California § 741.5 - On or before July 1, 2025, the Range Management Advisory Committee, established p

§ 741.5. On or before July 1, 2025, the Range Management Advisory Committee, established p

(a) On or before July 1, 2025, the Range Management Advisory Committee, established pursuant to Section 741, in consultation with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, fire ecologists with expertise in the full range of California’s vegetation communities, and the University of California Cooperative Extension Livestock and Natural Resources Advisors and Specialists, shall develop guidance for local or regional prescribed grazing plans. The guidance shall include all of the following: (1) Best practices for identifying and selecting priority areas for prescribed grazing. (2) Best practices for developing project plans and metrics for applying, monitoring, and evaluating the effectiveness and impacts of prescribed grazing. (3) Best practices for using prescribed grazing to increase the diversity and abundance of native species and decrease the abundance of invasive species, including through adaptive management, exclusion areas, wildlife-friendly fencing, and monitoring. (4) Recommendations for securing sufficient land and resources, including forage, needed to pasture livestock when not engaged in a prescribed grazing project. (5) Best practices for building community support and engaging with public and private landowners to improve the implementation and outcomes of a prescribed grazing plan. (6) Methods to identify opportunities to house and maintain shared grazing infrastructure. (7) Best practices to use prescribed grazing to support and enhance prescribed burns and other vegetation management projects. (8) Best practices for use of prescribed grazing for reducing wildfire risk in and near fire-threatened communities, as that term is defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 4124.5. (9) Other recommendations to increase the pace and scale of prescribed grazing at the local or regional levels, where appropriate. (b) The department shall consider and incorporate, at its discretion, the guidance developed pursuant to subdivision (a) in the grant program established pursuant to Section 4124.5. (c) The Department of Conservation shall consider and incorporate, where appropriate, the guidance developed pursuant to subdivision (a) in the grant program established pursuant to Section 4208.1.