BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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| SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER |
| Senator Fran Pavley, Chair |
| 2013-2014 Regular Session |
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BILL NO: AB 1097 HEARING DATE: June 11, 2013
AUTHOR: Nestande URGENCY: No
VERSION: Amended 5/1/2013 CONSULTANT: Leonardo Scherer
Alves
DUAL REFERRAL: No FISCAL: No
SUBJECT: Fish and Game Commission: Mirage trail.
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
The Mirage trail is a very popular trail with an estimated use
by 100 to 200 people daily. It is 3 miles long and the last
mile is located within the Magnesia Spring ecological reserve.
This portion was closed in 2006 by the Department of Fish and
Wildlife (DFW) as mitigation for the creation of new trails and
because it encroaches on important lambing and rearing habitat
for Peninsular bighorn sheep.
According to the department, gates and signs were constructed at
the point of closure. The gates and signs were vandalized and
the closure ignored. In 2011, a sturdier gate and new signs were
installed along with security cameras, which were also
vandalized, and the cameras stolen. Vandalism has been on the
rise in the area, with vandals moving boulders into the road to
block weekly visits by department personnel to repair vandalized
signs.
Current law requires local public agencies or other entities to
assume complete financial responsibility for the following as
determined to be necessary by the commission including:
(1) Fencing to dissuade hikers from traversing beyond the trail
and into sensitive Peninsular bighorn sheep habitat; and
(2) Signage and educational materials to educate hikers about
Peninsular bighorn sheep.
Also, under existing law, the California Fish and Game
Commission determines seasonal openings and closures of the
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trail at times that will not conflict with the use of the area
by Peninsular bighorn sheep
DFW manages 130 ecological reserves encompassing about 215,000
acres in the state<1>.
Existing law designates the Magnesia Spring ecological reserve
as an ecological reserve established for the primary purpose of
protecting threatened or endangered species, including
Peninsular bighorn sheep. It also prohibits any person from
entering the Reserve from January 1 to September 30, with
exceptions for the Mirage trail and other designated trails as
permitted by the department. 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.
PROPOSED LAW
This bill would establish that the Mirage trail would be open
during the nine months of May to January.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
A CEQA analysis would be necessary to determine which three
months the trail will remain open. By specifying the three
months a CEQA report will not be necessary, avoiding waste of
public resources.
COMMENTS
The Peninsular bighorn sheep was listed as a threatened under
the California Endangered Species Act in 1971 and as an
endangered species under the Federal Endangered Species Act in
1998. The population has declined from 1971 to 1996 to only 276
individuals. The decline was due in great part to habitat
fragmentation, habitat loss by urban and commercial development,
disease, predation, human disturbance, insufficient lamb
recruitment, among others.
This bill ignores the findings of the 2011 US Fish and Wildlife
Service 5-year review to reassess the extent of the threat to
bighorn sheep. Specifically, that review did not recommend a
change from the current classification of endangered species
largely because of human recreation and trail use in the
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<1> http://www.dfg.ca.gov/lands/factsheet.html
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Coachella valley area<2>. The same report also states that human
interaction interferes with lambing. Papouchis et al. found
bighorn sheep to be more sensitive to disturbance during the
spring and fall, corresponding with lambing and rutting
seasons<3>. Disturbance can result in physiological responses,
such as elevated heart rate (MacArthur et al. 1979, MacArthur et
al. 1982)<4> <5> even when no behavioral response is obvious. As
wild animals, bighorn sheep are not accustomed to human
interaction. Thus, human interaction causes increase levels of
stress. There is an extensive amount of scientific data
supporting the association of chronic stress and weakening of
the immune system, rendering these animals to greater
susceptibility to disease. It is important to note that in 2005
the low lamb survival rate was associated with a viral outbreak.
Safe undisturbed lambing areas are critical for the survival of
young bighorn sheep. These animals rely on escape terrain to
avoid predators so when they are disturbed and leave these safe
areas they become more vulnerable to predators such as coyotes
and mountain lions.
This bill may not allow for adequate flexibility because animal
life cycles are complex and uncertain. According to the Bighorn
Institute<6>, a nonprofit organization created by biologists and
veterinarians with the goal to investigate the causes of bighorn
sheep declines, lambing season varies by location and year.
Desert bighorn are born in January to June, with the majority
being born in February to April
SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS
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<2>
http://www.fws.gov/carlsbad/SpeciesStatusList/5YR/20110421_5YR_PB
S.pdf page 94
<3> Papouchis, et al. 1999. Effects of increasing recreational
activity on desert bighorn sheep in Canyon lands National Park,
Utah. Pages 364-391 USGS Open File Report 99-102, Midcontinent
Ecological Science Center, Fort Collins, CO.
<4> MacArthur R.A., et al. 1979. Factors influencing heart rate
in freeranging desert bighorn sheep: A physiological approach to
the study of wildlife harassment. Canadian Journal of Zoology
57: 2010-2021.
<5> MacArthur R.A., R.H. Johnston, and V. Geist. 1979. Factors
influencing heart rate in freeranging desert bighorn sheep: A
physiological approach to the study of wildlife
harassment. Canadian Journal of Zoology 57: 2010-2021.
MacArthur R.A., et al. 1982. Cardiac and behavioral responses of
mountain sheep to human disturbance. Journal of Wildlife
Management 46: 351-358.
<6> http://www.bighorninstitute.org/help.htm
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AMENDMENT 1
Add a 3-year sunset on the proposed 9 months in which the
trail will remain open in order to assess whether the nine
month schedule has no significant impacts on the species.
SUPPORT
Coachella Valley Association of Governments
OPPOSITION
None Received
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