Session Co-Coordinators: Erika Lovejoy, Sustainable Conservation and Brad Henderson, California Department of Fish and Wildlife
 

The State has prioritized the 30x30 conservation and Cutting Green Tape initiatives, catalyzing agencies to develop new ways to address the urgent needs around habitat loss, species decline, and climate change. There is significant new funding available at both the federal and state levels to move work forward and all of the pieces need to be aligned to accelerate restoration and increase impact. Agencies are responding to the call for action and collaborating with project implementers and restoration experts to create wide-reaching efficient permitting tools that expand partnership with project proponents and increase the State’s capacity to tackle environmental problems. This session provided efficient permitting implementation and policy updates and case examples of projects to highlight newly developed and precedent-setting regulatory tools that create a separate permitting pathway for a wide variety of aquatic habitat restoration projects of all sizes.  The audience was engaged to hear their questions – and potential solutions – to help increase the pace and scale of restoration in California.