Land Conservation FAQs
Lake Britton Planning Unit
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What is the Stewardship Council?Stewardship Council is a California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation focused on land conservation and youth investment programs. Its mandate includes evaluating and providing recommendations for the conservation and future public use of over 140,000 acres of watershed lands spread across 22 California counties, as well as developing and implementing community-based park and environmental education opportunities for underserved youth.
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Where are the watershed lands located?The 981 parcels of land cover 141,727 acres (more than 221 square miles) over 22 counties in California. These properties stretch from Shasta County in the north to Fresno County in the south, from the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges in the east to the Eel River watershed in Mendocino County and the Carrizo Plains in San Luis Obispo County. Please see the Map of Conservation Lands for more information.
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What is the Council's relationship to PG&E?The Stewardship Council is an independent, nonprofit foundation. Its funding comes from PG&E, which has one seat and is an equal voting member, on the 15-member Board of Directors.
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Does the Stewardship Council own the watershed lands?No, PG&E owns the watershed lands. However, the Land Conservation Plan recommends that a portion of these lands be donated to qualified agencies or organizations.
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Who funded the Stewardship Council?The Stewardship Council received $10 million per year from PG&E until 2013.
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Who was on Stewardship Council's Board of Directors?The Stewardship Council’s Board of Directors was composed of a diverse group of organizations including state and federal agencies, water agencies, tribal and rural interests, forest and farm industry groups, conservation organizations, the California Public Utilities Commission, and Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Since the Stewardship Council's inception in 2004, eighteen different organizations appointed directors to the board.
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Where do I get information about the Stewardship Council?If you would like information that you can’t find on this website, please contact us directly at (916) 297-6660 or info@stewardshipcouncil.org. We would like to hear from you!
For more information on the Stewardship Council, please visit our FAQ {here}
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Endnotes
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1 The Settlement Agreement between PG&E, PG&E Corporation, and the Commission ("Settlement Agreement"), includes paragraph 17 and Appendix E, which together establish the Land Conservation Commitment. This document is available on the Stewardship Council website.
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2 The Stipulation Resolving Issues Regarding The Land Conservation Commitment ("Stipulation") was entered into as of September 25, 2003, by PG&E and an array of public entities and non-profit organizations, to interpret and state mutually agreeable terms for the implementation of the Land Conservation Commitment. This document is available on the Stewardship Council website.
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3 A “recognized tribe” is defined as a federally recognized California Native American tribe or a non-federally recognized California Native American tribe that is on the contact list maintained by the Native American Heritage Commission to protect a California Native American prehistoric, archaeological, cultural, spiritual, or ceremonial place.