Supervisors to receive economic fund update
State program promotes diversified economies
The Inyo County Board of Supervisors during its meeting this morning is scheduled to receive an update regarding the California Jobs First/the Community Economic Resilience Fund (CERF).
California Jobs First/ the Community Economic Resilience Fund (CERF) is a statewide program that was created to promote new strategies to diversify local economies and develop sustainable industries that create high-quality, broadly accessible jobs for all Californians.
This $600 million program is meant to ensure that local communities are empowered to identify their own paths to adapt to climate change and other economic challenges, and that state funding is available to support communities in implementing their local strategies to provide well-paying jobs in every region of California.
According to the California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, the CERF was created to promote a sustainable and equitable recovery from the economic distress of COVID19 by supporting new plans and strategies to diversify local economies.
The Sierra Business Council (SBC) is under contract with the state of California to serve as the spearhead and fiscal agent for the Eastern Sierra region, which includes Amador, Calaveras, Tuolumne, Mariposa, Alpine, Inyo and Mono counties.
SBC’s role is to convene local representatives from each of the participating counties and help the Eastern Sierra region identify projects, get prepared, and successfully compete for funding under the CERF program.
Participating counties have a variety of representatives participate in the process through a series of sub-committees that feed into one 21-member voting council.
According to Inyo County staff, the CERF program guidelines are ever-changing, but are currently set up to provide funding opportunities for planning, catalyzing and implementation of projects through a series of phases.
The first phase included the selection and funding of SBC as the convener and fiscal agent for the region, the setup of the
until whirling disease was discovered there in 1984.
Because the disease does not infect eggs, production of trout eggs continued there until 2007.
In July 2008, the property was severely damaged from flood and mudslide and temporarily closed to the public.
An interpretive center operated by the Friends of Mount Whitney Fish Hatchery remains open today.
The tribe is committed to protecting wildlife habitats and native plants, using the resources prudently and making the property open to all.