Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Conservation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Placer Conservation Authority reports early progress on 50-year conservation plan; council presses for local tracking
Summary
Greg McKenzie, executive director of the Placer Conservation Authority, told the Lincoln City Council the PCCP has acquired roughly 3,682 acres into a 47,300-acre reserve system and recorded about 120 acres of land conversion in 2023; council members and residents pressed for clearer tracking of who uses the program, how agriculture and utility-scale solar projects are treated, and how Lincoln funds were spent.
Greg McKenzie, executive director of the Placer Conservation Authority, presented the draft annual report for the Placer County Conservation Plan covering Calendar Year 2023 to the Lincoln City Council on June 25. He said the program, which carries a 50-year federal and state permit, has recorded roughly 120 acres of habitat conversion in Western Placer County in the past year and about 821 acres of conversion cumulatively over the prior two years, while acquiring about 3,682 acres into the reserve system to date.
"It's a permit that covers impacts to fish and wildlife species and habitat for the next 50 years," McKenzie told the council, outlining that the agency had secured state and federal permits in 2021 and is now in the early years of long-term implementation. He said vernal-pool and grassland habitat have been focal points: of the recent conversions, roughly 31% were vernal-pool complex grasslands and the largest preserved categories include vernal-pool wetlands and oak woodlands.
Council members pressed for granular details. Council Member Holly (questioner) asked why the agricultural preservation column read 0% on one slide; McKenzie replied that normal agricultural activities are excluded from PCCP coverage unless the land is converted (for example, into subdivision or other non-agricultural uses), and he said the authority expects larger agricultural conservation easements to be negotiated in coming months. Council members also pressed McKenzie about utility-scale solar. "At the time," McKenzie said, "state and federal agencies excluded utility-scale solar from coverage under the program," but he warned that regulatory and legislative changes can shift that picture and noted ongoing discussions with a utility-scale project in the area.
Several members of the public raised questions about transparency and local funding. Mike Garabedian asked whether the City of Lincolnhad contributed roughly $3 million in developer fees to the program, and whether a report can show specifically what Lincolnfunds have purchased or preserved. McKenzie and city staff said Lincoln contributed funds to related preservation projects (including funding toward the Clover Valley preservation effort) and that staff would follow up with more detail; McKenzie said purchases are frequently coordinated across city, county and state mitigation funding to achieve larger acquisitions.
Why it matters: The PCCP is designed to streamline permitting for development while providing landscape-level mitigation for species and habitats. Council members said they wanted clearer performance metrics showing which developers participate, whether the program shortens permit timelines compared with state and federal processing, and how local mitigation funds are applied.
What’s next: McKenzie encouraged further technical questions and said the PCA will return with specifics when agreements or acquisitions are ready for council review. Council asked staff to continue providing updates and to work with county partners to produce clearer, itemized reporting for Lincoln-specific contributions.
