Memorandum
Date: April 21, 2026
To: The Honorable Lake County Board of Supervisors
From: Brad Rasmussen, Chair, District 4 Supervisor
Jessica Pyska, Vice Chair, District 5 Supervisor
Subject: Consideration of Legislative Position Letters on: (A) AB 2494 (Rogers) - State Forests: Forest Management; and (B) AB 2216 (Aguiar-Curry)
Executive Summary:
With this item, we request our Board approve Legislative Position Letters on AB 2494 and AB 2216:
(A) AB 2494 would modify the framework governing California’s Demonstration State Forests (DSFs), which could unintentionally undermine critical, ongoing research and active forest management needed to improve wildfire resilience. As written, this Legislation could reduce the State’s ability to conduct essential management activities, including thinning and vegetation treatment, which are necessary to maintain forest health and reduce wildfire risk.
Further, it is particularly critical that research activities at Boggs Mountain, particularly, continue, as Boggs was the first SDF to experience significant disturbance due to wildfire, and reforestation efforts have been both multi-faceted and highly successful, providing lessons learned that have ramifications well beyond Lake County. 2015’s Valley Fire burned 99 percent of Boggs State Demonstration Forest, killing approximately 80 percent of mature trees and 95 percent of understory vegetation, and devastating surrounding communities by destroying nearly 2,000 structures. In the years since, recovery has required extensive intervention, including salvage logging, the planting of more than 700,000 seedlings, and the implementation of major research initiatives examining watershed impacts, carbon dynamics, and forest regeneration. These projects are essential to understanding how post-fire management strategies influence recovery and long-term forest health.
Our Board and Lake County have long supported a balanced, science-driven approach to forest stewardship that includes active management, ecological restoration, and long-term sustainability, consistent with the strategies advanced by the Governor’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force. We also support continued collaboration with Tribal partners and responsible stewardship practices. These important goals should complement, not replace, the State’s ability to actively manage forests and respond to changing conditions.
For these reasons, we recommend the County take a position of “Oppose Unless Amended,” on AB 2494.
(B) AB 2216, authored by Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, proposes to expand the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy into a broader Valley and Delta Conservancy, establishing a new program to support environmental protection and economic well-being across a wider regional area. Increasing access to state resources, funding, and partnerships that are critical for rural communities working to advance environmental stewardship and local economic resilience is consistent with our County’s 2026 Legislative Priorities.
As currently drafted, Lake County is not included in the proposed expansion area. However, staff to the Conservancy have expressed openness to our County being included. Therefore, we recommend our Board take a position of “Support if Amended” (i.e., Support if Lake County is included in the expansion). This amendment would help ensure fair access to program benefits and align the County with similarly situated rural communities.
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Recommended Action: Approve the Letters of Support and authorize the Chair to sign.