PFT circulates sign-on letter for climate adaptation
This year, PFT is urging the California Legislature to advance the state’s climate adaptation policy by investing in natural and working lands. These lands are vital in maintaining a healthy and sustainable environment for California and its communities. Natural and working lands sequester millions of tons of carbon and serve as a critical buffer against extreme weather events. However, past management, climate change, and our lack of investment in these landscapes is taking a toll.
PFT is working to build support for a state-level investment of $125 million in climate adaptability through the Coastal Conservancy and the Wildlife Conservation Board. These investments are needed to implement the state’s climate adaptation plan, which will improve Californians’ quality of life by maintaining wildlife habitat connectivity, buffering extreme weather events, protecting our built infrastructure from storms and sea level rise, and ensuring everyone can enjoy California’s world-renowned natural resources.
So far, five California Assemblymembers have signed a letter to the chairs of the Assembly and Senate Budget Committees urging the addition of $125 million in investments for this important climate adaptation work.
Read the letter below or download a PDF.
Senator Holly Mitchell, Chair
Senate Budget Committee
State Capitol Room 5019
Sacramento, CA 95814
Assemblymember Phil Ting, Chair
Assembly Budget Committee
State Capitol, Room 6026
Sacramento, CA 95814
August 25, 2017
RE: $125 Million Climate Adaptation Investment
Dear Chair Mitchell and Chair Ting,
I am writing to request $125 million be made available for projects that prepare California’s natural and working lands for climate change through programs at the California Coastal Conservancy ($25M) and the Wildlife Conservation Board ($100M).
Our natural and working lands are a critical resource to maintaining a healthy, vibrant and sustainable environment for California and its communities. Natural and working lands sequester millions of tons of carbon and serve as a critical buffer against extreme weather events. However, past management, climate change, and our lack of investment in these landscapes is taking a toll. As the impacts of climate change continue to become more severe, it is imperative that we act now to ensure that our natural lands thrive.
Investing in the protection and enhancement of natural and working lands buffers extreme weather events and protects our built infrastructure from storms and sea level rise. Restoring these lands also conserves and improves water quality and habitat for wildlife, maintains wildlife habitat connectivity, and ensures that Californians can continue to enjoy our state’s world renowned natural resources. Each of these benefits help improve Californians’ overall quality of life.
The state has a climate adaptation plan, known as Safeguarding California, but lacks any dedicated funding for implementation. This plan lays out strategies to protect and restore the state’s natural resources, among other things, in the following categories: agriculture, biodiversity and habitat, forests, oceans and coast, and water. Funding these two state programs will help implement the state adaptation strategy.
The proposed program at the Wildlife Conservation Board in particular would work statewide to leverage and integrate investments from other important GGRF programs that are more specifically focused on forests, wetlands, healthy soils, and urban greening, to achieve the goals set forth in Safeguarding California and other state plans. And nearer the coast, the Coastal Conservancy’s Climate Ready program has a successful track record of planning and project implementation grants to adapt to and mitigate sea level rise.
We expect investments in these climate adaptation programs to be complementary and in addition to investments in other critical programs that protect and restore California’s natural resources, including: the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s Healthy Forests Program, Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Wetlands Restoration Program, and Department of Food and Agriculture’s Healthy Soils Program. These programs also provide important climate benefits and should continue to receive funding from cap-and-trade auction revenues.
We cannot afford to continue to overlook our natural and working lands in this cap-and-trade expenditure plan discussion. We must invest in them now to ensure resilience in the face of climate pressures, for the ongoing health, protection, and enjoyment of all Californians.
Sincerely,
Jim Wood, AD 2
Monique Limón, AD 37
Bill Quirk, AD 20
Marc Levine, AD 10
Todd Gloria, AD 78
Mark Stone, AD 29
Al Muratsuchi, AD 66
Ash Kalra, AD 27
Cc: Assemblymember Richard Bloom, Chair, Assembly Budget Subcommittee 3
Senator Bob Wieckowski, Chair, Senate Budget Subcommittee 2