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February 2009
California Oak Report
"[W]e cannot afford to ignore even modest contributions to global warming. If global warming is the result of cumulative contributions of myriad sources, any one modest in itself, is there not a danger of losing the forest by closing our eyes to the felling of the individual tree?" [Center for Biological Diversity v. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (US Ninth Circuit Court, 2007)]
State Confirms Oak Woodlands Carbon Law
Since the adoption of the California Forest Protocol by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) on October 25, 2007, COF has stated in California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) public comments that the conversion of oak woodlands to non-forest use requires analysis and proportional mitigation for carbon biological emissions. Now, the State of California is preparing to officially codify COF’s legal view. On January 8, 2009 the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) released draft regulatory guidance regarding analysis and mitigation for the potential effects of greenhouse gas emissions. OPR corroborates that analysis-mitigation of carbon biological emissions due to oak woodlands conversion and the CARB Forest Protocol are integral to CEQA review.
Although COF is gratified that the OPR findings confirm our CEQA carbon dioxide (CO2) perspective, the support is superfluous. The fact is CEQA review only requires substantial evidence of a potentially significant environmental effect and a science-based methodology to measure that impact. Scientific studies, passage of Assembly Bill 32 (2006) and adoption by the California Air Resources Board (2007) of the California Climate Action Registry Forest Protocol (2005) are all the CO2 science, fact and law necessary for CEQA review.
Two projects where COF has raised oak woodland CO2 emissions issues are currently the subject of CEQA lawsuits filed by local organizations, Rockville Trail Estates in Solano County and Santa Margarita Ranch in San Luis Obispo County. Alone, the failure of these projects to meaningfully analyze or mitigate substantiated oak woodland CO2 emission impacts bodes ill for them in court.
There is not currently or will there ever be a CEQA alternative to Forest Protocol methodology. COF’s web site has an explanation of how to apply the Protocol for CEQA purposes at Oaks, CEQA, Carbon Dioxide and Climate Change.
Draft CEQA Guideline Amendments for Greenhouse Gas Emissions
CEQA Guidelines Appendix G
Environmental Checklist Form
EVALUATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
II. AGRICULTURE AND FOREST RESOURCES ... In determining whether impacts to forest resources, including timberland, are significant environmental effects, lead agencies may refer to information compiled by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection regarding the state’s inventory of forest land, including the Forest and Range Assessment Project and the Forest Legacy Assessment project; and the forest carbon measurement methodology provided in the Forest Protocols adopted by the California Air Resources Board. Would the project:
c) Conflict with existing zoning for, or cause rezoning of, forest land (as defined in Public Resources Code section 12220(g)) or timberland (as defined in Public Resources Code section 4526)?
d) Result in the loss of forest land or conversion of forest land to non-forest use?
e) Involve other changes in the existing environment which, due to their location or nature, could result in conversion of Farmland to non-agricultural use or conversion of forest land to non-forest use?
Carbon Significance Thresholds & Mitigation
In the future CARB may or may not set a numerical threshold for project carbon biological emissions. If a standard is set it will be very low. This is a product of oak’s ability to both store atmospheric carbon and release CO2 back into the atmosphere when killed. Thus two CO2 biological emission impacts must be considered for CEQA review. Additionally, CEQA significant oak woodland biological effects are the sum of carbon emission impacts and wildlife habitat impacts. This intrinsic duality is the focal point of CEQA oak woodlands biological analysis and mitigation.
COF contends that for CEQA oak woodlands mitigation, retaining on-site woodlands or the planting of oaks are invalid CO2 biological emission mitigation measures. Here’s why:
The XYZ project site contains 30,000 native trees (400 acres), of which 10,000 trees (100 acres) will be removed for development.
1. The 20,000 retained trees (300 acres) won't start growing any faster, so they contribute zero toward mitigating for the CO2 that would've been stored had the 10,000 impacted trees (100 acres) lived.
2. Planting mitigation oaks contributes negligible CO2 mitigation because they don't begin to sequester significant carbon for at least 20 years, longer for slow growing Blue oak. This means oak mitigation planting contributes zero mitigation for carbon biological emissions in the Assembly Bill 32 short-term (2020/2050) and their a long-term (Forest Protocol 100-year) ability to store CO2 is greatly exceeded by the amount of carbon that would've been sequestered by the 10,000 impacted trees over the same 100-year period.
3. On-site woodland retention and planting oaks contribute negligible mitigation for CO2 biological emissions associated with the disposal of 10,000 dead trees.
4. Once the carbon math is complete, by a process of elimination off-site mitigation of equivalent oak woodlands is the lone feasible and proportional mitigation measure available for XYZ. Moreover, because each XYZ impacted tree has a distinct carbon value and a distinct habitat value, only off-site mitigation "replacement" of at least 100 acres with similar trees can meaningfully mitigate these dual adverse biological effects. Any alternative oak woodland mitigation proposals will discover how technically arduous it can become trying to comply with/reconcile local standards or Public Resources Code §21083.4 (SB 1334) and the Forest Protocol.
Scholarly Oak Woodland Stewards
Nearly 2,800 acres of largely oak woodlands in the San Rafael Wilderness Area foothills will be protected permanently with the finalization of a conservation easement on the Midland School property, Santa Ynez Valley. The Trust for Public Land, Land Trust for Santa Barbara County and Midland have been seeking state grants and local donations to establish an enduring conservation strategy for the school property.
Midland School is a coeducational, college preparatory boarding school for grades 9-12 which combines rigorous academics with intensive immersion in the environment.
"Placing a conservation easement on Midland's property is consistent with the original precepts on which the school was founded back in 1932, including environmental protection and education," said Nick Alexander, President of the Midland Board of Trustees." At Midland, we teach our students the value of scholarship, self-reliance, simplicity and environmental stewardship, all of which instill a sense of responsibility to self, to others, and to our world," he added.
The conservation easement was purchased with contributions from the Wildlife Conservation Board’s Oak Woodland Conservation Fund and the California Transportation Commission's Environmental Enhancement and Mitigation Program (EEMP). Approximately 80 percent of the land being preserved through the conservation easement are blue, coast live and valley oak woodlands. The EEMP funds were approved to help mitigate oak removals that occurred when the Highway 101/154 Interchange was constructed in 2000.
Merchandise
Grandmother Oak, a young children’s story book by Rosi Dagit, a certified arborist and technical advisor to the California Oak Foundation, and illustrated by Gretta Allison. Grandmother Oak lives near Los Angeles in Topanga State Park. Thousands of school children meet her each year as part of the park education program. Proceeds from this book provide funding to plant Grandmother Oak’s acorns in Topanga State Park. Twenty-two pages soft back. $6.95 ($6.26 members) plus sales tax, shipping and handling.
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