Description
The CSRC&D Council was established in 1997 and designated by the United States Secretary of Agriculture as the Central Sierra RC&D Area in February 1998. The CSRC&D reorganized as a nonprofit corporation with a revised council membership in 2003. The reorganized Council has member organizations from the California Counties of Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Tuolumne, and Mono (Nothern). The CSRC&D was accepted into the Circle of Diamonds in 2008. National Association of Resource Conservation & Development Council's Circle of Diamond designation exemplifies public accountability.
Area Description
The Central Sierra Resource and Conservation Development Area is located in the Sierra Nevada range of north central California. Elevations range from approximately 300 feet to 10,000 feet above sea level. The Sierra Nevada crest is a significant natural feature, limiting physical east-west access.
The Area consists of approximately 3,993,563 acres (6,240 square miles). The rivers on the west slope of Area are the Cosumnes, Mokelumne, Calaveras, Stanislaus, and Tuolumne Rivers, and are major contributors to the water supply in the California Delta, as well as urban water supplies for the San Francisco Bay Area. The Carson and Walker Rivers are a primary water supply for west-central Nevada. A portion of the waters supplying Mono Basin are diverted to urban water supplies for Los Angeles and other southern communities.
2009 - 2013 Strategic Goals
Complete thirteen landscape-driven economic development projects encompassing locally grown efforts, resource tourism programs, and business creation/maintenance to stimulate local economies by 2013.
Provide guidance to realize five sub-councils and four development plans to advance resource planning in CSRC&D counties by 2013.
Implement eleven projects, targeting the maintenance and/or restoration of Sierra community cultural, economic or ecosystem health by 2013.
Establish fiscal viability for a sustainable Central Sierra RC&D organization through the implementation of a business plan with four basic components for membership, staffing, office space, and marketing/outreach by 2013.
