In April 2006, Jin Branham, Executive Director of the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, and others, spoke to the Sierra College class named Interdisciplinary 6: The Sierra Nevada.
Biography
This Sierra Cast features a panel discussion entitled “The Sierra Nevada Bioregion: Insuring a Sustainable Future (Economics, Culture, Management, and Protection).” Representatives from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, the Sierra Business Council, the Sierra Fund, the Sierra Nevada Alliance, and the Mariposa County Board of Supervisors participated.
Jim Branham was recently appointed Executive Officer for California’s new Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC).
Branham was appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger and served as Undersecretary for the California Environmental Protection Agency in 2003. He assumed his new post with the Sierra Nevada Conservancy in October 2005.
The Sierra Nevada Conservancy was established in January 2005 to allocate funding for environmental preservation while providing support for economic sustainability across 25 million acres of California’s Sierra. As California’s largest conservancy, the SNC will provide grants to local governments for environmental protection, resource conservation, recreational opportunities and economic growth. Its mission is to cooperate with local governments and interested parties to preserve and protect the environment and economies of the Sierra Nevada region. This includes 22 counties, 20 incorporated cities, 40 special districts, and 212 communities.
Branham provides an overview of the SNC and joins a variety of representatives from government and private organizations in discussing plans for securing sustainable interests in the Sierra while simultaneously protecting its natural resources, environmental quality, and economic security.
The panel also included Steve Frisch, Vice-President, Programs, Sierra Business Council; Lee Stetson, Mariposa County Board of Supervisors; Izzy Martin, Chief Executive Officer, The Sierra Fund; and Julie Leimbach, Community Group Coordinator, The Sierra Nevada Alliance.
