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Plan approved to protect El Dorado County oak woodlands
By Cathy Locke - clocke@sacbee.com
Last Updated 1:55 pm PDT Thursday, May 8, 2008
A plan to protect oak woodlands in El Dorado County while allowing property owners to remove trees to develop their land has been approved by the Board of Supervisors.
The oak woodland management plan, the subject of numerous workshops and hearings over the past two years, allows landowners to take advantage of a fee option available under the 2004 general plan, the county's blueprint for growth.
Until now, property owners had the choice of compensating for tree removal by planting trees elsewhere on the property or at another site.
With the oak woodland management plan in place, they have the alternative of paying a fee toward the purchase of conservation easements to preserve oak woodlands elsewhere in the county.
The management plan identifies priority conservation areas where easements might be purchased from willing landowners. It also establishes a $4,700-per-acre fee to cover the costs of acquiring, monitoring and maintaining the conservation easements.
The board voted 4-1 on Tuesday to approve the plan, noting that it will be incorporated in a more comprehensive integrated natural resources management plan yet to be developed.
Supervisor Ron Briggs dissented.
"I think the plan is a good plan," he said, "but my fear is that we're taking it out of sequence with the (integrated natural resources management plan)."
Planner Peter Maurer said the oak woodland plan addresses one aspect of natural resources that could be affected by development in the county. Developers also have to compensate for projects' effects on other resources such as rare plants and red-legged frog habitat, he said.
Supervisor Norma Santiago said the oak woodland management plan is a mitigation strategy.
"This is just a small piece of a bigger picture," she said.
Some critics of the plan have questioned whether the fee is adequate to cover the cost of conservation easements.
Maurer said the plan calls for annual review of the fee schedule. If the county were not acquiring enough land, he said, the board would need to raise the fee. If the county were collecting too much money, the fee would be reduced.
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