COMMISSION

Overview
The OHMVR Division Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program (Grants Program)
Regulations define restoration: “upon closure of the unit or any portion thereof, the return of
land to the contours, the plant communities, and the plant covers comparable to those on
surrounding lands or at least those which existed prior to OHV use.”
Prior to Senate Bill (SB) 742, it was unclear whether
restoration planning came under the definition of
“restoration.” SB 742 clarified that Grants Program
restoration funding could be used for restoration
planning, defined as “identifying appropriate restoration
techniques, strategies and project implementation,
including environmental review associated by the project.”
This made it possible to use restoration funds to prepare
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents.
The Public Resources Code (PRC) requires that 25 percent
of the funds appropriated by the Legislature for OHV
grants must be awarded to provide ecological restoration to
habitat damaged by OHV use.
Since 2008,
the OHMVR
Division Grants
Program has
awarded over
$50,000,000
in ecological
restoration
funding.
In recent years there had not been sufficient qualifying
grant requests to distribute all of the available restoration
funding. Subsequently, Grants Program administrators increased their restoration outreach
efforts to agencies, Resource Conservation Districts, and non-profit organizations. As a
result, the number of project applications and amounts requested increased substantially.
Restoration in BLM and USFS Areas
The OHMVR Division has continued its long-standing relationship with federal agencies
to repair and restore areas that have been affected by OHV recreation. Over the last
three years, more than $7.5 million has been awarded to the two largest federal land
managers in the state, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and United States Forest
Service (USFS).
2017 Program Report 125