[4] The 25 million acres within this Conservancy are a gift to the people of California... AB 2600 is common sense legislation to preserve and protect our environment and allow everyone to enjoy our Sierra Nevada Mountains for years to come.
Its creation was spearheaded by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and co-sponsored by Assemblymembers Tim Leslie and John Laird.
In 2006, voters passed Proposition 84, with some of the funding appropriated to the Sierra Nevada Conservancy for safe water supply and quality, flood control, park improvements and natural resource protection.
The conservancy's jurisdiction originally covered approximately 25,000,000 acres (101,171.41 km2; 39,062.50 sq mi) in the counties of Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, El Dorado, Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Lassen, Madera, Mariposa, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Tehama, Tulare, Tuolumne, and Yuba.
[3] SB 208, chaptered in 2021, expanded the geographical territory within the conservancy's service area to approximately 27,000,000 acres.