BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 1097 (Nestande) - Fish and Game commission: Mirage Trail.
Amended: August 13, 2013 Policy Vote: NR&W 9-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 19, 2013 Consultant:
Marie Liu
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 1097 would specify that the Mirage Trail within
the Magnesia Spring Ecological Reserve must be open to
recreational hiking between the months of May to January if
specified conditions are met.
Fiscal Impact: Annual costs of $100,000 to $500,000 from the
General Fund from 2014 to 2019 for an assessment of the impact
of the open period on the Peninsular bighorn sheep.
Background: Ecological reserves are established by the Fish and
Game Commission (FGC) and are managed by the Department of Fish
and Wildlife (DFW). Existing regulations allow DFW to restrict
public entry to reserves to protect the wildlife, aquatic life,
or habitat.
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 the Fish and Game Commission (FGC) to
consolidate a large area of critical habitat for the endangered
Peninsular bighorn sheep. The reserve is under three different
management plans, all of which have the purpose of managing the
reserve to protect bighorn sheep and biological diversity.
Existing regulations (14 CCR 630(b)(73)) prohibit entry, with
limited exceptions, to the Magnesia Spring ecological reserve
between January 1 to September 30 except on a designated trail.
Existing law requires that the Mirage Trail be open nine months
of the year if local public agencies or other entities will
assume complete financial responsibility for fencing to dissuade
hikers from leaving the trail and signage and education
materials to educate hikers about bighorn sheep. These
AB 1097 (Nestande)
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provisions sunset on January 1, 2018.
Proposed Law: This bill would specify that the nine month open
period on the Mirage Trail be from May to January. This bill
would also require the FGC to assess whether the nine-month
schedule has any significant environmental impacts on the
bighorn sheep.
Related Legislation: AB 880 (Nestande) Chapter 5277/2012
required that the Mirage Trial be open for nine months of the
year provided specified conditions were met.
Staff Comments: Under existing law, the FGC would have to
undergo a CEQA analysis to determine which nine months the
Mirage Trial should be open to recreational hiking. This bill
would remove FGC's discretion in determining the open season,
thereby no longer subjecting the action to CEQA. However, while
there would no longer be costs incurred to do a full CEQA
analysis, FGC would need to make an assessment of the impact of
the open season on bighorn sheep pursuant to this bill.
The cost estimate of this assessment is dependent on the scope
of the assessment as well as whether the study is done by the
DFW or it is contracted out. Contract costs are estimated to be
approximately $100,000 per year while DFW's costs would be
closer to $500,000 a relatively involved study. DFW believes
that these costs would be borne by the General Fund as this
study would not be an allowable use of the Fish and Game
Preservation Fund.