BLM Announces Two Additional Community Planning Meetings for Kanaka Valley

The Bureau of Land Management’s Mother Lode Field Office will hold public meetings in Rescue for the community-based management plan of the Kanaka Valley area near the Pine Hill Preserve.

The meetings will run from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Green Valley Elementary School, 2380 Bass Lake Road. Two meetings were added to the schedule to allow enough time for full discussions on recreation, trails and facilities. Meetings will be held:

• Jan. 6, 2011
• Jan. 20, 2011- newly scheduled meeting
• Feb. 3, 2011
• Feb. 17, 2011 – newly scheduled meeting
• March 3, 2011
• April 7, 2011

“The meetings in January and February will focus on recreation, trails and facilities,” said Lauren Fety, biological science technician for the BLM. “As a group, we’ll discuss various uses and brainstorm compatible management strategies.”  The working schedule of meeting topics for the full series of meetings is posted at the Mother Lode Field Office website www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/folsom/kanaka_valley.html.  The agenda may change slightly if more time is needed to discuss particular topics.

In February 2010, BLM added nearly 700 acres of habitat for rare plants and other wildland species in western El Dorado County near the town of Rescue.  A management plan is being developed through a series of local public meetings. “Community participation, especially from a variety of viewpoints, is central in this effort to seek solutions that optimize protection and use of the public lands,” Fety said.

The 695-acre purchase was a cooperative effort by BLM, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the American River Conservancy.  The Kanaka Valley is a diverse ecological system that provides healthy wildlife habitat and watershed services. It was named for the Native Hawaiians known as Kanakans who came to California just before the gold rush. They settled in the valley and said it reminded them of their native land. 

The Kanaka Valley land acquisition provides 343 acres of blue oak woodland, valley oak woodland, blue oak foothill pine, and montane hardwood, as well as 100 acres of riparian habitat along Jill’s Creek and Crocker Creek, both of which flow into Folsom Reservoir and support native fish populations. The parcels also contain 167 acres of chaparral, which provides habitat for seven rare plants, and includes known and potential habitat for four federally listed plant species. 

For more information, contact Fety at (916) 941-3133 or at Kanaka Valley Planning cafokvp@blm.gov

Central California District   2800 Cottage Way      Sacramento, CA 95825