SJV Blueprint - Environmental ResourceAreas Workshop - Mar. 2, 2007

The San Joaquin Valley Blueprint Model Steering Committee (SJV MSC) is hosting the: ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCE AREAS WORKSHOP for the 8-Central California Counties from San Joaquin to Kern

FEATURING:  Mapping and Modeling Data from the 8-Councils of Governments in Central California and UC Davis ICE developed in support of the Governor's Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley.

DUE TO HIGH LEVEL OF INTEREST PLEASE RESERVE YOUR SPOT SOON! RSVP TO: 
Marla Day mday@fresnocog.org 559 233-4148 (We need to know if we must move to a larger facility).
 
DATE: Friday, March 2, 2007  10 AM to 3 PM
LOCATION: Council of Fresno County Governments (Fresno COG) main conference room
DIRECTIONS: http://www.fresnocog.org/document.php?pid=200&x=203
PLEASE BRING $5 FOR LUNCH

WHO SHOULD ATTEND:  Environmental Experts Needed -- Environmental and Resource agency directors and key staff from Federal, State, Regional, Local and Tribal governments responsible for reviewing and commenting on environmental documents for land use and transportation plans and projects in the 8-county central California region.  The 8-counties include:  San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Tulare, Kings, and Kern.  This event includes the entire San Joaquin Valley, the Southern Sierra Nevadas and the Kern portion of the Mojave Desert.   All interested persons are invited.

BACKGROUND:  The 8-councils of governments (COGs) that cover the 8-counties in the San Joaquin Valley received a grant form the California Department of Transportation to develop a long range vision or "Blueprint" for the rapidly growing region.  That vision will be used by the COGs and local governments to guide land use and transportation decisions throughout the region.  The project uses geographic information systems, land use modeling and visualization technology to forecast where urbanization will be by 2050.  The land use model - Uplan - was developed by UC Davis which is providing technical and data support to the COGs and local governments in this project.  The project website is http://www.valleyblueprint.org/ .

PURPOSE:  To provide a forum for responsible environmental and resource agencies to provide input into local planning processes at their outset.  This process is intended to fulfil some of the new early consultation requirements in the new federal transportation bill adopted in 2005.

POTENTIAL OUTCOMES:
- Identify and prioritize areas of avoidance for future urbanization, to be used in regional land use modeling out to the year 2050.
- Identify problems, limitations and gaps with data to be used in the urbanization modeling.
- Identify updated data and layers for inclusion into the land use model
- Development of a future urbanization model that avoids environmental and resource areas
- Streamlined environmental review process for the region that features land use and transportation projects that avoid the most environmentally sensitive areas and have a better basis for cumulative effects.

RARE OPPORTUNITY:   The workshop is a rare opportunity for environmental and resource agencies to provide input up front at the beginning of the process rather than at the 9th hour when a project is headed for final local approval, and the financial risk to project proponents is highest.

DRAFT AGENDA:
-Introductions
-Overview of land use modeling - Status Quo/Base Case scenario (view draft examples at http://www.kerncog.org/blueprint/uplan/uplan.htm)
-Overview of Environmental Resource Area Layers
-Use "Clicker Technology" voting to rank the priorities of the layers. -Other Business


   
The San Joaquin Valley Blueprint Planning Process is a joint effort of the
Council of Fresno Governments, the Kern Council of Governments, the Kings County Association of Governments,
Madera County Transportation Commission, the Merced County Association of Governments, San Joaquin Council of Governments, Stanislaus Council of Governments, the Tulare County Association of Governments and the Great Valley Center.