Kennedy Meadows Gets Approval

Sonora, CA — Tuolumne County is one step away from becoming the manager of the 240 acre Kennedy Meadows property.

At a recent Stewardship Council board meeting, the board approved the Kennedy Meadows Land Conservation and Conveyance Plan. The land was owned by PG&E who has been forced to give up the property as part of a 2004 bankruptcy settlement. The Stewardship Council was created to manage the process.

Part of the agreement is transferring PG&E’s lease with Kennedy Meadows Resort and Pack Station over to the county. The non-profit Stewardship Council Executive Director Allene Zanger says “the current lease revenue is about $50,000 and would go to the county to be used for protecting and managing the forest area.” The lease with Kennedy Meadows Resort and Pack Station doesn’t expire until December 31, 2028.

PG&E will now bring the plan to the Public Utilities Commission who has to approve all land sales. Once the plan has final approval, Zanger says “Sometime in 2014 the lands will be conveyed to Tuolumne County.”

As part of the plan Tuolumne County is required to conduct a cultural resource study to study the effects the resort, employee housing, and manure spreading has on the water quality and other biological resources in the area. Tuolumne County also has to prepare a manure management plan, a grazing management plan, and a recreational use plan.

The Stewardship Council is a private non-profit foundation formed in 2004 with a staff of 15 professionals and a board of 18 members made up of representatives from: state and federal agencies, water districts, tribal and rural interests, forest and farm industry groups, conservation organizations, the California Public Utilities Commission, and Pacific Gas and Electric Company.