Conservation Resources

Drosera rotundifolia in Butterfly Valley, Plumas National Forest. Photo: Nick Jensen

Native Plants and Fire Safety

Ten articles as they appear in the special Fire and Fuels Management issue of Fremontia specifically discussing native plants and fire safety are available below for downloading as separate .pdfs. Any copy or use on any other website or in electronic media of any sort must reference CNPS, the author(s), and the correct volume of Fremontia, Journal of California Native Plant Society, Volume 38, No. 2 and 3, April 2010 and July 2010.

• Fire on California Landscapes by Jon E. Keeley
• How CNPS Developed a Policy on Native Plants and Fire Safety by Betsey Landis
• The Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Problem by Jack Cohen
• Interpreting Fire and Life History Information in the Manual of California Vegetation by Todd Keeler-Wolf, Julie M. Evans, and John O. Sawyer
• Invasive Species and Fire in California Ecosystems by Adam Lambert, Carla M. D’Antonio, and Tom L. Dudley
• Sustainable and Fire-Safe Landscapes: Achieving Wildfire Resistance and Environmental Health in the Wildland-Urban Interface by Sabrina L. Drill
• The Role of Fire Safe Councils in California by Yvonne Everett
• Fire-Resistant Landscaping: a General Approach and Central Coast Perspective by Suzanne Schettler
• Wildfire Safety: Lessons Learned from Southern California by Greg Rubin
• The Mendocino County Fire Safe Council by Julie Rogers

Additional Fire and Fuels Management Information

The devastating wildfires that sweep through western forests year after year have provided political fuel for timber interests to seek relaxed environmental review of the timber harvest process. Forest and chaparral lands are poised for thinning and clearing in the name of fire protection and bio-thermal energy generation while ecological value gets overlooked.

Conservation Symposium Proceedings

• 2011 - San Diego, CA
  Reports and presentations from the September, 2011 Chapter Council Conservation Symposium.
• 2010 - Ft. Bragg, CA
  Reports and presentations from the September, 2010 Chapter Council Conservation Symposium.
• 2007 - Santa Cruz, CA
  Reports and presentations from the September, 2007 Chapter Council Conservation Symposium
• 2006 - Arcata, CA
  Reports and presentations from the September, 2006 Chapter Council Conservation Symposium

Native Plant Basics

Links to advocacy materials for plant conservation.

Desert – Solar Energy Development

Recently, the flood of applications for solar energy projects on public lands in the California desert have prompted CNPS to take on a significant role in helping to create a responsible siting process that emphasizes the protection of pristine public lands – home to many rare species of California native plants and wildlife.

Endangered Species Acts (ESA & CESA)

The federal and state Endangered Species Acts are among our most important tools in the fight to conserve and restore California's native biological diversity.

Forestry/Oaks Issues

Current issues and CNPS projects regarding conservation and management of hardwood and conifer forests on public and private lands. An extensive web resource devoted entirely to forestry issues.

Grazing Issues

Livestock grazing impacts more acres of wild native plant communities in California than any other activity. Livestock affect all aspects of native ecosystems from plant and animal species composition to water quality.

Phacelia campanularia in Joshua Tree NP. Photo: Nick Jensen

Invasive Plants

Weeds are everywhere. Some of them are taking over otherwise natural areas. This page contains our invasive exotic plants issue statement and links to the California Invasive Plant Council (Cal-IPC) website.

Legislation Resources

Influencing legislative actions requires raising the awareness of plant conservation needs among our elected officials. Here is some helpful information for CNPS members who want to communicate effectively with their legislators.

NCCP-HCPs

Natural Community Conservation Plans (NCCPs) and Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs) are rapidly becoming the preferred regulatory replacement for project-by-project environmental review and permitting. Learn more about the laws and potential pitfalls of these planning processes which are essentially streamlined endangered species take permitting.

Wetland Issues

Wetlands are one of the most imperiled of California's natural resources. Rapid urban expansion and agricultural conversion threatened a habitat which is already reduce by historic land reclamation practices.

Conservation Organizations

A resource of local, regional, and global conservation organizations

Conservation Program Reports

• 2007 Report (PDF 53kb)
  An overview of the activities that the CNPS Conservation Program undertook in
  2006 and planned for 2007.
• 2005-2006 East Bay Program Report
  A summary of the activities that the East Bay CNPS Conservation Program
  undertook in 2005-2006.