Clark County Climate Community Group Coming to a Close
Friends of Clark County has been following along with the Clark County Climate Community Advisory Group (CAG) process, which is now in its final stages. We recently did a deep dive into the CAG’s Draft Goals and Policies and submitted comments suggesting improvements and emphasizing our climate priorities.
Our Perspective
While there are lots of great goals and policies in this draft, we felt that there needed to be more definition around the existing threats to our forest lands that sequester carbon, namely from mining and wildfire. As a reminder, 2,973 acres of forest-zoned land have been requested by the mining industry for surface mining overlays (see our latest Comp Plan Update article), and Camp Bonneville, a county-owned and managed mostly forested conservation land, poses a unique and heightened wildfire risk to Clark County. We were pleased to see that the CAG had already named the protection of legacy forests like the Dabbler in the draft.
In our comments, we also made the point that preserving agricultural land, as well as the rural buffer lands that protect agricultural land, are foundational to achieving the Climate CAG’s policies regarding the strengthening of our local food system for climate resilience. We wanted this Climate CAG to be aware of the fact that 3,068.7 acres of agricultural land is being needlessly threatened by de-designation this Comp Plan cycle, and that we must continue raising the alarm from a climate perspective.
Notably, much overlap exists between Comprehensive Plan elements which factored into how the draft was organized, so the draft simply cross-references the protection of agricultural land from conversion to other uses instead of re-stating the policy. It’s important to understand that cross-referencing policies relating to other elements does not separate them from the Climate CAG’s recommendations, nor does it change their significance. This is good news, as it means that the Climate CAG has already recognized the importance of preserving agricultural land as a climate resilience measure. We will be advocating to ensure this policy and other policies to strengthen our local food system makes it safely through final revisions.
Other important points we made are that mining is a threat to our water resources that need extra protection in light of the climate crisis, that the County needs to set ambitious greenhouse gas reduction goals as well as outline specific steps to ensure accountability for meeting those goals, and that all of this requires staff expansion for successful implementation.
FOCC is confident that our suggested improvements will come up for discussion at the final meeting through our allies on the CAG. You can read our full comments here.
What is Next?
Be sure to tune in to the final Clark County Climate CAG meeting on March 26th at 5:30pm. The Draft Goals and Policies produced by the 18- month CAG process will then go to the Planning Commission in April for its review and recommendations prior to coming before the Clark County Council, who will make the ultimate decision on what to adopt.
Between now and March 26th, CAG members will be participating in subcommittees and feedback surveys to further discuss and refine Health and Wellness goals and policies, as well as a few other statements that address Air Quality, and Building and Energy.
When the CAG comes to a close, it will be vital for the community to continue seeing the important recommendations that came out of this process through to the finish line so that the Council adopts the strongest climate action framework possible into the Comprehensive Plan Update. As you will learn from our Comp Plan Update article, the new Council majority has left all irresponsible private interest wishes on the table at this juncture despite their conflict with the goals of the Growth Management Act (GMA), so we cannot take anything for granted.
You can find meeting materials and information on the County website about how to attend the final Clark County Climate Advisory Group meeting here.
Given the existential threat posed by the climate emergency, building robust support from the ground up for a Clark County that is safe, beautiful, and resilient into the future is more important than ever, and will take a groundswell of sustained community engagement from supporters like you. Whether you channel your efforts through financial support for FOCC, engaging others on the issues we’ve deconstructed for you, or joining our team as a volunteer advisor or board member, we need all hands on deck!