New Steward for PG&E; Forestland Begins Its Work

A new group formed to oversee 140,000 acres of mostly undeveloped watershed throughout the state met this week for the first time to begin considering how to manage nearly 1,000 parcels in 22 counties.

The lands have been transferred to the care of the newly formed Pacific Forest and Watershed Lands Stewardship Council as part of Pacific Gas & Electric Co.’s bankruptcy reorganization, negotiated by the state Public Utilities Commission.

The stewardship council met Thursday in San Francisco to begin considering how to manage PG&E;’s holdings, mainly in the northern Sierra Nevada and southern Cascade Range. Much of the land is heavily forested and contains many prime fishing streams and hunting areas. One 655-acre parcel in Central California is on the picturesque Carrizo Plain in southern San Luis Obispo County.

“This is going to take a ton of work and a lot of careful thought,” said David Sutton, a council member representing the Trust for Public Land conservation group. “There really isn’t a precedent. After all, how often do you inherit, so to speak, 140,000 acres of land? PG&E; took 150 years to figure out how to manage this land.”

The council includes representatives of businesses, conservation organizations, the Legislature and the PUC.

At its first meeting, the council created the public trust that will oversee the management of each parcel. The lands are to be permanently protected either through conservation easements, land transfers to the public trust or state or federal agencies, or by land swaps or gifts. None of the former PG&E; land is to be developed, and much of it will be open to the public.

Much of the property was obtained by PG&E; during the 19th century and is relatively untouched. However, the utility operated its hydropower plants along rivers and streams and allowed commercial logging and livestock grazing. Those activities are expected to continue on some parcels.

The council can tap into a $100-million fund to take care of wildlife habitat, rehabilitate rivers, replant forests and improve trails and campgrounds. The council will also administer a $30-million program to benefit urban youth.

About $20 million is set aside to buy and maintain urban parks, and $10 million will be used to offer urban children wilderness experiences.

The $100-million fund came from statewide ratepayers, not a special levy or fee.