Land policy doc unveiled; is criticized

A draft policy that, in part, defends logging interests and easy federal land access is making its way through the hierarchy of Tuolumne County government.

It will likely be several weeks before the 80-plus page document — the Tuolumne County Comprehensive Land Use Plan for Federal and State Lands and Regulated Resources — makes its way to the Board of Supervisors, but the policy already has its critics.
 

Environmentalists say it’s nothing more than a way for some to move their pro-development agenda forward and weaken environmental regulations.

Supervisor Teri Murrison, who is spearheading the effort to get the policy on the books, didn’t dispute that critique.

“It’s not intended to represent environmental interests,” Murrison said of the document. “Environmental interests are already represented by a host of legal statutes and activists.”

In Murrison’s view, local interests need to be defended from federal and state regulators, whose actions, she says, hurt the local economy. She sees local interests being convenient access to federal lands for sportsmen — like horseback and ATV riders — and a ready-supply of trees and grazing land to keep the local timber industry, ranching community and tax base thriving.

The proposed policy document is currently being considered by the Board of Supervisors’ Planning Committee, which Murrison chairs. The committee consists of another supervisor (Paolo Maffei) and various appointed members. The committee’s role is, in part, to set the policy agenda for the full Board of Supervisors.

The committee’s next meeting is set for 1:30 p.m. Thursday in the County Administration Center, 2 S. Green St. in Sonora.

Supervisor Liz Bass has seen the draft land-use policy and she doesn’t like it. To her, it reeks of politics and special-interest influence.  Furthermore, she’s worried it would create a “shadow government” by authorizing the creation of a 21-member committee charged with consulting with federal officials on land-use policies. The committee’s members would have various professional and educational requirements.

“It’s plain wrong if you believe in democracy,” Bass said. “A large segment of the population is not represented.”

“It also grows government,” Bass said.

Murrison said Bass’ concerns about transparency were unfounded, as the committee created by the new policy would be advisory only, with the ultimate power resting in the Board of Supervisors.

The draft policy wasn’t developed by county planning staffers.

Normally, according to county Community Development Department Director Bev Shane, her department drafts policy documents for consideration by the Planning Committee.

“In this case, Supervisor Murrison volunteered to prepare the plan with input from others,” Shane said.

Bass said the inherent political nature of the proposal goes beyond the mission of the Community Development Department.

The draft policy lists nearly 30 people and groups who helped prepare it. Among the groups listed are the local Farm Bureau, Tuolumne County Sportsmen, Blue Mountain Minerals, the Tuolumne County Visitors Bureau and the Tuolumne County Alliance for Resources and Environment, a group that represents, in part, logging interests.
 

The draft policy was paid with a grant from the Sonora Area Foundation and no county funds were used to create the document, Murrison noted.

Absent from the policy’s list of “resource/multiple use advisors” are local environmental groups, like Twain Harte-based Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center.

Murrison noted that CSERC Director John Buckley expressed skepticism of her efforts early on in the process.

Buckley hasn’t let up.

“This is exactly the kind of interference in federal land decision-making that extremist anti-environmental groups such as Stewards of Liberty have attempted to get local county governments to adopt,” Buckley said of the proposed policy Monday.

He was referring to Murrison’s affiliation with the Texas-based American Stewards of Liberty, a property rights group. Murrison has been a speaker at the group’s events in the past, and she recently invited its representatives to speak before the Board of Supervisors.

Murrison sees the criticism as much ado about nothing. The policy, if adopted, wouldn’t usurp the authority of federal agencies like the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. All it would do, she said, is let the agencies know that the county wants to be at the negotiating table when land-use policies are being proposed. County governments have a special place at the table with the federal agencies if they make their desire to coordinate known, according to Murrison.

County Counsel Gregory Oliver said if the board does adopt the policy, county ordinances could have to be tweaked to reflect the policy changes.

But it’s hard to tell at this point, he said, due to the potential for editing.

“I’m letting it go through the process,” he said. “I don’t think this will be the final version adopted by the Board of Supervisors.”