BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1097| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- CONSENT Bill No: AB 1097 Author: Nestande (R) Amended: 6/19/13 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER COMMITTEE : 9-0, 6/11/13 AYES: Pavley, Cannella, Evans, Fuller, Hueso, Jackson, Lara, Monning, Wolk ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 5/9/13 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Fish and Game Commission: Mirage Trail SOURCE : Author DIGEST : This bill requires the Mirage Trail within the Magnesia Spring Ecological Reserve (Reserve) to be open to the public during the months of May to January, inclusive, and closed for three months during the months of February to April, inclusive, for recreational hiking, if the Fish and Game Commission (Commission) makes specified findings. ANALYSIS : Existing law: 1. Provides a list of threatened and endangered species under federal and state law, and prohibits the taking of any species so listed. Requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) and other state agencies to take steps to CONTINUED AB 1097 Page 2 conserve species listed as threatened or endangered. The Peninsular bighorn sheep has been listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act since 1998 and under the California Endangered Species Act as a threatened species since 2000. 2. Authorizes DFW, with approval of the Commission, to acquire, maintain and manage lands for ecological reserves to protect threatened or endangered species. Makes it unlawful for any person to enter upon any ecological reserve except in accordance with the Commission regulations. Authorizes DFW to designate areas within ecological reserves for trails, and to provide for added protection for species as necessary, and allows only such public use and entry as are compatible with the primary purpose of the reserve and subject to the Commission regulations. 3. Requires that the Mirage Trail within the Reserve be kept open nine months of the year for recreational hiking, as specified. This bill: 1. Requires the Mirage Trail within the Reserve to be open to the public during the nine months of May to January, inclusive, and closed for three months during the months of February to April, inclusive, for recreational hiking, if the Commission makes specified findings. 2. Requires the Commission to assess whether the nine-month schedule has any significant environmental impacts on the Peninsular bighorn sheep. 3. Requires these provisions to remain in effect until January 1, 2017. Background The Mirage Trail is a very popular trail with an estimated use by 100 to 200 people daily. It is three miles long and the last half mile is located within the Reserve. This portion was closed in 2006 by the DFW as mitigation for the creation of new trails and because it encroaches on important lambing and rearing habitat for Peninsular bighorn sheep. CONTINUED AB 1097 Page 3 According to DFW, 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 DFW personnel to repair vandalized signs. Local public agencies or other entities must 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. The Commission determines seasonal openings and closures of the trail at times that will not conflict with the use of the area by Peninsular bighorn sheep. Existing law designates the 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 DFW. 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. Prior legislation . AB 880 (V. Manuel Perez, Chapter 527, Statutes of 2012) required DFW to keep the trail open to recreational hiking for nine months out of the year, if the Commission found certain conditions were met, including that a local entity had assumed financial responsibility for fencing, signage and education of the public necessary to protect the Peninsular bighorn sheep for which the ecological reserve was set up. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No CONTINUED AB 1097 Page 4 SUPPORT : (Verified 6/19/13) Coachella Valley Association of Governments ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 5/9/13 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom, Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Torres, Wagner, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez NO VOTE RECORDED: Ammiano, Holden, Logue, Waldron, Vacancy RM:k 6/19/13 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED