[CANUFNET] Fw: Sustainable California Action Alert: Show Your Thanks to the Governor and Authors of Important Legislation Assembly Bill 2045: Urban Forestry Act of 1978.

Thu Nov 13 15:42:50 EST 2008

George Gonzalez, Past President of the SMA has brought to my attention an 
example of legislative leadership in urban forestry from his State of 
California.
I note:
 (1) the innovative amendment to reflect recent advances by the U.S. 
Forest Service  ( through i-Tree) in quantifying the environmental 
benefits of urban forests; 
and
(2) the date of the original legislation: 1978

We would love to see our Province of Ontario start down this path some 
day.

John McNeil, MBA, Registered Professional Forester, Certified 
Arborist/Municipal Specialist
Manager of Forestry & Cemetery Services 
Parks & Open Space Department
jmcneil at oakville.ca 

” Urban Forestry is the Front Line of Defence against Global Climate 
Change ”
Central Operations 
1140 South Service Road West
Oakville, Ontario, L6L 5T7 
Tel. (905) 845-6601, Ext: 3395 

Mailing Address:
Town of Oakville 
P.O. Box 310, 1225 Trafalgar Road
Oakville, Ontario, L6J 5A6 
http://www.oakville.ca/

----- Forwarded by John McNeil/Parks and Open Space/Oakville on 11/13/2008 
03:30 PM -----

From:
"George Gonzalez" <George.Gonzalez at lacity.org>
To:
"Nick Kuhn" <NKuhn at cabq.gov>, "Dan Hartman" 
<dhartman at cityofclevelandtn.com>, "Paula Chope" <pchope at dublin.oh.us>, 
"TAMI SADONOJA" <tsadonoj at hamilton.ca>, "CHRIS PARGOFF" 
<c_pargoff at hotmail.com>, "Hyde Gene" <hyde_gene at mail.chattanooga.gov>, 
"John  McNeil" <John McNeil <jmcneil at oakville.ca>, "Jerri LaHaei" <SMA 
<urbanforestry at prodigy.net>, "Bob Benjamin" <Robert Benjamin 
<robert1238679 at sbcglobal.net>
Date:
11/12/2008 10:02 AM
Subject:
Fwd: Sustainable California Action Alert: Show Your Thanks to   the 
Governor and Authors of Important Legislation

Good Morning Board members,

I just wanted to pass this along as an FYI.

this is some of the legislative work that's happened here in CA. it may be 
useful for us as we chart the future of UF and it may be helpful to our 
fledgling, legislative committee.
GG 

George Gonzalez
Chief Forester
Urban Forestry Div.
1149 S. Broadway 
Suite 400, 90015
City Of Los Angeles
213-847-3077
George.Gonzalez at lacity.org

TREES ARE THE LUNGS OF THE CITY.
----- Message from "Nancy Hughes" <CaUrbanForests at gmail.com> on Tue, 11 
Nov 2008 13:41:12 -0800 -----
To:
undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject:
Sustainable California Action Alert: Show Your Thanks to the Governor and 
Authors of Important Legislation
Hello Everyone - Here's your chance to say thank you to the Governor and 
the State's elected officials who have supported urban and community 
forestry this year!  Please see below...

From: Connie Gallippi [mailto:connie at csgcalifornia.com] 
Sent: Monday, November 10, 2008 2:02 PM
To: Connie Gallippi
Subject: Sustainable California Action Alert: Show Your Thanks to the 
Governor and Authors of Important Legislation

   Sustainable California 

Action Alert:  Thank the Authors and Governor for Passing Successful Urban 
Sustainability Legislation

NOTE:  Please send in your responses by 12 noon on Wednesday November 12th 
to be included on group Thank you letters.

Thanks to the support of Sustainable California, many urban sustainability 
bills were passed and signed by the Governor in September!  Thanks to all 
of you for your hard work and support for this important legislation. 

Sustainable California is collecting 'thank yous' for the Governor and 
authors of the following bills that were successful this year.

Please express your thanks to the Governor and the authors of this 
legislation.  Please contact Connie Gallippi at connie at csgcalifornia.com 
to be included on group thank you letters from Sustainable California. We 
will collect your name, organization, electronic signature, and logo to be 
included in the letter.

Senate Bill 732: Strategic Growth Council/Urban Greening/Land Use and 
Planning Incentives.  This bill is authored by Senator Steinberg and would 
establish the Strategic Growth Council, a secretarial-level Council that 
would serve as a forum to coordinate infrastructure spending to meet 
climate and sustainability goals.  The Council will also oversee two 
Proposition 84 grant programs: Urban Greening ($70 million) and Land Use & 
Planning Incentives ($90 million). 

Senate Bill 375: Transportation, Land Use, and Climate Change.  This bill 
is also authored by Senator Steinberg and would establish standards for 
regional transportation plans that include the development of sustainable 
community strategies and the encouragement of higher density development 
and reduced sprawl.  The plans would specifically relate to regional 
requirements to reduce transportation related greenhouse gas emissions to 
meet the state's greenhouse gas emission reduction goals.   The bill 
provides CEQA incentives for local agencies that adopt and implement 
sustainable community strategies.

Assembly Bill 2045:  Urban Forestry Act of 1978.  This bill is authored by 
Assemblymember De La Torre and would update and   broaden the Urban 
Forestry Act of 1978 to highlight the role that urban forests play in 
reducing greenhouse gases, improving air and water quality, conserving 
energy and water, and providing recreation and other environmental 
benefits. The Act has language that directs the California Department of 
Forestry and Fire (Cal Fire) in administering its urban forestry program. 

Assembly Bill 31: Local and Regional Parks.  This bill is authored by 
Assemblymember de Leon and provides guidance to the Department of Parks 
and Recreation for the expenditure of $400 million from Proposition 84 for 
Local and Regional Parks.  The bill provides criteria designed to target 
underserved and disadvantaged communities wherever they occur (i.e. urban, 
suburban, or rural areas). 

Assembly Bill 2537: Prevailing Wage Volunteer Exemption.  This bill is 
authored by Assemblymember Furutani and extends the volunteer and 
conservation corps exemption from California's prevailing wage 
requirement.  Without this exemption, projects funded by bonds and other 
state funds cannot use volunteers or conservation corps members.  A 
variety of procedural and fiscal issues nearly stopped this bill in the 
Senate and only last minute rule waivers allowed it to be considered and 
passed.  While removing the sunset clause (making the exemption permanent) 
is certainly desirable, it was not politically feasible this session; 
therefore, the bill includes a three year sunset clause.

Sustainable California 

Conservation Strategy Group manages project as a forum for organizations 
and agencies to share information and identify opportunities for 
individuals and organizations to engage in urban sustainability policy 
development and funding programs, focusing on activities in California.

Conservation Strategy Group provides email updates on what's happening at 
the Capitol and identifies opportunities to take action in support of 
urban sustainability.  We have also established an online resource through 
which information could be shared.  Our hope is that the network would 
evolve over time so that participating organizations would also share 
information with each other.

Access the website and tell us what you think: Sustainable California 

This service is free and provided by Conservation Strategy Group.  For 
questions or comments, please contact Connie Gallippi at 
connie at csgcalifornia.com

-- 
Nancy J. Hughes
California Urban Forests Council
www.caufc.org
415-408-3222
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