A View of the Sierra Nevada

In the northern Sierra, the old railroad town of Truckee is bustling. A resort boom has spilled over from nearby Lake Tahoe, and Truckee has a national reputation as an adventure-sports town. The historic main street is jammed with eateries, art galleries and antique stores. Thirty miles to the north, smaller Loyalton is withering with the decline of the logging industry. School enrollment is down. A quarter of Main Street is shuttered. The hospital is bankrupt.

The gap between Truckee and Loyalton illustrates much of what faces the Sierra Nevada Conservancy. Created by the Legislature in 2004 as the state’s ninth land conservancy, it began organizing itself this spring.

Unlike other conservancies, this one is concerned as much with smart economic development as with land protection. It is the compromise created by two assemblymen as different as Truckee and Loyalton: conservative Tim Leslie (R-Tahoe City) and liberal John Laird (D-Santa Cruz). Laird had environmental aims, while Leslie stood against state and federal agencies trampling the rights of local governments and business.

The conservancy, despite its difficult balancing act, is embraced by environmental organizations, labor unions, business associations and, importantly, local governments. Its purview covers all or parts of 22 counties stretching from the Oregon border nearly to Bakersfield; its 25 million acres are about a quarter of the state’s land area, much of it federally owned. Within it are four national parks, forested western Sierra foothills, the alpine summit of 14,494-foot Mt. Whitney, the Owens Valley and ancient Mono Lake. And Loyalton and Truckee.

As Leslie sees it, the Loyaltons of the Sierra have become “welfare meccas.” He looks to the conservancy for economic stimulus programs. To others, the region’s chief problem is managing sprawl and development along the western foothills near cities and towns from Truckee south, where suburbs of Sacramento and Fresno stretch into the foothills. Truckee Mayor Craig F. Threshie would like to see more cooperative planning between mountain counties and affordable housing for town workers.

The Sierra Nevada Conservancy will not primarily buy and preserve land. It is not a regulatory body. Among its goals: boost tourism and recreation, conserve special areas, protect water and air quality, assist the regional economy, and enhance public use and enjoyment of public lands.

The conservancy’s board has held two meetings and has yet to hire a regular staff. The next year will consist largely of planning and meeting with local governments and advocates to determine needs and priorities. Ultimately, the agency (within the umbrella of the state Resources Agency) is expected to finance its operations through sales of a new Sierra Nevada auto license plate.

What may lend the conservancy authority is not money or muscle, but the continued support of the broad coalition that worked for a quarter-century to bring it about.