‘Sierra checkerboard' threatens species continuity

Large, continuous swaths of open space may play an important role beyond recreation in the future. As the climate warms, both plants and animals are making the move uphill, according to biologists and ecologists with groups including the University of California, Davis, and the U.S. Forest Service. But species need continuous open space to make such a move — or they could die off. Areas with large east-west swaths of undeveloped land in the Sierra Nevada — such as Nevada County — could be critical for species' survival. “The recommendation we're consistently getting from the scientific community regarding climate change is to accommodate species adaptation. Large blocks of land — about 50,000 acres or larger — are critical,” said David Sutton, Northern California and Nevada Director for the Trust for Public Land, in a previews interview. That continuity is threatened in the northern Sierra by a land ownership pattern known as the “Sierra checkerboard,” a remnant of the federal government's granting of every other square mile of land in the region to the Southern Pacific Railroad to build the transcontinental railway. Today, that means some checker squares are forest service open space, while others are privately owned, and could be developed in the future...more

Just as the feds use terrorism to spy on us, they will now use global warming to increase their land acquisition.