Breakout Sessions

"Celebrating Resilient Landscapes and Adaptive Communities"

Please note that the agenda is still evolving. Below is a preview of presentations in 20+ breakout sessions.

Additional breakout sessions and details will be announced soon.

 

 

Forests and Fires

California Forest Health Update
Tom Smith, CAL FIRE

Lemons into Lemonade: Wildfires as an Opportunity to Serve Our Communities 
Valerie Quinto, Sonoma RCD

Post-fire Bird Occupancy on a State Demonstration Forest
Anastasia Stanish, CAL FIRE

Fire Recovery and Adaption: A Small District's Story

Jamie L. Whiteford and Alexcia Bellinger, Ventura County RCD

Working with Nature Following Wildfire

Rich Casale, NRCS

Addressing Tree Mortality in the Wildland Urban Interface

Amanda Watson, Amador RCD

Developing Resilient Landscapes and Assisting Communities through Fire Safe Councils Following Wildfire

Sheryl Landrum & Don Butz, Greater San Diego County RCD

Forming a countywide Fire Safe Council

Lisa Lurie, RCD of Santa Cruz County

NativeTrees and Urban Spaces: Recent findings from Sacramento’s Urban Forest 
Zarah Wyly, Sacramento Tree Foundation

Forming California Initiative to Reduce Carbon and Limit Emissions (CIRCLE) Program

Brian Robey, Inland Empire RCD

Transformative Working Lands

Business Case Studies of Regenerative Ranching Success
Kevin Watt, TomKat Ranch Educational Foundation

Carbon Farming in San Diego County
Chandra Richards, RCD of Greater San Diego County

ACRCD's Rangeland Resilience Project
Ian Howell, Alameda RCD

Landscape Scale Collaborations Cultivating Resilient and Vibrant Regions in California
Kellyx Nelson, San Mateo RCD

Rancher to Rancher, A Network for Ranchers: 4J Horse & Livestock Company on the Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve – An Example from San Diego County
Kent Reeved and John Austel, Rancher to Rancher (R2R)

ENGAGING, COLLABORATING, AND DESIGNING FOR REGIONAL HABITAT CONNECTIVITY: The Santa Monica-Sierra Madre Mountains Habitat Linkage
Clark Stevens, Santa Monica Mountains RCD

Building Partnerships for Birds, Water and Conservation Success: Working with American Bird
Rex Dufour, NCAT & Sam Earnshaw, Hedgerow Farms

Building Partnerships for Birds, Water and Conservation Success: Working with American Bird Conservancy, NRCS, and RCDs
Rachel Smith, American Bird Conservancy

Water

Let’s Build a 2 Million Acre Foot Reservoir in California…Underfoot
Sara Tiffany and Rich Collins, Community Alliance of Family Farmers

Colusa-Glenn Subwatershed Program
Kandi Manhart, Glenn County RCD

Sustainable Groundwater Management: Challenge to Opportunity
Ann Hayden and Anna Schiller, Environmental Defense Fund


Partnerships & Programs

Advancing the Efficiency and Sustainability of Regional Conservation and Development Planning across California
Dennis Grossman, CA Strategic Growth Council

Scaling up Statewide BMP Adoption and Farmland Protection via Local Collaboration
Justin Bodell, American Farmland Trust

Implementing Transformative Working Lands Solutions: a Legacy of Generations
Jenny Di Stefano & Bruce Gwynne, CA Department of Conservation, Division of Land Resource Protection

Regional Conservation Investment Strategies
Ron Unger, CA Department of Fish and Wildlife

Methods to Build Climate Resilient and Adaptive Communities
Robert Horowitz, CalRecycle


Urban Community Adaptation

NativeTrees and Urban Spaces: Recent findings from Sacramento’s Urban Forest 
Zarah Wyly, Sacramento Tree Foundation


Forming California Initiative to Reduce Carbon and Limit Emissions (CIRCLE) Program

Brian Robey, Inland Empire RCD

Evolution of Riverside’s Dynamic Local Food and Ag Movement
Diana Ruiz, Riverside-Corona RCD 

Farm Bill and Urban Agriculture
Alyson Aquino & Hilary Phillips, NRCS

Partnering with an Urban Community Farm to Expand RCD & NRCS Outreach
Susie Kirschner & Lucia Ceja, Inland Empire RCD

Conservation Tools

Tactics for Efficient Agriculture Outreach Targeting Small and Midsize Operations

Miguel Garcia, Coachella Valley RCD & Inland Empire RCD

Helping Communities and Resource Management using Citizen Science
Erin Snyder & Erika Presley, Riverside-Corona RCD

Collecting, Managing, and Reporting Environmental Data
Brandon Jones, Wildnote

Practical Tools and Guidelines to Assist Growers with Water and Nitrogen Use
Sacha Lozano, Santa Cruz RCD

RCD Project Tracker: Elevating Efficiency and Storytelling for ALL Districts
Brittany Jensen, Gold Ridge RCD, & Mandy Parkes, Inland Empire RCD, & Devin Best, Upper Salinas-Las Tablas RCD

Sacramento River Watershed Data Program: Providing Technical Assistance to Support Collaborative Restoration and Management Activities throughout the Sacramento River Watershed
Holly Jorgensen, Sacramento River Watershed Program & Amye Osti, 34 North

 

RCDs - Behind the Curtain

Getting to Know Big Brother
Sheryl Landrum, Greater San Diego County RCD & Keene Simmonds, LAFCO

Special Districts Website Best Practices (including new section 508)
Sloane Dell'Orto, Streamline

Basics of the Brown Act
Steve Anderson, BB&K Law

Recent Developments and Issues Concerning Conflicts in Government Contracting: Government Code Section 1090

Gary Schons, BB&K Law