News Release

For Release: October 17, 2003
Contact: John Scull (916) 985-4474/Lorna Dobrovolny (530) 272-0298
CCal-04-03

South Yuba River Planning Meeting

A public meeting to work on a comprehensive management plan for the public lands along the 39-mile stretch of the South Yuba River from Spaulding Reservoir to Lake Englebright will be held on Wednesday, October 22, 2003, from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm in the L.O.V.E. Building, 660 Minnie Street, Condon Park in Grass Valley. Everyone who is interested in the South Yuba River is invited to attend.

The U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, California Department of Parks and Recreation, and the Nevada County Planning Department will host the upcoming meeting, the seventh in a series. The four agencies are using the collaborative, or community-based planning process to create the plan. This process directly involves the public in determining the contents of the draft plan by working in cooperation with the land management agencies.

At next Wednesday's meeting, participants will begin work on an overall vision statement for the river. According to Jim Eicher of the BLM, the vision statement may be the single most important portion of the management plan. Tahoe National Forest representative Vivian Kee agreed, saying the vision statement would describe the South Yuba River, twenty years from now. "This will tell us where we are going, what the desired future conditions are," Kee said, "Other management decisions will be consistent with the vision statement."

The South Yuba River is a popular outdoor recreation destination for many Nevada County residents as well as people from outside the region who enjoy the opportunities for swimming, hiking, sunbathing and nature appreciation in the highly scenic river canyon.

For more information, please call the South Yuba River hot line at (530) 272-6356.

-BLM-

Folsom Field Office, 63 Natoma Street, Folsom, CA 95630