|
Back to Calendar
Return
|
| |
Consent-General Government # 16.
|
| Board of Supervisors |
General Services |
|
|
|
| Subject |
| Adopt resolution authorizing the submission of a grant application to the State of California Habitat Conservation Fund for wildlife area activities at Grasslands Regional Park in the amount of $78,800. (No general fund impact) (Yarris) |
| Recommended Action |
| Adopt resolution authorizing the General Services Department, Parks Division, to apply for a State of California Habitat Conservation Fund grant for wildlife area activities at Grasslands Regional Park in the amount of $78,800. |
| Strategic Plan Goal(s) |
Operational Excellence
Thriving Residents
Sustainable Environment |
| Reason for Recommended Action/Background |
The Parks Division is applying for this grant on behalf of the Yolo Basin Foundation (YBF). The Habitat Conservation Fund (HCF) allows only cities and counties to apply for grant funding. The Parks Division will be responsible for payment of invoices and facilitating reimbursement with the HCF Program. YBF will provide an annual estimate of hard cost expenses for each year of the grant, which will allow Parks Division to budget grant expenses in each annual operation budget, over the course of the five-year grant term. Annual county expense on this fund should be net zero. The HCF grant application requires the Board to adopt the attached resolution as part of the grant application, which is due to the State by October 1, 2018. Grant funds will be awarded in Spring of 2019.
This grant will provide outreach and educational opportunities to area school children, as well as the general public, to learn about the vernal pools at Grasslands Regional Park. YBF will provide tours to students from the greater Sacramento region through their Discover the Flyway school program. Discover the Flyway is a standards-based field trip program that draws from a five-county region and provides hands-on, inquiry-based education to K-12 students. Classes begin at the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area Headquarters Demonstration Wetlands, where students rotate through four wetlands themed learning stations about animals, birds, plants, soil, water, agriculture, and Native American life. Through this grant, students will have the opportunity to extend their field trip, visiting Grasslands Regional Park to learn about the park's extremely unique vernal pool habitat. The grant will consist of curriculum development, docent training, and program delivery. Through the course of the five-year grant term, YBF expects up to 6,000 students will be introduced to vernal pools, natural history, wildlife, and endemic plants. Of those students, YBF expects up to 2,500 to come from low-income, Title 1 schools. YBF will work with area experts on vernal pools to develop the curriculum and deliver the tours.
In addition to teaching school children, YBF will also design curriculum for the general public, leading weekend tours throughout the spring. Trained docents will be on hand to assist with the tours and the grant will pay for curriculum development, production of plant identification cards, docent training, and weekly tours between late February and early May, depending on weather conditions. Throughout the course of the five-year grant, YBF expects 1,500 people to attend a tour, exposing a large group of area residents to Grasslands Regional Park.
This grant implements recommendations in the 2016 Parks Sustainability Study to work with community partners to provide guided tours and educational programming. Additionally, the successful implementation of this grant would tie in with marketing efforts currently underway by the Parks Division to raise awareness of the opportunities available at County Parks and to increase visitors. |
| Collaborations (including Board advisory groups and external partner agencies) |
| The General Services Department has collaborated with the Yolo Basin Foundation, who will be responsible for providing matching funds and will develop and implement the educational curriculum and tours at Grasslands Regional Park. The Parks, Recreation, and Wildlife Committee (PRWAC) recommended at their September 17, 2018, meeting that the Board adopt the resolution authorizing submission of the grant application. County Counsel has reviewed the Resolution as to form. The County's Grants Oversight Committee has reviewed and approved the Grant Summary Form. |
|
| Fiscal Impact |
|
|
| Source of Funds for this Expenditure |
|
|
Explanation (Expenditure and/or Revenue) |
| Further explanation as needed: |
| As the overseeing agency on this grant project, the County will be incurring all cash expenses on behalf of the Yolo Basin Foundation. Reimbursement for these expenses will occur on a bi-annual basis, ensuring that the County has a net zero annual expense for work related to this grant project. The year-one expense for this project is anticipated to be $25,000, which will be fully reimbursed by the grant. The on-going annual expense for the grant is anticipated to be $15,000 through the life of the project, which will be fully reimbursed by the grant. The only cost the Parks Division anticipates to the County is a small amount of staff time to facilitate payment of invoices and processing of reimbursement requests. The total grant request is $78,800, with a 1:1 match to be provided by YBF. |
|
|
|
|
|