Yolo County awarded $30,000 for oak woodlands management

Grant will fund planning for oak woodlands conservation, public outreach and education

SACRAMENTO–The State Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) announced today that it has awarded $30,000 to Yolo County to assist in the preparation of an Oak Woodlands Management Plan, the first countywide effort to encourage oak woodlands conservation, which will ensure Yolo County’s eligibility for state funding allocated to oak woodlands conservation efforts.

The grant was allocated to the Yolo County Planning, Resources and Public Works Department through the WCB’s Oak Woodlands Conservation Program, established with Assembly Bill 242 in 2001 by then-Assemblywoman Helen Thomson to provide incentives to landowners, conservation organizations, cities and counties to protect and restore oak woodlands.

“This has been a long time coming,” said Thomson, now a member of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors. “I authored AB 242 to ensure that future generations could enjoy California’s oak woodlands. With this funding, we in Yolo County can now develop a plan to provide greater protection of our oak woodlands, while encouraging continued economic sustainability of local ranchers and farmers.”

Assemblywoman Lois Wolk (D-Davis), who wrote the WCB in support of the grant earlier this month, said the funding “is a first step toward preserving this dwindling precious resource.”

“Oak woodlands are the most diverse ecosystems in California, providing habitat for thousands of plants and animals, moderating temperatures, reducing soil erosion, and protecting water quality,” Wolk said. “Yet, since 1950, the state has lost over 1,000,000 acres of California’s oak woodlands, and continues to lose tens of thousands of acres of these majestic groves to residential growth each year. Oak woodlands once covered vast stretches of Yolo County. Now only 1% of the County is covered in valley oak woodlands, and that’s primarily on private land. It’s time to work together with all interested parties to protect Yolo County’s oak woodlands.”

The Yolo County Oak Woodlands Management Plan will identify priority areas for voluntary oak woodlands conservation, recommend voluntary oak woodlands conservation policies for the Yolo County General Plan, and establish a public outreach and education program—with the input of interested stakeholders. The plan will also evaluate changes in Yolo County's oak woodlands over the last century.