Mission, Vision, Values, and History

CAP Mission, Vision, & Values

Mission: It is the mission of the Community Action Project (CAP) to protect and improve the natural and built environments in Calaveras County by empowering people to claim their rights and participate in local government. CAP’s primary program is the Calaveras Planning Coalition, which is a federation of regional and local organizations, community groups, and concerned individuals who promote public participation in land use and resource planning to ensure a healthy human, natural, and economic environment now and in the future. Our accomplishments have been in four areas: the general plan update, community plan preparation, water plans, and technical assistance to threatened neighborhoods

Vision:

• Preserve the rural quality of life in our County
• Protect our natural environment and our agricultural lands
• Promote locally owned viable business
• Provide jobs and housing for all residents
• Preserve our historical and cultural resources
• Empower people to claim their rights and improve their communities

Values:

• Strive to encourage the widest possible public participation in decision making
• Seek educational and economic opportunities for all citizens
• Maintain an open and transparent decision making process
• Create change and growth using a positive approach based on principles that protect both our citizens and our environment

CAP History

Since it began over 15 years ago, the mission of the Community Action Project, or CAP, has evolved from “promoting community-based democracy so that people have more control over their quality of life as it is affected by local government” to “protecting and improving the natural and built environments in Calaveras County by empowering people to claim their rights and participate in local government.”

CAP is a grassroots non-profit community-based, community-focused citizen participation organization serving the residents of Calaveras County on the western slope of California’s central Sierra Nevada Range in the heart of the historic Mother Lode region. The county has a population of 46,000 and contains three major watersheds associated with the Calaveras, Mokelumne and Stanislaus Rivers.  From west to east the terrain moves from rolling foothills and oak woodlands to high elevation mixed conifer forests.

Originally founded in 2005 as a project of Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch (EPFW), CAP quickly became an independent organization with its own Governing Committee, annual operating budget, mission, and projects.  However, EPFW remains the fiscal sponsor for CAP, which receives financial support through grants, fundraising events, and the generous donations of our supporters.  CAP’s primary program is the Calaveras Planning Coalition (CPC).

EPFW Saw a Need

For years, Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch has been a leader in community-based forest protection in the Sierra Nevada. In 2005, EPFW noted that Calaveras County needed a group to empower citizens to have greater control over quality of life issues beyond forest protection.  The quality of life issues of concern in communities throughout Calaveras County included land use management, transportation, affordable housing, resource conservation, open space, public safety, economic resiliency, and environmental sustainability. To address these broader community issues, EPFW started the Community Action Project, commonly known as “CAP.”

After studying the challenges facing the people of Calaveras County, the CAP Committee decided to hire staff to organize communities throughout the County to address these critical issues. What the organizer found was that many small groups concerned with these quality of life issues had already formed in some communities while other communities needed help to get organized. In addition, it became clear that one of the best opportunities to address these issues of concern was the pending update of the obsolete and inadequate Calaveras County General Plan.

Formation of the Calaveras Planning Coalition (CPC)

As the once isolated community groups began to meet together to promote a comprehensive update of the Calaveras County General Plan with full public participation, they discovered that their communities had a lot of concerns in common. They also discovered that, when coordinated in a geographically comprehensive mutual assistance group, they got far more done than they had as geographically and topically isolated groups.

Ultimately, the community groups discovered that the issues they were concerned with at a very local level (the land use impacts of sprawl, traffic gridlock, energy and water conservation, air quality, sustainable economic development, protecting the legacy of working landscapes, wildlife habitat, and emergency services) were also topics of concern throughout the Sierra Nevada region and throughout California. These were not just local quality of life issues anymore; they were also issues of great concern at the regional, state, and national level.

Calaveras residents were no longer working only to protect their own backyards, but their neighbor’s ranches, the region’s air quality, the state’s water supply, the nation’s recreation areas, and the world’s climate. Today, this federation of regional and local organizations, neighborhood groups, and concerned individuals is known as the Calaveras Planning Coalition (CPC), CAP’s flagship endeavor.

CPC Challenges the General Plan Update

Although the CPC consistently advocated over 13 years for a general plan that protects open space values and sufficiently mitigates the impacts of growth and development, the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors adopted an updated General Plan in November 2019 that violates state planning law and the California Environmental Quality Act.  On December 9, 2019, the CPC filed a case in Calaveras County Superior Court challenging the General Plan Update. The Petition for Writ of Mandate; Complaint for Injunctive and Declaratory Relief Pursuant to General Plan Law, the California Public Records Act, and the California Environmental Quality Act can be viewed on this website. Click on “General Plan Need to Know” on the right side of this page, or click on “Testimony, Comments, and Opinion” in the “Planning Documents” drop down menu on the home page.