LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution expressing support for the proposed Berryessa Snow Mountain National Conservation Area.

Supervisor Denise Rushing took the resolution to the board.

“There are multiple reasons to do this,” Rushing said, adding that she believed there were economic and environmental benefits for the area.

The area includes 321,000 acres of federal public lands stretching from Lake Berryessa north into the Mendocino National Forest, according to Sara Husby, executive director of the Woodland-based conservation group Tuleyome.

Of the proposed National Conservation Area’s acreage, 248,971 acres are within Lake County. Of the four counties in which the area would be located – Yolo, Napa, Mendocino and Lake – Lake has the most territory in the area, Husby said.

Husby said the National Conservation Area designation would help with the formation of a cohesive management plan among the federal agencies involved with overseeing the land. That site specific plan would be created with the help of a public advisory committee.

She said the designation is meant to preserve, protect and restore the land, noting that lands within the area have scientific, historical, ecological and recreational uses. Husby suggested that the new area could help draw visitors.

Tuleyome currently is working with Congressman Mike Thompson on a bill to support forming the area, Husby said.

Board Chair Rob Brown said he had concerns about the project but felt they were all addressed after he met with Husby and other Tuleyome staff last week.

Rich Burns, the field director for the Ukiah office of the Bureau of Land Management, also was on hand for the presentation. Brown credited Burns for being accessible. “Your involvement in this speaks a lot to my decision,” Brown said.

Rushing said there are a number of threats posed to the region, including illegal marijuana grows, unmanaged recreation, invasive species, water pollution and fires.

Supervisor Jim Comstock brought up issues about hunting, which Husby said wouldn’t be affected.

During public comment, Lake County Sierra Club Chair Ed Robey told the board, “The Sierra Club’s been supportive of this project for a number of years and we strongly encourage the board to support it, too.”

With Lake County encompassing most of the land in the proposed area, “We’re in a leadership position just because of that,” said Robey.

Lower Lake resident Victoria Brandon said she has been working on the issue since 2007, and noted the effort was launched in 2008 at the Brick Hall in Lower Lake.

“It’s something that’s going to be good for all of us,” she said.

But concerns for private property rights caused the Lake County Association of Realtors Legislative Committee to vote unanimously to oppose the designation, said member Bob Dutcher.

He was concerned about private owners become landlocked due to not being able to build new roads and the potential to have salvage logging after wildland fires reduced.

“Abandoned land is dangerous land,” he said, adding that there isn’t a more neglected area of the county than the Snow Mountain Wilderness Area.

Burns said Dutcher raised good concerns. He said the National Conservation Area proposal would not be as restrictive as Dutcher suggested.

Rushing believed that cross agency planning could help deal with issues like drug cartels growing on the public lands. Wildlife is being harmed, she said, pointing out that steelhead are dying due to water diversions.

“We have to do something about it,” she said.

Comstock asked about salvage logging after wildland fires. Burns said the U.S. Forest Service could still conduct salvage logging sales.

Equestrian use also is important, with groups like the Back Country Horsemen and Lake County Horsemen wanting to make sure the lands stayed open for public use while marijuana gardens were addressed.

Both Husby and Burns credited those groups for being great stewards of the land, with Burns adding that during a recent cleanup at marijuana sites in the forest the groups packed out refuse and materials. “We couldn’t have done it without them.”

The board approved the resolution 5-0 after adding the words “as it applies to Lake County.”

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