On or before April 1, 2002, the board and the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection shall develop a memorandum of understanding regarding the protection of oak woodlands that does all of the following:

(a) If necessary, creates a specific process for working together to use money from the fund in conjunction with the California Forest Legacy Program Act of 2000 (Division 10.5 (commencing with Section 12200) of the Public Resources Code).

(b) Lists elements a county or city shall include in its oak woodlands management plan. Items included in the plan shall assist a county or a city to specify conservation priorities and prevent oak woodlands habitat fragmentation while minimizing the cost and administrative burden associated with developing the plan. The elements may include any or all of the following:

(1) Tree inventory mapping.

(2) Oak canopy retention standards.

(3) Oak habitat mitigation measures.

(4) A procedure to monitor the effectiveness of the plan and to modify the plan as necessary.

(c) Designates an online repository for oak woodlands management plans that will be easily accessible to the public and any other state agency involved in oak woodlands conservation efforts.

(d) Discusses the relationship between oak woodlands conservation efforts under this article and efforts by other state agencies to protect oak woodlands, including efforts to combat sudden oak death, and outlines a plan, as necessary, for coordinating with these agencies.

(Added by Stats. 2001, Ch. 588, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2002.)