Business Meeting

AGENDA

Business Meeting
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Conference Room 175
925 L Street, Sacramento, CA

The Commission will consider agenda items I-VI at approximately 12:30 p.m. The precise time will vary depending upon the testimony of witnesses and will be determined at the discretion of the chair. Members of the public will have an opportunity to make comments about Commission agenda items during the meeting.

1. Business Meeting Minutes from October 27, 2016
    
2. Request from Joint Legislative Audit Committee Chair
    
3. Outreach/Implementation
    
4. Bond Oversight – Draft Report
    
5. Subcommittee Reports and Project Selection
    
6. Reports from the State Auditor’s Office 

PUBLIC NOTICE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 12, 2017

For Additional Information Contact:
Carole D’Elia, Executive Director
(916) 445-2125

Notice of Meeting

On Thursday, January 26, 2017, the Little Hoover Commission will conduct a public hearing on forest management in response to the tree mortality crisis that has killed 102 million trees in California. The hearing will begin at 9:30 a.m. in Room 437 of the State Capitol in Sacramento.

At the hearing, the Commission will first hear from a fire ecologist at the University of California, Berkeley. He will provide an overview of the tree die-offs and their impact, an assessment of California’s forest management policies and an analysis of best practices in forest policy that California could potentially implement. Next, the Commission will hear from a panel of state representatives that includes the director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), the director of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), deputy secretary for climate policy for the California Environmental Protection Agency, the director of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), and the executive officer for the Sierra Nevada Conservancy. They will discuss the role of their organization in responding to the tree mortality crisis, including coordinating with a diverse array of stakeholders, prioritizing threats to public safety and identifying funding opportunities. They also will discuss their work to create healthy and resilient forests and ecosystems that can survive future disease, insects and other threats. Finally the executive director for the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts will discuss the impacts of the tree mortality crisis and larger climate change issues on the districts and what her members hope to see from the state, both in the short-term response to the tree die-offs and in longer-term forest management.

There will be an opportunity for public comment at the end of the hearing. Public comments will be limited to three minutes per person. The Commission also encourages written comments.

Immediately following the hearing, the Commission will hold a business meeting in conference room 175 on the first floor of 925 L Street in Sacramento, California.

All public notices for meetings are on the Commission’s website, www.lhc.ca.gov. If you need reasonable accommodation due to a disability, please contact Commission Executive Director Carole D’Elia at (916) 445-2125 or littlehoover@lhc.ca.gov by Thursday, January 19, 2017.