, Staci Heaton.