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November 2008
California Oak Report
Sign of the Times
Reprinted below is a recent Sacramento Bee article regarding the latest tribulations of the infamous Bickford Ranch project, Placer County. Bickford’s financial troubles are currently shared by developers and developments statewide. The price of raw land is plummeting as developers dump their speculative holdings at fire sale prices to gain expiring tax write-offs. Many approved developments are seeking five to ten-year extensions for development agreements.
In 2002 and 2004 California Oak Foundation, Sierra Club and Audubon Society joined forces in bringing successful legal actions against Bickford, resulting in a $6.05 million mitigation payment to the California Wildlife Foundation for the purchase of Placer County oak woodlands.
Bickford Ranch was a seminal battleground in the ongoing effort to achieve for Sierra Nevada oak woodlands the ecological deference this natural resource has always deserved. In retrospect, the go-go development period that Bickford spent engaged in legal proceedings turned out to be the difference between project success and failure:
Bickford Ranch Crashes in Bankruptcy Court
In a vivid example of the Wall Street financial crisis hitting home, development plans for a Placer County golf course community called Bickford Ranch crashed Friday in federal bankruptcy court. Bickford Ranch, a 1,942-acre residential project in the Sierra foothills between Penryn and Lincoln, collapsed after its sole source of cash - Wall Street investment bank Lehman Brothers - imploded in September, developers said.
The community, long controversial for its potential impact on its rural foothills setting, was a partnership between Lehman Brothers and Irvine land development giant SunCal Companies. SunCal spokesman David Soyka said Friday that without Lehman's money, SunCal Bickford Ranch LLC can't finish infrastructure work or even maintain the property.
The project, initiated by Miami-based Lennar Communities, won county approval in 2001. But it was stalled for years by lawsuits. Environmental groups argued that the location on pastureland and ridges violated the county general plan, which called for preserving oak woodlands.
In 2004, a Placer Superior Court judge agreed. Later that year, the developers resubmitted their plans. Then environmentalists sued again. Eventually, the SunCal partnership, which bought the property in 2005, paid $6 million to preserve oak woodlands elsewhere in Placer County to settle the lawsuit. Though developers initially expected the first residents would move in 2006, neither the golf course nor any homes have been built.
Note: To date, more than 2,000 acres have been saved by Placer Land Trust working with CWF, the United Auburn Indian Community, and Placer County.
SunCal attorneys said the project will go forward eventually. The Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, they said, helps find a new investor. Bickford Ranch, however, was the development firm's fourth related bankruptcy filing in California. All involved partnerships with Lehman Brothers, which armed SunCal with $2.2 billion to develop properties throughout California and Nevada.
The Carbon Breakfast Club
It’s early morning in Yolo County, and eight or so locals, some in cowboy hats, who look like they should be out riding the range, are instead situated around a conference table, eating bagels and drinking coffee. Meet the Carbon Breakfast Club - a group of ranchers, researchers, regulators and environmentalists led in part by Vance Russell of Audubon California’s Landowner Stewardship Program. Though their livelihoods and concerns are diverse, all at the meeting have one thing in common: they want to know how California’s native grasslands and oak woodlands might play a role in the fight against global warming.
The Carbon Breakfast Club is trying to determine the economic, scientific and practical viability of using rangeland in Yolo and elsewhere for carbon sequestration. Carbon sequestration is an effort to mitigate global warming by capturing CO2 emissions from power plants, cars, and other sources and storing them instead of releasing the gasses into the atmosphere. Trees and plants perform the absorption of CO2 naturally, and traditionally, carbon sequestration has been focused on forests, which are known for their large absorption capacities.
In Yolo and surrounding counties, the Landowner Stewardship Program and the ranchers are examining the potential carbon sequestration of native grasslands and oak woodlands.
"It may seem an odd group to assemble to combat global warming," says Russell. "But the truth is, climate change is going to affect all of us, rangeland covers one-third of the earth’s land mass. It’s critical for us to find cooperative solutions, and carbon sequestration is one of them."
Ranchers are essential partners in this initiative because they own such large parcels of land in California. Both above and below ground, their ranches could be extremely valuable in carbon sequestration programs. Currently, no such program exists, but the Landowner Stewardship Program hopes to change that by creating a system in which ranchers would be able to register their land with the California Climate Action Registry then trade carbon in an open market.
Carbon sequestration has financial incentives for ranchers to participate in the program. Using a cap-and-trade model (which will likely be implemented in California in the coming years), ranchers would be able to diversify their income by participating in carbon sequestration, and selling carbon credits. Simultaneously, development could be avoided, and conservation of wildlife and habitat achieved.
Merchandise
Oak Woodland Community Poster, Good Nature Publishing, illustrated by Suzanne Duranceau, depicting oak woodland habitats and some of the more than 300 species that rely on oaks for food and shelter. Full color, 24” x 18”, $12.00/$10.80 for members, plus tax, shipping and handling.
California Oak Foundation Membership
A thoughtful gift that lasts far longer than the holidays -- easy to arrange for those across the miles. A card is sent announcing your gift which supports COF’s efforts to protect and perpetuate native oak woodlands. Membership levels: Acorn -- $25, Seedling -- $50, Sapling -- $75, Heritage Oak -- $100, Oak Grove -- $250, Oak Woodland -- $500 and Quercus -- $1,000.
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