The VTAC Committee: developing guidance for an alternative regulatory pathway to the anadromous salmonid protection rules
This article is part of a larger document. View the larger document here.Abstract
In recent decades, riparian protection standards have been guided by generalized prescriptive rules. With the passage of the Anadromous Salmonid Protection rules in 2009, the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (Board) established a regulatory pathway that provides an alternative approach for riparian protection based on site-specific criteria (14 CCR § 916.9 [936.9, 956.9](v)). This new pathway seeks to promote more immediate (short-term) responses to active riparian management practices that might not otherwise occur under the more prescriptive rule protocols. This approach requires consideration of both watershedscale limiting factors (in other words, context assessment) and site-based factors to lead to a modified riparian management design that provides benefits to the aquatic environment. It is the Board’s intent that allowing site-specific plans will create an economic incentive for landowners to engage in active management and restoration activities in riparian areas. The implementation of this new approach is being overseen by the Anadromous Salmonid Protection Rule Section V Technical Advisory Committee (VTAC), composed of members from academia, the timber industry, professional consulting firms, and the public. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) appointed this committee in October 2010. The VTAC is seeking to establish principles, guidelines, and procedures to guide landowners in the use of this new rule section. The VTAC is focusing on: (a) broadening incentives, and (b) developing permitting efficiencies that properly balance the risks of negative impacts with the potential benefits to listed salmonid species. In short, one goal of the VTAC is to reduce the regulatory barriers that might otherwise prevent landowners from engaging in active management and restorative actions in riparian areas. The VTAC will use multiple pilot projects identified by landowners in both the Coast Ranges of California and the interior part of the state to demonstrate active riparian management, with potential implementation in 2011. These pilot projects include a range of desired objectives, including increasing large wood loading, promoting increased biotic diversity, reducing catastrophic wildfire risk, and accelerating conifer tree growth.