DUES DOLLARS AT WORK MEMBERSHIP ADOPTS NEW POLICY, SEAT NEW OFFICER AT 105TH ANNUAL MEETING by CCA Vice President of Government Affairs Kirk Wilbur Hundreds of California cattle ranchers gathered in Reno, Nev., from December 1-3, 2021 for the 105th Annual CCA/ CCW Convention and California Cattle Industry Tradeshow. After the COVID-19 pandemic imposed more than a year of restrictions on in-person gatherings and forced the 2020 CCA/CCW Convention online, CCA members, officers and staff relished the opportunity to reunite and catch up with good friends. During the Board of Directors meeting on Friday, December 3, Sheila Bowen, Bowen, Glennville, was unanimously elected to the position of CCA Second Vice President, replacing John Hammon, Hammon, Exeter, whose two-year term expired this year. Hammon’s service to CCA and the California cattle industry was celebrated the prior night during the CCA/CCW Awards Reception & Banquet (as were former CCA President Mark Lacey, Lacey, Independence, former Second Vice President Greg Kuck, Kuck, Montague, and former Treasurer Rob von der Lieth, Lieth, Copperopolis, whose terms ended during the 2020 virtual convention and were thus denied the fanfare usually afforded during the awards banquet). Bowen will serve alongside CCA Second Vice Presidents Trevor Freitas, Freitas, Tipton, and Rick Roberti, Roberti, Loyalton. President Tony Toso, Toso, Hornitos, and Vice President Steve Arnold,, Santa Margarita, both have one year remaining in Arnold their terms, and Bev Bigger, Bigger, Ventura, will continue as CCA Treasurer in 2022. Fire policy continued to be top-of-mind for members at this year’s Convention, with a standalone Fire Policy Subcommittee meeting on Wednesday, December 2 followed by an AB 1103 workshop to guide members through the process of developing a Livestock Pass program within their counties as enabled by CCA-sponsored legislation signed into law this year. CCA will continue to lobby hard for sensible wildfire prevention and forest resilience policy during the 2022 Legislative Session. Of course, the ultimate purpose of the Annual Meeting is to set CCA’s policy priorities for the coming year. To that end, six standing policy subcommittees met on Thursday, December 2 to consider expiring resolutions and advance new policy to guide CCA lobbying efforts in Sacramento and Washington, D.C. Below are the operative provisions of newly-adopted policies and directive advanced by those committees and approved by the membership during the Board of Directors meeting (with “whereas” clauses omitted for space); you can view CCA’s full policy book at www.calcattlemen.org/cca-policy. 10 California Cattleman January 2022
Federal Lands AGGRESSIVE FIRE SUPPRESSION ON USFS LANDS IN FIRE SEASON – Staff Directive BE IT DIRECTED, that the California Cattlemen’s Association staff reach out to the USFS to encourage the agency to revise its let-burn policy to instead focus on aggressive suppression during the fire season, in line with Chief Moore’s Aug. 2, 2021 memo titled “Chief ’s Wildland Fire Direction.” Property Rights & Environmental Management CATEGORICAL EXEMPTION AND CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION FROM CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT AND NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT TO PROMOTE WILDFIRE PREPAREDNESS IN HIGH-RISK AREAS
BE IT RESOLVED, that the California Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) shall lobby the California Legislature to allow an appropriate local agency to be designated a “lead agency” under CEQA that may grant categorical exemptions when rural communities (i.e., lives and private property) are at high risk of being destroyed by severe, uncontrollable wildfire due to an overabundance of fuels, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that CCA encourage the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association to lobby Congress for the same effective measures associated with NEPA. CATEGORICAL EXEMPTION FROM CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT TO PROMOTE POSTWILDFIRE EROSION CONTROL
BE IT RESOLVED, that the California Cattlemen’s Association lobby for categorical exemptions from CEQA for dealing with the damages caused by these unprecedented events. CCA thanks everyone who made the trek out to Reno and helped make the 105th Annual Meeting such a resounding success! For a recap of Convention and some of the issues tackled during the event, listen to recent editions of CCA’s Sorting Pen podcast, available at https:// calcattlemen.org/podcast/.
