BILL NUMBER: AB 1213 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bloom
FEBRUARY 22, 2013
An act to amend Section 4000 of, and to add Section 4013 to, the
Fish and Game Code, relating to fish and wildlife.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1213, as introduced, Bloom. The Bobcat Protection Act of 2013.
Existing law enumerates the fur-bearing mammals that may be taken
only with a trap, a firearm, a bow and arrow, or poison under a
proper permit, or with the use of dogs.
This bill would add the bobcat to this list of fur-bearing
mammals.
Existing law provides that fur-bearing mammals may be taken only
with a trap, a firearm, bow and arrow, poison under a proper permit,
or with the use of dogs. Existing law requires that every person,
other than a fur dealer, who traps fur-bearing mammals or nongame
mammals designated by the Fish and Game Commission, or who sells raw
furs of those mammals, procure a trapping license. Existing law
provides for the issuance of fur dealer licenses.
This bill would, notwithstanding those provisions, make it
unlawful to trap, import, export, or sell any bobcat or any part or
product thereof, or attempt to do so, or to receive, transport, or
possess any bobcat or any part or product thereof taken in violation
of these provisions or regulations adopted by the commission, except
as specified. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Bobcat Protection Act of 2013.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) It is the intent of the Legislature in adopting this act to
ensure that the bobcat (Lynx rufus) remains a fully functional
component of the ecosystems it inhabits throughout its range in
California.
(b) The Legislature recognizes that bobcats are an irreplaceable
part of California's natural habitat, and that, as predators of small
mammals, play an important role in regulating the population of
rodents in California's deserts, forests, and grasslands.
(c) The Legislature further recognizes that millions of people
visit California's national and state parks and other public and
private conservation areas for the purposes of, among other things,
viewing wildlife, including bobcats, and that this visitation
contributes millions of dollars to California's economy.
(d) The Legislature further recognizes that bobcats and other
native wildlife often cross the boundaries of national parks and
other protected areas into adjacent areas where the taking of bobcats
is currently allowed pursuant to the Fish and Game Code and the
regulations adopted pursuant to that code.
(e) While bobcats are hunted and trapped primarily for their fur,
rather than being classified as "fur-bearing mammals" under the Fish
and Game Code, bobcats are considered "nongame mammals" under the
laws of this state and consequently current California laws and
regulations provide no limits on the sex, age, location, or number of
bobcats that may be taken by licensed trappers or licensed hunters
on private and public lands in California where the taking of
wildlife is not otherwise prohibited.
(f) Current regulations provide for the commercial sale and export
of bobcat pelts taken by hunters or trappers in California.
(g) The Legislature further finds that a rise in the demand for
bobcat pelts in China and other foreign markets has resulted in a
substantial increase in the number of trappers taking bobcats as well
as in the number of bobcats taken for commercial purposes in
California.
(h) Reliable population estimates do not exist for bobcats
statewide in California and neither the Department of Fish and
Wildlife or the Fish and Game Commission possesses adequate data to
determine a sustainable harvest limit for bobcats.
SEC. 3. Section 4000 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to read:
4000. The following are fur-bearing mammals: pine marten, fisher,
mink, river otter, gray fox, red fox, kit fox, raccoon, beaver,
badger, bobcat, and muskrat.
SEC. 4. Section 4013 is added to the Fish and Game Code, to read:
4013. (a) Notwithstanding Sections 4002, 4003, 4005, and 4006,
and Article 2 (commencing with Section 4030), it is unlawful to trap,
import, export, or sell any bobcat or any part or product thereof,
or attempt to do so, or to receive, transport, or possess any bobcat
or any part or product thereof taken in violation of this code or
regulations adopted pursuant to this code.
(b) This section does not apply to the taking of any bobcat by
employees of the department acting in an official capacity or to a
taking in accordance with the conditions of a scientific or
propagation permit by the holder of that permit.
(c) This section does not apply to any bobcat or any part or
product thereof lawfully possessed prior to January 1, 2014, or to
the lawful taking of bobcats found to be injuring crops or property
that are taken under depredation permits issued pursuant to Section
4180, this code, or the regulations adopted pursuant to this code.
SEC. 5. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.