As part of a comprehensive review of the Effectiveness Monitoring Committee’s (EMC) Strategic Plan, the EMC is seeking feedback on a set of 11 Research Themes and associated Critical Monitoring Questions, originally formulated in 2017 to prioritize research funded by the EMC to investigate the efficacy of the California Forest Practice Rules (FPRs) and associated regulations.
Development of critical monitoring questions is an open and transparent public process where inclusion of priorities and public comments can be followed on the EMC webpage.[1] In 2017, EMC members, in conjunction with the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, reviewed priorities and monitoring questions provided by a wide variety of stakeholders, including agency(s), department(s), board(s), and EMC members, and identified key areas of concern from the interested public. The EMC reviewed the various proposed priorities and monitoring questions and developed critical monitoring questions to better understand whether management practices are achieving the various resource goals and objectives set forth in the FPRs and associated regulations; this set of questions was approved by the Board in December of 2017.
The EMC reviews the Themes and Critical Monitoring Questions as part of a review of the Strategic Plan at least every five years. The next update of the Strategic Plan is due in 2023. The 2018 Strategic Plan in its entirety may be found online[2]; Themes and Critical Monitoring Questions have been extracted from the Strategic Plan and may also be found online.[3]
Please review the referenced documents and provide comment and suggested revisions and updates on the EMC Themes and Critical Monitoring Questions. Comments and any supporting evidence must be received by 5:00 PM on Wednesday, August 31, 2022. Please indicate in the subject line, “Comments on EMC Strategic Plan Research Themes and Critical Monitoring Questions.” Electronic submission of written comments and documentary evidence is highly encouraged and should be sent to kristina.wolf@bof.ca.gov.
Physical documents, including comments and any supporting evidence, must be addressed to:
Dr. Kristina Wolf
Environmental Scientist
State Board of Forestry & Fire Protection
715 P Street, 9th Floor
Sacramento, California, 94814
Phone: 916-214-4947
Email: Kristina.wolf@bof.ca.gov
Notice is also hereby given that the EMC will hold a public meeting at which it will receive oral comments and testimony regarding the Themes and Critical Monitoring Questions. The EMC will consider the written and oral comments it receives and any additional evidence. The public meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 28, 2022 at 9:30 a.m. The agenda for the September 28th, 2022 EMC Meeting, along with instructions for participating in the meeting, will be posted on or about September 16, 2022 at https://bof.fire.ca.gov/.
If you have any questions regarding this notice, please contact Dr. Kristina Wolf at (916) 215-4947 or at kristina.wolf@bof.ca.gov.
[1] https://bof.fire.ca.gov/board-committees/effectiveness-monitoring-committee/
[2] https://bof.fire.ca.gov/media/9122/2018-emc-strategic-plan-ada.pdf
[3] https://bof.fire.ca.gov/media/y3kfq140/effectiveness-monitoring-committee-themes-and-critical-monitoring-questions.pdf