Get to Know Upper Salinas-Las Tablas RCD
Upper Salinas-Las Tablas Resource Conservation District (RCD) serves North San Luis Obispo County including portions of Monterey and Kern Counties. Like many RCDs, since they do not receive tax payer funding, they bring millions of dollars to local communities through conservation projects funded mainly through grants and private contributions.
The RCD’s office has five staff members, two of whom are part of the California Conservation Corps’ Watershed Stewards Program.
Their programs focus on conservation education, healthy soils, water conservation, habitat restoration, and technical assistance. Their services to landowners and community members include water conservation, watershed protection, creek restoration, habitat improvement, fish passage projects, grower workshops, among many more.
One of the unique projects they offer to their community is the Growing Responsible And Socially Sustainable – Cannabis (GRASS-C) program. With GRASS-C, the RCD hopes to “give growers a set of tools to evaluate their successes and areas needing improvement, and to give them a resource to use to market themselves as good stewards.” In the voluntary program, growers work with the RCD and use the GRASS-C document as a guide to self-assess their practices. The best management practices cover issues such as soil erosion, water conservation, water quality, energy usage, soil health, waste management, and more.
The RCD’s sustainable cannabis project page reads: “With the passage of Proposition 64, we recognized a unique opportunity to take a proactive approach to working with legal cannabis growers in our area.” In August 2019, the Upper Salinas-Las Tablas RCD, in collaboration with Cachuma RCD and Coastal San Luis RCD, hosted a workshop to perform outreach to cannabis growers to and discuss sustainable practices.
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