Climate Action and Resiliency

Summary of objective implementation status 

From 2021-2023 the County of Sonoma established plans, frameworks and funding to improve carbon sequestration. The Sonoma County Climate Resilient Lands Strategy (2022) and the Carbon Inventory and Sequestration Potential Study (2023) establish frameworks for conserving natural and agricultural lands, enhancing climate resilience, and optimizing carbon sequestration. Key initiatives include:

1. General Plan Update: Currently in progress, it will integrate land-use policies focused on climate resilience.
2. Ag + Open Space Efforts: Managing 38 conservation easements and 28 urban open space projects, focusing on high-priority areas for floodplain and biodiversity conservation, and expanding outreach in 2024.
3. Community Resources Program: Provides support through community engagement, education, grants, and technical expertise to strengthen resilience in natural and human communities.
4. CARD Grant: Awarded $10 million from USDA to improve carbon sequestration in agriculture, partnering with local agencies and nonprofits.

In 2024, County agencies have furthered implementation of this objective in several ways. Permit Sonoma has been considering how the findings from the Carbon Inventory and Sequestration Potential Study to inform county policy, particularly in preparation for the Sonoma County General Plan update. The first phase of the General Plan update process commenced this fall/winter. Ag + Open Space completed analysis funded by the department of conservation to identify and map high priority riparian areas for conservation and conducted an outreach campaign to high priority landowners to increase interest in conservation and restoring riparian systems. CARD completed and Sonoma County Board of Supervisors approved the Climate Resilient Comprehensive Action Plan.

Key milestone update 

2023 Milestones

• Ag + Open Space acquired conservation easements over 6 properties – one on the western edge of the City of Cloverdale, two along the Laguna de Santa Rosa and Blucher Creek, and one on Sonoma Mountain. In November 2023, Ag + Open Space purchased the Chanslor Ranch property north of Bodega, which will ultimately be transferred to Regional Parks. These properties, together with the 123,000 acres previously protected by Ag + Open Space, provide numerous climate change adaptation and community benefits, including carbon sequestration, recreational land, flood risk reduction and enhanced streamside protections, production of local food and fiber, and landscape connectivity for the movement and migration of plants and animals.
• The report, County of Sonoma Carbon Inventory and Sequestration Potential Study, October 2023 was finalized and accepted by the Board on December 7, 2023 This report forms the data synthesis and modeling for CAR5.1 and will also support the tasks for this objective.

2024 Milestones

• Ag + Open Space acquired conservation easements over 4 properties that conserve coastal forest, creeks and riparian habitat, mixed oak woodland and grassland habitats, vernal pools and wetlands, landscape scale habitat protection and wildlife corridors, rich agricultural land, and areas for people to explore and experience nature. These lands add the existing network of over 125,000 acres of conserved lands that are essential for carbon sequestration, climate resilience and adaptation, and to reduce risks of extreme events.
• On September 10, 2024, the Board approved the Climate Resilience Comprehensive Action Plan (Climate Plan).  The Climate Plan includes nature-based solutions for climate resilience in the sectors of water, wildfire, and natural and working lands.  These actions will be implemented through discrete measures in the Near Term (2024-2026), Mid-Term (2026-2030), and over the Longer Term (beyond 2030).  The Board provided $2.3 million in funding for Near Term measures, including funds to develop a new, comprehensive stream and riparian corridor map, headwaters to ocean/ bay, for Sonoma County, in partnership with Russian River Regional Monitoring Program (R3MP) and San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI). The map will Incorporate readily available hydrography datasets to feed into a comprehensive vulnerability assessment and feasibility study Sonoma County infrastructure & lands that are at-risk of sea-level rise & riverine flooding and/or erosion.  Other Near-Term measures will prepare a vulnerability assessment of County-owned lands and structures to wildfire and identify areas on County-owned lands to implement vegetation treatment and mulching, fire-safe tree care practices to prevent loss of carbon stocks to wildfire and apply compost to increase carbon sequestration and water retention in soils.  In addition, Near Term measures will establish a stakeholder working group on climate resilient land practices, and formalize engagement with tribal partners on climate resilience, including identification of opportunities to expand co-management of lands to increase climate resilience through application of traditional ecological knowledge.  Measure NWL-CO-1 of the Climate Plan emphasizes the importance of land conservation by the Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District to prevent loss of carbon stocks, and mechanisms to ensure carbon stocks are appropriately considered in conservation decisions.

In preparing the Climate Plan, staff analyzed recently adopted statewide targets for nature-based solutions using the County’s 2023 Carbon Inventory and Sequestration Potential Study.  The analysis found that if Sonoma County achieves a proportional share of the statewide targets (based on Sonoma County’s percentage of each land type), the carbon sequestered will more than offset all of the GHG emissions from communities in Sonoma County.  The analysis also showed that by achieving 2030 targets for wildfire fuels reduction (both beneficial fire and non-fire treatment targets) and just a portion of the target for urban greening, the County will fully offset all of its current operation GHG emissions – becoming carbon neutral by 2030.

• Permit Sonoma incorporated findings from the sequestration study to understand their implications on land use policy. They also commenced the first phase of the General Plan update. For additional information see the update for Objective 5.1.

Coordination and partnership update

Ag + Open Space is currently working with county agencies such as Sonoma Water, Permit Sonoma, Public Infrastructure, and Regional Parks and non-profit partners such as Sonoma Land Trust, Save the Redwoods League, The Conservation Fund, and the Wildlands Conservancy on land conservation projects throughout the county. Ag + Open Space is also working on urban open space Matching Grant projects with local cities including Cloverdale, Healdsburg, Petaluma, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Sonoma, and Windsor. In the coming year, we will also partner with agricultural organizations, county agencies, Resource Conservation Districts, and science-based organizations to encourage enhanced land management and agricultural production practices.

There has been regular coordination and partnership with County departments and Special Districts including the Climate Action and Resiliency Division in the County Administrator’s Office, Ag + Open Space, Sonoma Water, Permit Sonoma, and the Sonoma County Regional Climate Protection Authority.  

Community, equity and climate update

Ag + Open Space has incorporated equity criteria into our project evaluation processes and has created a Farmland for All program with the intention of increasing equitable access to agricultural lands. Ag + Open Space’s Community Resources team has hired two additional staff to reinforce our commitment to community engagement. Our community engagement work currently includes our Public Outings and Youth Education program that partners with local nonprofits to provide free outings, field trips, and workforce development opportunities throughout the county. In the last three years, that program has over 24,000 participants and recently developed new contracts with six partners to continue this work for another three years. Ag + Open Space also regularly sponsors and/or attends community events with priority focused on BIPOC and historically underrepresented communities. Several new programs are also in development that are focused on better serving and engaging with BIPOC communities, Tribal nations, Spanish-speakers and families. Throughout, Ag + Open Space’s communications and community engagement work prioritizes the connections between land conservation and climate resiliency and adaptation.

Objective funding

Ag + Open Space sales tax funding provides a significant opportunity to fund land conservation efforts. These funds are consistently leveraged with public and private funding sources at the federal, state and local level. Ag + Open Space currently has over $5 million in approved grants not including funds being provided by our numerous partners. Ag + Open Space is working with the County (CAO and Regional Parks) to develop recommendations for the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria mitigation funding for Parks and Open Space that include enhancing land management and agricultural production and will request a formal consultative process with Graton.

The County’s Climate Action and Resiliency Division (CARD) was awarded $10 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service grant program in September 2022.

Funding for update of the General Plan will be needed to adopt land use policies. In October 2024 Permit Sonoma embarked on the next phase of the General Plan by establishing the Community Engagement Plan for the Community Vision Phase of General Plan Sonoma, which includes an extensive and robust outreach engagement effort including broad topics designed to gather feedback to inform the scope and engagement necessary for the Policy Development Phase.

The Board of Supervisors contributed $286,473 to a five-year term-limited position to focus on Climate Resilient Lands. The position has primarily focused on the launch of a multi-jurisdictional grant-funded carbon farming project, the Sonoma Marin Ag and County Climate Coalition (https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/smacccgrant) and is also coordinating with other climate staff in the County Administrator’s Office on opportunities to advance carbon farming practices for carbon sequestration through the Climate Resilience Comprehensive Action Plan approved by the Board of Supervisors on September 10, 2024.