February 26, 2020 - (AUBURN, Calif.) – The Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC) is partnering with the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) to host a Secretary’s Speaker Series focused on the Sierra Nevada region on March 4 at 
the Sierra Nevada Watershed Improvement Program (WIP) Summit in Sacramento, CA. Join Secretary for Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot for an in-depth presentation and discussion of the threats, challenges, and opportunities facing the Sierra Nevada in a changing climate. The Secretary’s Speaker Series will be followed by presentations on the work coming out of the Tahoe-Central Sierra Initiative (TCSI) to create a science-based “Roadmap to Resilience” for that landscape.
The March Speaker Series titled “Stewarding the Sierra Nevada Amidst a Changing Climate” starts at 12:30 p.m. in the CNRA Auditorium located at 1416 9th Street in downtown Sacramento. A panel of diverse experts will delve into the ways climate change is adversely affecting the vital 25-million-acre Sierra Nevada region. Providing more than half the state’s carbon storage, nearly 60 percent of its water supply, and 60 percent of the wildlife species, the Sierra Nevada is essential to the overall environmental and economic health of California.
Experts from the US Forest Service, the Sierra Business Council, the Public Policy Institute of California Water Policy Center, and local government will outline how the Sierra Nevada’s ecology, biodiversity, wildfire trends, and rural economies are currently being impacted. The presenters will also address steps that are being taken to support climate adaptation and improve the environmental, economic, and social well-being of the Sierra Nevada.
Immediately following, representatives of the TCSI, a pilot project that brings together multiple organizations and innovative approaches to increase the pace and scale of forest restoration across the Lake Tahoe Basin and Central Sierra, will introduce a new science-based framework for reaching resilience. The resilience roadmap lays out what it takes to successfully define, assess, plan, and implement resilience restoration efforts. Partners of the TCSI will share how their approach can effectively get much-needed, large-scale work completed. Having a “Roadmap to Resilience” in place can inform how decision makers prioritize work and target investment to achieve resilience across the 2.4 million-acre Tahoe-Central Sierra area and beyond.
The public is encouraged to attend the 2020 WIP Summit featuring the Secretary’s Speaker Series and may register at https://sierranevada.ca.gov/our-board/wipsummit/ The event is expected to run from 12:30 – 4 p.m.
About the Sierra Nevada Conservancy and the Sierra Nevada Watershed Improvement Program
The Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC) is a state agency whose mission is to improve the environmental, economic, and social well-being of the 25-million-acre Sierra Nevada region. The SNC leads the Sierra Nevada Watershed Improvement Program (WIP), a large-scale restoration program designed to restore the health of California’s primary watershed and create resilient Sierra Nevada communities. Additional information about the SNC and the WIP can be found at sierranevada.ca.gov.
Source: SNC
