County says D.C. lobby trip drives conversation

Who says nothing gets done in Washington, D.C.?

Back from a couple of days lobbying in the nation’s capitol, a delegation from Mariposa County government believes their voices were heard and they moved the dial on a number of issues.

The trip was timed with the National Association of Counties (NACO) Legislative Conference Feb. 21-24.

Individual meetings with federal representatives were set up by Mariposa County’s lobbyist, Townsend Public Affairs.

Those attending included Mariposa County Supervisors Miles Menetrey, Jenni Kiser and Shannon Poe, as well as County Administrative Officer Joe Lynch and Board Clerk Danielle Bondshu.

“It was a full three days on the hill,” Menetrey wrote in an email.

Menetrey attended three days ahead of the group as board chair of the Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC), where he was part of meetings with 15 California representatives and both senators, the White House, and various congressional committees and federal departments.

Menetrey said he pushed for FEMA reimbursements, Secure Rural Schools (SRS), YARTS funding, the Fix Our Forest Act (FOFA) and Good Neighbor Authority between counties and federal land.

RCRC paid for his trip. Mariposa County’s price tag for the trip was not available at press time.

BLM and USFS

For Kiser, the value of the trip in terms of deliverables back to Mariposa County is obvious.

“If you aren’t at the table, you don’t have a voice and others will drive the conversation,” Kiser said.

The front burner topics included funding for rural county hospitals, schools and roads.

The Mariposa County delegation met with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to make suggestions about mining operations and extending grazing time for permit holders on BLM land to help with fire mitigation.

Currently, grazing operations don’t begin until June or July. But Kiser believes they need to begin in February to help with fire mitigation.

During the Biden Administration the idea “was not well received,” she said.

In the Trump Administration, BLM “grabbed on to that really quickly” in the theme of cutting government bureaucracy.

The Mariposa delegation also met with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to discuss the Fix Our Forests Act aimed at reducing catastrophic wildfires through thinning and prescribed burns on federal land.

Kiser said the response from both BLM and USFS seemed different this year.

“There’s lots of layers of bureaucracy which has built up over the years,” she said.

“And then you have to go, ‘Well, wait a minute. This person’s just trying to make sure their house doesn’t burn down. Why should it take three and half years to get a grazing permit and why do they start in July?’”

In Lieu of Taxes

Menetrey and the rest of the delegation also frequently discussed increasing funding for a U.S. Department of Interior program called Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT).

PILT is aimed at counties where a large portion of their land is public and therefore doesn’t generate property taxes for the local community.

In Mariposa County, publicly owned land accounts for 52 percent of the total land area.

In FY2024-25, Mariposa County received $1.46 million in PILT money from the federal government. More than $1.5 million is expected in FY2025-26.

The formula used to calculate PILT payments is based on population, revenue-sharing payments and the amount of federal land.

PILT payments are separate from payments for livestock grazing or timber harvesting.

Since payments began in 1977, DOI has made $12 billion in payments nationwide.

Miwuk momentum building

Federal recognition for the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation (SSMN) was a lobbying priority, as it has been for more than four decades, although there is a genuine feeling of renewed momentum.

The Mariposa delegation met with Congressman Tom McClintock, who is calling for a “fair and expedited review” of a 2018 negative finding for federal recognition from Department of Interior Indian Affairs Office of Federal Acknowledgment (OFA). (See related story.)

The delegation included California Congressman Kevin Kiley in those discussions this year because he is engaged in a similar fight for federal recognition of the Mono Lake Kootzaduka’a Tribe.

Kiser said the response from both McClintock and Kiley was “pretty magnificent.”

“They’re both really interested in seeing this federal recognition happen, I can tell you that much,” she said.

The Office of Federal Acknowledgment, (OFA) declined to meet with the Mariposa delegation.

“I was a little disappointed about that,” Kiser said.