From: 	DFG News
To:	DFG News
Date: 	9/14/2010 2:52 PM
Subject: 	News about DFG's proposed policy on land management endowments
Attachments:	Attachment-5-July-2010-Endowment-Workshop.pdf; Attachment-1-Final-Endowment
	-Staff-Report-for-FGC.pdf; Attachment-2-Interim-Procedures.pdf; Attachment-
	3-Endowment-Decision-Tree.pdf; Attachment-4-Endowment-Effect-Matrix.pdf

September 3, 2010
 
Dear Stakeholder,
 
Thank you for your continued interest in the Department of Fish and Game’s (Department) proposed policy change regarding California Endangered Species Act (CESA) permit and mitigation/conservation bank agreement (bank agreement) land management endowments. As such, we wanted to provide you with an update on our future course of action. 
 
As a result of ongoing discussions with interested parties, the Department plans to develop and implement a pilot project to evaluate the use of the two exclusive options for managing these endowments outlined in our June 2010 staff report (Attachment #1) - the Special Deposit Fund and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. For details on how the pilot project will work, please see the attached Interim Procedures for Establishing, Managing and Disbursing Endowments (Attachment #2) and the Pilot Project Endowment Holder Decision Tree (Attachment #3), which will aid stakeholders in determining if an endowment they wish to hold is subject to the pilot Interim Procedures. The Department also prepared a table that provides a visual summary of the types of entities and endowments that may be effected by this pilot project (Attachment #4).
 
In addition, the Department intends to conduct during Fall 2010 a facilitated stakeholder process that will focus on seeking solutions to the challenges the State, and the Department in particular, face in managing CESA-related endowment management by third parties. These challenges include economic pressures and risks to the State, as well as the lack of infrastructure and appropriate fiscal expertise within the Department to adequately monitor 3rd-party fiscal management of these endowments. During this process we anticipate exploring alternative solutions or options for addressing these challenges and welcome your input and insights. The Department anticipates completion of this stakeholder process by December 31, 2010. Meanwhile, during the duration of this stakeholder process, the Department intends to freeze the conditional approval of new third parties to hold CESA endowments.
 
Finally, as promised during our July 9, 2010 Workshop held in Sacramento, attached please find Summary Notes (Attachment #5) taken during the meeting.
 
Again, thank you for your continued interest in the Department’s proposed endowment policy. Within the next 30 days, please expect to receive a timeline and list of dates and meeting locations for our expanded stakeholder process. In the meantime, should you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact Ms. Tina Bartlett, Chief, Habitat Conservation Planning Branch at (916) 653-9834.
 
Sincerely,
 
Kevin Hunting
Chief Deputy Director