Fish and Game Code - Chapter 7.5 of Division 3; Fish and Game Generally - Wildlife and Natural Areas Conservation Act (secs. 2700 - 2702)

FISH AND GAME CODE - FGC DIVISION 3. FISH AND GAME GENERALLY [2000 - 2948] ( Division 3 enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456. ) CHAPTER 7.5. Wildlife and Natural Areas Conservation Program [2700 - 2729] ( Chapter 7.5 added June 7, 1988, by initiative Proposition 70, a bond act. ) ARTICLE 1. General Provisions [2700 - 2702] ( Article 1 added June 7, 1988, by initiative Proposition 70. ) 2700. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Wildlife and Natural Areas Conservation Act. (Added June 7, 1988, by initiative Proposition 70. Operative November 9, 1988, by Sec. 4 of Prop. 70.) 2701. (a) The fundamental requirement for healthy, vigorous populations of fish and wildlife is habitat. Without adequate habitat, efforts to conserve and manage fish and wildlife resources will have limited success. Further, California contains the greatest diversity of wildlife and plant species of virtually any state in the nation. This rich natural heritage enables Californians to enjoy a great variety of recreational, aesthetic, ecological, and other uses and benefits of these biological resources. The public interest is served only by ensuring that these resources are preserved, protected, and propagated for this and future generations. (b) Many of California’s wildlife, fish, and plant species and biological communities are found nowhere else on earth. Without adequate protection and management, rare native species and communities could easily become extinct. In that event, the benefits they provide to the people of California, whether presently realized or which remain to be discovered, will be lost forever, and California will be significantly poorer as a result. (c) The people of California have vested in the department the principal responsibility for protecting, conserving, and perpetuating native fish, plants, and wildlife, including endangered species and game animals, for their aesthetic, intrinsic, ecological, educational, and economic values. To help accomplish this goal, the people of California have further established a significant natural areas program and a natural diversity database in the department, which is charged with maintaining and perpetuating California’s most significant natural areas for present and future generations. To ensure the perpetuation of areas containing uncommon elements of natural diversity and to ensure the continued abundance of habitat for more common species, especially examples of those that are presently threatened with destruction, the purchase of land is often necessary. javascript:submitCodesValues('2700.','5.11.1','1988','','',%20'id 6ca7c6dc-291f-11d9-b345-da121e20f3eb') javascript:submitCodesValues('2701.','5.11.1','2015','154','56',%20'id 37aa7860-a8f9-11e5-8711-995af6b52998') (d) Accordingly, the purpose of this chapter is to provide the Wildlife Conservation Board and the department the financial means to correct the most severe deficiencies in wildlife habitat and in the statewide system of areas designated for the preservation of California’s natural diversity through a program of acquisition, enhancement, restoration, and protection of areas that are most in need of proper conservation. (Amended by Stats. 2015, Ch. 154, Sec. 56. Effective January 1, 2016. Note: This section was added on June 7, 1988, by initiative Prop. 70.) 2702. As used in this chapter, the following terms have the following meanings: (a) “Acquisition” means the acquiring of any interest in real property. (b) “Fund” means the Wildlife and Natural Areas Conservation Fund created pursuant to Section 2720. (c) “Highly rare” means a worldwide rarity in which any species or natural community occurs in 50 or fewer locations, irrespective of whether the species or any species in the community is listed as threatened or endangered or was previously listed as rare. (d) “Natural community” means a distinct, identifiable, and recurring association of plants and animals that are ecologically interrelated. (e) “Species” means the fundamental biological unit of plant and animal classification that comprises a subdivision of a genus, but for the purposes of this chapter, “species” also includes the unit of a subspecies. (Added June 7, 1988, by initiative Proposition 70. Operative November 9, 1988, by Sec. 4 of Prop. 70.) ARTICLE 2. Habitat Conservation Program [2720 - 2729] ( Article 2 added June 7, 1988, by initiative Proposition 70. ) 2720. Moneys available for the purposes of this chapter pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 5930) of Division 5.8 of the Public Resources Code shall be deposited in the Wildlife and Natural Areas Conservation Fund, which is hereby created. Money deposited in the fund shall be available for appropriation by the Legislature to the Wildlife Conservation Board, for expenditure pursuant to the Wildlife Conservation Law of 1947, for the following programs: (a) Forty-one million dollars ($41,000,000) for the preservation of highly rare examples of the state’s natural diversity through the acquisition, enhancement, restoration, or protection, or a combination thereof, of lands supporting California’s unique, fragile, threatened, or endangered plants, animals, and natural communities. javascript:submitCodesValues('2702.','5.11.1','1988','','',%20'id 6ca94d80-291f-11d9-b345-da121e20f3eb') javascript:submitCodesValues('2720.','5.11.2','1988','','',%20'id 6ca94d84-291f-11d9-b345-da121e20f3eb') (b) Six million dollars ($6,000,000) for the acquisition, enhancement, restoration, or protection, or a combination thereof, of critical habitat areas for fish, game mammals, and game birds, including, but not limited to, the following types: (1) Winter deer ranges. (2) Wild trout or steelhead nursery and spawning areas. (3) Significant routes of migration for wildlife. (4) Breeding, nesting, and forage areas for sage grouse and other upland game birds. For purposes of this subdivision, “enhancement” includes the construction or development of facilities for furnishing public access to lands or waters open to the public for fishing, hunting, or shooting. (c) Three million dollars ($3,000,000) for the acquisition, enhancement, restoration, or protection, or any combination thereof, of lands providing habitat for threatened, endangered, or fully protected species, such as the bald eagle, San Joaquin kit fox, desert tortoise, bighorn sheep, peregrine falcon, and California condor. (Added June 7, 1988, by initiative Proposition 70. Operative November 9, 1988, by Sec. 4 of Prop. 70.) 2721. Funds available pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 2720 shall be expended to acquire, enhance, restore, or protect lands in California on which any of the following naturally exists: (a) A unique species or natural community, whose existence at a single location in California is the only known occurrence in the world of that particular species or natural community. (b) A species that occurs in only 20 or fewer locations in the world, at least one of which is in California. (c) A natural community that occurs in only 50 or fewer locations in the world, at least one of which is in California. (d) An assemblage of three or more highly rare species or natural communities, or any combination thereof, of which at least one of the species or natural communities is found only in 20 or fewer locations in the world. (Added June 7, 1988, by initiative Proposition 70. Operative November 9, 1988, by Sec. 4 of Prop. 70.) 2722. (a) Whenever the application of the criteria specified in Section 2721 results in the identification of two or more parcels of land that are essentially javascript:submitCodesValues('2721.','5.11.2','1988','','',%20'id 6ca94d86-291f-11d9-b345-da121e20f3eb') javascript:submitCodesValues('2722.','5.11.2','1988','','',%20'id 6ca94d88-291f-11d9-b345-da121e20f3eb') indistinguishable as to their quality, preference shall be given to the parcel on which exists the species that is more threatened or more endangered. (b) Whenever the application of the criteria specified in Section 2721 results in the identification of two or more parcels of land that are essentially indistinguishable as to their quality and the degree of threat to, or endangerment of, the species existing on them, preference shall be given to the parcel on which exists the best example of the species. As used in this subdivision, “best example” means the parcel of land and the wildlife inhabiting it which, in balancing all the factors present, represents, as determined by the board, the stronger combination of all of the following: the better condition, higher quality, easier defensibility, greater likelihood of long-term viability, and the lesser costs to be incurred by the department in operating and maintaining the parcel. (Added June 7, 1988, by initiative Proposition 70. Operative November 9, 1988, by Sec. 4 of Prop. 70.) 2723. (a) Of the total amount available pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 2720, not more than five million dollars ($5,000,000) may be encumbered for any single acquisition project. In enacting this limitation, the people of California recognize that there are a number of important projects meeting the criteria of this chapter but whose acquisition cost would most likely exceed this limitation. Therefore, in these instances any acquisition cost in excess of this limitation may be met by a donation by the owner, donations of funds from private sources, or other funds from state or nonstate sources. (b) The qualification for or allocation of a grant or grants to a local agency under Section 2720 shall not preclude eligibility for an additional allocation of grant funds to the same local agency pursuant to Section 2720 of this code or Section 5907 of the Public Resources Code. (Added June 7, 1988, by initiative Proposition 70. Operative November 9, 1988, by Sec. 4 of Prop. 70.) 2724. (a) In choosing among two or more parcels of land to be acquired, enhanced, restored, or protected with funds available pursuant to subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 2720, preference shall be given to acquiring, enhancing, restoring, or protecting the parcel that will result in the least cost to the department for operating and maintaining the land. (b) Funds available pursuant to subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 2720 may be encumbered only for lands which constitute habitat that is subject to destruction, drastic modification, or significant curtailment of habitat values. (Added June 7, 1988, by initiative Proposition 70. Operative November 9, 1988, by Sec. 4 of Prop. 70.) javascript:submitCodesValues('2723.','5.11.2','1988','','',%20'id 6caad42a-291f-11d9-b345-da121e20f3eb') javascript:submitCodesValues('2724.','5.11.2','1988','','',%20'id 6caad42c-291f-11d9-b345-da121e20f3eb') 2725. No funds available pursuant to this chapter shall be encumbered for any lands that, due to their degraded character, will not sustain plants or wildlife or will not afford protection to a natural community on a long-term basis. (Added June 7, 1988, by initiative Proposition 70. Operative November 9, 1988, by Sec. 4 of Prop. 70.) 2726. With respect to any lands which may be acquired, enhanced, restored, or protected with funds under this chapter and which could also be eligible for funds under Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 2600), funds under this chapter shall not be encumbered for those lands until it is determined by the Wildlife Conservation Board that funds are not likely to be available for those lands under that Chapter 7. (Added June 7, 1988, by initiative Proposition 70. Operative November 9, 1988, by Sec. 4 of Prop. 70.) 2727. No funds available for appropriation under this chapter may be encumbered for any purpose described in Section 1353 of the Fish and Game Code. (Added June 7, 1988, by initiative Proposition 70. Operative November 9, 1988, by Sec. 4 of Prop. 70.) 2728. An annual amount, not to exceed three hundred fifty thousand dollars ($350,000) may be appropriated from the fund in the 1988–89 through 1998–99 fiscal years, in an amount to be determined in each annual appropriation, to the Wildlife Conservation Board for expenditure for costs incurred by the board and the department in administering this chapter, including, but not limited to, preacquisition studies, planning, appraisals, surveys, and closing costs. The Wildlife Conservation Board and the department may augment, as needed, any amount thus appropriated with any funds appropriated to it from any other source. (Added June 7, 1988, by initiative Proposition 70. Operative November 9, 1988, by Sec. 4 of Prop. 70.) 2729. (a) For the purpose of administering this chapter, the Wildlife Conservation Board and the department shall augment its existing staff, whenever possible, by contracting for those services necessary for the administration of this chapter. javascript:submitCodesValues('2725.','5.11.2','1988','','',%20'id 6caad42e-291f-11d9-b345-da121e20f3eb') javascript:submitCodesValues('2726.','5.11.2','1988','','',%20'id 6caad430-291f-11d9-b345-da121e20f3eb') javascript:submitCodesValues('2727.','5.11.2','1988','','',%20'id 6caad432-291f-11d9-b345-da121e20f3eb') javascript:submitCodesValues('2728.','5.11.2','1988','','',%20'id 6cac5ad4-291f-11d9-b345-da121e20f3eb') javascript:submitCodesValues('2729.','5.11.2','2015','154','57',%20'id 39dc2572-a8f9-11e5-8711-995af6b52998') Any contract shall, however, be entered into only pursuant to Sections 19130 to 19132, inclusive, of the Government Code and shall be only for the minimum period necessary for completion of the particular project or projects for which the contract was entered into. (b) Due to the limited duration of the program authorized by this chapter, in the event some services cannot be provided by contract, any personnel directly hired by the Wildlife Conservation Board for the administration of this chapter shall be hired, to the extent permitted by Article 2 (commencing with Section 19080) of Chapter 5 of Part 2 of Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code, as limited term appointments. (Amended by Stats. 2015, Ch. 154, Sec. 57. Effective January 1, 2016. Note: This section was added on June 7, 1988, by initiative Prop. 70.)