BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 880|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 880
Author: Nestande (R) and V. Manuel Perez (D)
Amended: 8/6/12 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RESOURCES & WATER COMM. : 8-0, 7/3/12
AYES: Pavley, La Malfa, Evans, Fuller, Kehoe, Padilla,
Simitian, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cannella
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-2, 5/31/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Ecological reserves: Mirage Trail
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill, until January 1, 2018, requires the
Mirage Trail within the Magnesia Spring Ecological Reserve
to be open nine months of the year to recreational hiking ,
if the Fish and Game Commission (FGC) determines that
certain conditions relating to Peninsular bighorn sheep are
met. This bill requires FGC to determine seasonal openings
and closures of the trail that will not conflict with the
use of the area by Peninsular bighorn sheep.
ANALYSIS :
Existing state regulations:
CONTINUED
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1. Establishes ecological reserves to provide protection
for rare, threatened or endangered native plants,
wildlife, aquatic organisms and specialized terrestrial
or aquatic habitat types. Requires that public entry
and use of ecological reserves are compatible with the
primary purposes of the reserves (14 CCR Section 630).
2. Requires that resources within an ecological reserve are
protected and that no person shall mine or disturb
geological formations or archaeological artifacts or
take or disturb any bird or nest, or eggs thereof, or
any plant, mammal, fish, mollusk, crustacean, amphibian,
reptile, or any other form of plant or animal life in an
ecological reserve. Authorizes the Department of Fish
and Game (DFG) to implement enhancement and protective
measures to assure proper utilization and maintenance of
ecological reserves (14 CCR Section 630 (a)).
3. Authorizes DFG to restrict public entry to protect the
wildlife, aquatic life, or habitat.
4. Establishes special regulations for Magnesia Spring
Ecological Reserve that no person (with limited
exceptions including employees of the City of Rancho
Mirage or the City of Palm Desert who are in the
performance of their official duties) shall enter this
Reserve during the period January 1 to September 30
except on designated trail (14 CCR Section 630(b)(73)).
Existing federal law:
1. Establishes the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that makes
it unlawful for any person subject to the jurisdiction
of the United States to take any endangered species of
fish or wildlife listed pursuant to the act within the
United States or the territorial sea of the United
States.
2. Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to permit under
such terms and conditions as he shall prescribe, the
taking of an endangered species if such taking is
incidental to, and not the purpose of, the carrying out
of an otherwise lawful activity (Section 10(a)(1)(b)).
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This bill, until January 1, 2018, requires the Mirage Trail
within the Magnesia Spring Ecological Reserve to be open
nine months of the year to recreational hiking , if FGC
determines that certain conditions relating to Peninsular
bighorn sheep are met. This bill requires FGC to determine
seasonal openings and closures of the trail that will not
conflict with the use of the area by Peninsular bighorn
sheep.
Background
Magnesia Spring Ecological Reserve . The Magnesia Spring
Ecological Reserve is located in the Northern Santa Rosa
Mountains of the Coachella Valley above the cities of
Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert. The Reserve was established
in 1975 by FGC to consolidate a large area of critical
habitat for the endangered Peninsular bighorn sheep, Ovis
canadensis nelsoni. The Reserve currently falls within the
purview of three different management plans: (1) DFG
wildlife management plan specifically for the Magnesia
Spring Ecological Reserve, (2) the Santa Rosa Mountains
Wildlife Habitat Management Plan which includes the Reserve
land and adjacent Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land, and
(3) the Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan which
includes land throughout the Coachella Valley including the
Reserve. DFG adopted the wildlife management plan for
Magnesia Spring Ecological Reserve in 1976. The management
plan states that the primary intent of the Reserve is to
rehabilitate and maintain habitat centered around Magnesia
Spring so that the bighorn sheep population in the area can
be maintained. The Santa Rosa Mountains Wildlife Habitat
Management Plan (SRMWHMP) was adopted by the BLM and DFG in
1980. SRMWHP states its principal emphasis is to manage
the bighorn sheep population by preserving habitat and
tailoring public use to insure minimal permanent impacts.
The Coachella Valley Multiple Species Habitat Conservation
Plan (MSHCP) was approved by 21 federal, state, and
regional agencies and cities in 2007 with the purpose of
enhancing and maintaining biological diversity and
ecosystem processes while allowing for future economic
growth.
Related Legislation
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AB 284 (Nestande, 2011) had identical language about
reopening the Mirage trail in the Magnesia Spring
Ecological Reserve. The bill did not pass out of the house
of origin before the January 31, 2012 deadline and died.
AB 880 was subsequently gut and amended with the language
from AB 284.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/8/12)
City of Indian Wells
Coachella Valley Association of Governments
Coachella Valley Economic Partnership
Indio Chamber of Commerce
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/8/12)
Sierra Club California
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, "the
Mirage Trail has been used for many years and the bighorn
sheep population has continued to grow. A proper study, as
required in the CVMSHCP, has not been conducted to justify
the closure. Before the trail is closed, this research
should be provided to show it is necessary."
Hikers of the trail question the claim that the endangered
bighorn sheep are being infringed upon by hikers on the
Mirage trail. They state there are no studies that show
hikers affect bighorn sheep populations, that bighorn sheep
do not use the area where the Mirage trail is located, that
other trails further in the reserve with higher
concentrations of sheep are still open seasonally, and that
DFG has failed to show why it is necessary to gate off the
last mile of the Mirage trail.
Supporters also state that DFG has overreached their
authority in its decision to close the trail without first
conducting a proper study to show the closure is necessary
and that biologists who have intimate interaction with
bighorn sheep habitat say there are discrepancies and
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inconsistencies in the data used by DFG to make their
decision.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : Sierra Club California writes,
"First, the top portion of the 'Mirage' trail was kept
closed as mitigation for the opening up of other portions
of DFG's ecological reserves in the area to trail use. AB
880 will now remove away what is required as CEQA
mitigation. Also, opening the top portion of the trail
should require new CEQA review. Second, opening this
portion of the trail by legislation also could negatively
affect the entire Coachella Valley MSHCP Trails Plan
framework. (The Trails Plan is a component of the NCCP/HCP
and is for the benefit of endangered peninsular bighorn).
Finally, AB 880 creates bad precedent by legislating uses
in DFG Ecological Reserves that is better left to the
agency to decide with stakeholder and local input."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-2, 5/31/11
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth
Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Grove, Hagman,
Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill,
Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lara,
Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller,
Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby,
Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Silva,
Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao,
Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, John A. Pérez
NOES: Fong, Yamada
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gorell
CTW:m 8/8/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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