The Honorable Phil Ting The Honorable Nancy Skinner Chair, Assembly Budget Committee Chair, Senate Budget Committee State Capitol, Room 6026 State Capitol, Room 5094 Sacramento, CA 95814 Sacramento, CA 95814

The Honorable Richard Bloom The Honorable Bob Wieckowski Chair, Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 3 Chair, Senate Budget Subcommittee No. 2 State Capitol, Room 2003 State Capitol, Room 4085 Sacramento, CA 95814 Sacramento, CA 95814

Re: Resource Conservation District Capacity Budget Request

Dear Chairs Ting, Skinner, Bloom and Wiecowski:

We write to request funding in the amount of $5 million per year for two years, to build the capacity and effectiveness of Resource Conservation Districts (RCDs) in California. This funding will increase the pace and scale of critical fire prevention and drought preparedness work at the local level. The requested appropriation would fund the RCD Financial Assistance Program (FAP) at the Department of Conservation (DOC). As the drought took hold and worsened in the first half of the last decade and climate change began to seriously degrade the state’s natural resources, RCDs were recognized for their ability to implement projects on private and public lands to conserve and improve the health of California’s natural resources. RCDs conduct forest stewardship and fuels management, enhance wildlife habitat, conserve agricultural lands and help farmers and ranchers understand irrigation management, protect and enhance water quality, plan, manage and restore watersheds, and provide conservation education and more. Most RCDs in California operate on razor thin budgets, covering basic needs like rent with the minimal amount of administrative funding available from grants. Accordingly, the 2016 budget appropriated $2.5 million to the DOC to provide financial assistance to enhance RCD capacity.

A total of $2.3 million was awarded in grants to 59 qualified RCDs, who then leveraged that $2.3 million into an additional $52.7 million, of which $20 million came from non-state sources with $12 million in federal dollars, $3 million of local funding, and $4 million of private money. The ROI to the state was 770%. In addition, RCDs leveraged $32.8 million from other state programs that were more effectively implemented as RCDs had the capacity to develop the most impactful projects in their district. California is once again facing extreme drought, after just experiencing the worst wildfire year on record, battling the realities of climate change, while emerging from the pandemic. Our State is blessed with a significant operating surplus and will appropriately spend billions of dollars to mitigate these issues. The federal government is also allocating resources to the state to address these needs. RCDs were created to be the local liaison between the state and federal government and their position in the community and relationships with landowners could not be more critical to ensuring both state and federal funding is leveraged with other resources and spent as effectively as possible. To do so, RCDs need the capacity funding that the FAP provides. The FAP is an existing program, and the DOC has the staff and experience to quickly get these dollars into the hands of RCDs so they can maximize the state’s return on investment. The increased dollar amount will enable capacity funding to additional RCDs as well as increase the grant amount so that RCDs can realize a greater return on investment. Conservation districts can be found in 39 states. California is one of eight states, and the only state on the West Coast, that does not provide operations funding to RCDs. In order to meet the state’s goals for wildfire prevention, drought preparedness, and climate resilience, we should prioritize building the capacity and operations of our Resource Conservation Districts and fund them accordingly. Sincerely,

Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry Senator Brian Dahle California State Assembly, District 4 California State Senate, District 1

Assemblymember Megan Dahle, Assemblymember Kevin Mullin, California State Assembly, District 1 California State Assembly, District 22

Assemblymember Marc Berman, Assemblymember Robert Rivas,

California State Assembly, District 24 California State Assembly, District 30

Assemblymember Jim Wood, Senator John Laird California State Assembly, District 2 California State Senate, District 17

Senator Henry Stern, Assemblymember Mark Stone, California State Senate, District 27 California State Assembly, District 29

Assemblymember James Gallagher, Assemblymember Jordan Cunningham, California State Assembly, District 3 California State Assembly, District 35

Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, Senator Monique Limón, California State Assembly, District 44 California State Senate, District 19

Senator Brian Jones, California State Senate, District 38