AB 498, as amended, Levine. Wildlife conservation: wildlife corridors.
Existing law requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife to administer the Significant Natural Areas Program, and requires the department, among other things, to develop and maintain a spatial data system that identifies those areas in the state that are most essential for maintaining habitat connectivity, including wildlife corridors and habitat linkages. Existing law requires the department, contingent upon the provision of certain funding, to investigate, study, and identify those areas in the state that are most essential as wildlife corridors and habitat linkages and prioritize vegetative data development in those areas. Existing law requires the department to seek input from representatives of other state agencies, local government, federal agencies, nongovernmental conservation organizations, landowners, agriculture, recreation, scientific entities, and industry in determining essential wildlife corridors and habitat linkages.
This bill would declare that it is the policy of the state and all state agencies, with regard to a project proposed in an area identified as a wildlife corridor, to encourage the project proponent to consult with the department, and, wherever feasible and practicable, take steps tobegin delete protectend deletebegin insert promote, protect,end insert or restore the functioning of the wildlife corridor through various means, as applicable.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 1930 of the Fish and Game Code is
2amended to read:
The Legislature finds and declares that:
4(a) Areas containing diverse ecological and geological
5characteristics are vital to the continual health and well being of
6the state’s natural resources and of its citizens.
7(b) Many habitats and ecosystems that constitute the state’s
8natural diversity are in danger of being lost.
9(c) Connectivity between wildlife habitats is important to the
10long-term viability of the state’s biodiversity.
11(d) Preserving, restoring, and connecting high-quality habitat
12for wildlife can create habitat strongholds.
13(d)
end delete
14begin insert(e)end insert Increasingly fragmented habitats threaten the state’s wildlife
15species.
16(e)
end delete
17begin insert(f)end insert There is insufficient incentive for private landowners to
18maintain
and perpetuate significant local natural areas in their
19natural state.
20(f)
end delete
21begin insert(g)end insert Efforts to preserve natural areas have been fragmented
22between federal, state, local, and private sectors.
23(g)
end delete
24begin insert(h)end insert Analysis of the state’s habitat connectivity benefits from the
25consideration of all relevant
data, including information from
26private and public landowners.
27(h)
end delete
28begin insert(i)end insert The department’s existing mapping activities and products
29should be developed and sustained.
30(i)
end delete
31begin insert(j)end insert The importance of wildlife corridors to assist in adapting to
32climate change has been recognized by such groups as the
Western
33Governor’s Association, which unanimously approved a policy to
P3 1protect wildlife migration corridors and crucial wildlife habitat in
22007. Individual local, state, and federal agencies have also adopted
3policies aimed at protecting wildlife corridors and restoring habitat
4connectivity, in order to protect ecosystem health and biodiversity
5and to improve the resiliency of wildlife and their habitats to
6climate change. However, these efforts could be enhanced through
7establishment of a statewide policy to protect and restore important
8wildlife corridors and habitat linkages where feasible.
Section 1930.5 of the Fish and Game Code is amended
10to read:
(a) Contingent upon funding being provided by the
12Wildlife Conservation Board from moneys available pursuant to
13Section 75055 of the Public Resources Code, or from other
14appropriate bond funds, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the
15department shall investigate, study, and identify those areas in the
16state that are most essential as wildlife corridors and habitat
17linkages, as well as the impacts to those wildlife corridors from
18climate change, and shall prioritize vegetative data development
19in these areas.
20(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the Wildlife
21Conservation Board use various funds to work with the department
22to complete a
statewide analysis of wildlife corridors and
23connectivity to support conservation planning and climate change
24adaptation activities.
25(c) It is the policy of the state to promote the protection of
26wildlife corridorsbegin insert, habitat strongholds,end insert and habitat linkages in
27order to enhance the resiliency of wildlife and their habitats to
28climate change, protect biodiversity, and allow for the migration
29and movement of species by providing connectivity between habitat
30lands. In order to further these goals, it is the policy of the state
31and all state agencies, with regard to a project proposed in an area
32identified as a wildlife corridor, to encourage the project proponent
33to consult with the department, and, wherever feasible and
34practicable, take steps tobegin delete protectend deletebegin insert
promote, protect,end insert or restore the
35functioning of the wildlife corridor through various means, as
36applicable. Those means may include, but are not necessarily
37limited to, acquisition or protection of wildlife corridors as open
38space through conservation easements, installing ofbegin delete wildlife begin insert wildlife-friendlyend insert fencing, and provision of roadway
39friendlyend delete
P4 1undercrossings and oversized culverts and bridges to allow for
2movement of wildlife between habitat areas, as applicable.
3(d) In adopting the policy described in subdivision (c), it is not
4the intent of the Legislature to create new regulatory
requirements.
5The Legislature finds and declares that there are a number of
6existing programs, including, but not necessarily limited to,
7programs involving working landscapes, such as timberlands and
8rangelands, that are already working to achieve the policy
9described in subdivision (c).
10(d)
end delete
11begin insert(e)end insert For purposes of this chapter,begin delete “wildlifeend deletebegin insert the following terms
12have the following meanings:end insert
13(1) “Habitat stronghold” means high-quality habitat that
14supports wildlife in being more resilient to increasing pressures
15on species due to climate change and land development.
16begin insert(2)end insertbegin insert end insertbegin insert“Wildlifeend insert corridor” means a habitat linkage that joins two
17or more areas of wildlife habitat, allowing for the movement of
18wildlife from one area to another.
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