CEQA: Achieving Better Outcomes for Local, County, and State Planning

WORKSHOP

CEQA: ACHIEVING BETTER OUTCOMES FOR LOCAL, COUNTY, & STATE PLANNING

November 2, 2019
9:30am – 3:30pm

This workshop focuses on strategies and tactics related to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) that can protect our desert communities and ecosystems from poorly conceived local, county and state environmental planning. Attendees will build important skills to help shape, challenge, and change local, county and state land-use decisions in order to protect the fragile landscape-based economy, water, air quality, and ecosystem desert residents rely upon.

In this workshop you will learn how to:

• Understand the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and the CEQA process
• Use CEQA to protect our landscape’s delicate ecosystems and cultural resources
• Craft substantive comments that local, county, and state agencies and decision-makers are required to take into consideration

Speakers:

Tim Krantz, PhD., Professor, Environmental Studies Program, University of Redlands

In addition to teaching, Dr. Krantz serves as the Botanic Garden Director for The Wildlands Conservancy’s Oak Glen Preserve. Tim has been working on the front lines of environmental planning for over 40 years, largely through the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) processes. His expertise has ranged from work as the Salton Sea Database Program manager to endangered species issues in Southern California, anti-fracking campaigns in Santa Barbara, Monterey and San Benito Counties, and ecological restoration of hazardous waste and oil- and chemical-contaminated sites in California and Hawaii. He served for six years on the San Bernardino County Planning Commission (1982-1988) and has served as an environmental consultant, advocate, and expert witness on more than 150 CEQA projects throughout the State of California. 

J.P. Rose, Urban Wildlands Staff Attorney, Center for Biological Diversity

Mr. Rose works to safeguard habitat for endangered species by limiting sprawl development. His focus areas include supporting increased wildlife connectivity as well as protecting the Utom (Santa Clara) River and the species that reside in its watershed. Before joining the Center for Biological Diversity, J.P. practiced public interest land use law at a firm in Orange County. He holds a bachelor’s in English with an emphasis in postcolonial literature as well as a law degree from Santa Clara University.

Shellie Zias-Roe, PhD., Visiting Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies Program, University of Redlands

Dr. Zias-Roe currently teaches Environmental Planning, Environmental Impact Assessment, Sustainability Planning, and Professional Development in Environmental Careers. As an environmental scientist and certified professional urban and environmental planner, Shellie applies knowledge of the natural world and its processes to develop projects and programs that protect the environment while promoting the health and well being of its inhabitants. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Environmental Management and Liberal Arts from the University of Redlands, and a Master of Applied Science degree in Environmental Policy and Management: Natural Resource Management from the University of Denver. She also holds a doctorate from Prescott College in Sustainability Education, where she engaged in transformative and experiential learning across multiple disciplines including biophilia, civic and human ecology, natural resource management, collaborative governance, sense of place, environmental & equity planning, and environmental impact assessment. Shellie’s environmental practice centers on cross-functional, multidisciplinary environmental and community planning, and environmental consulting. 

Brendan Cummings, Conservation Director, Center for Biological Diversity

Over the past two decades, Mr. Cummings has litigated dozens of cases under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and numerous other federal and state statutes.  Among his more noteworthy cases, he was lead attorney in litigation that forced the Bush Administration to protect polar bears under the ESA, he argued a case against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in California that resulted in a ban on oil leasing on all public lands in the state, and a case against BLM that resulted in prohibition of off-road vehicles (ORVs) in various riparian areas in the California Desert including Surprise Canyon in Death Valley.  He also led legislative efforts that resulted in the banning of fur trapping in California.  Brendan lives in Joshua Tree and recently launched an effort to protect Joshua trees under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA).

Steve Bardwell, President of the Board, Morongo Basin Conservation Association

Mr. Bardwell has served as President of the Board of the Morongo Basin Conservation Association (MBCA) for several years working with his  community and fellow board members to advocate for the installation of appropriate renewable energy systems such as locally generated roof-top solar.  He was a member of the citizens committee advising the Morongo Unified School District as they contracted to add solar to nearly all the schools within the district. He has also been involved in the successful effort to pass and implement the Bobcat Protection Act, and the public comment process for the contentious Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) West Mojave Travel Management Plan (WEMO).

Additionally, Steve is a board member of the Joshua Tree Highlands Artist Residency, an organization that brings artists from all over the world to spend an extended period of time in our desert community practicing their art. He works to nurture and maintain the intact-ecosystem of the Mojave Desert and build awareness within the community about the importance of wise water use and energy efficiency in the face of diminishing supplies and climate change.

April Sall, Executive Director and President of the Board, California Desert Coalition

Growing up in the rural community of Pioneertown to a conservation family, Ms. Sall learned at an early age to prize her natural surroundings.  Her high school environmental science class, taught by Cindy Zacks,  inspired an interest in an environmental career and led her to earn a bachelor of science degree in Biology from Humboldt State University.   

April has served in many roles as a leader on landscape conservation, including the National Park Service at Joshua Tree National Park and Point Reyes National Seashore and then as Preserve Manager with The Wildlands Conservancy (TWC) as well as its first Conservation Director. In this role, April advocated for conservation designations and responsible renewable energy development in the California Desert and was TWC’s lead spokesperson for the California Desert Protection Acts of 2010, 2011, and 2014, as well as the inclusion of the Pioneertown mesas into the Sand to Snow Monument. She continued to advocate for the designation of Sand to Snow, Mojave Trails, and Castle Mountains as national monuments as Desert campaign consultant for the Conservation Lands Foundation, organizing support among community members and elected officials. April went on to lead efforts to protect the Bodie Hills.

In 2006, April helped form the California Desert Coalition to stop inappropriate development through pristine, ecologically and economically vital Desert landscape.

She also served as the Public-at-Large Representative on the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Desert Advisory Council for six years, providing guidance to BLM on a range of issues impacting public lands in the California Desert.