BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                             Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
                            2015 - 2016  Regular  Session

          AB 559 (Lopez) - Monarch butterflies: conservation.
          
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |                                                                 |
          |                                                                 |
          |                                                                 |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
          |                                |                                |
          |Version: June 16, 2015          |Policy Vote: N.R. & W. 7 - 2    |
          |                                |                                |
          |--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
          |                                |                                |
          |Urgency: No                     |Mandate: No                     |
          |                                |                                |
          |--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
          |                                |                                |
          |Hearing Date: July 6, 2015      |Consultant: Marie Liu           |
          |                                |                                |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 


          This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the  
          Suspense File.


          Bill  
          Summary:  AB 559 would explicitly authorize the Department of  
          Fish and Wildlife (DFW) to take actions to conserve monarch  
          butterflies and their habitat.


          Fiscal  
          Impact:  Unknown additional potential cost pressures, but likely  
          minor, to the Fish and Game Preservation Fund (special) to take  
          conservation actions, including habitat restoration projects, to  
          conserve monarch butterflies. 


          Background:  DFW is generally tasked with managing California's wildlife  
          and plant resources, and the habitats upon which they depend.  
          Wildlife is defined in the Fish and Game Code as "all wild  
          animals, birds, plants, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and related  
          ecological communities, including the habitat upon which the  
          wildlife depends on for its continued viability." 







          AB 559 (Lopez)                                         Page 1 of  
          ?
          
          


          Proposed Law:  
            This bill would explicitly authorize DFW to take actions to  
          conserve monarch butterflies and their habitats, including  
          habitat restoration on department lands, educational programs,  
          and voluntary agreements with private landowners. The bill would  
          also explicitly authorize DFW to partner with other governmental  
          and nongovernmental agencies and private individuals to  
          undertake actions to conserve monarchs.
          The bill would require DFW, when undertaking actions to conserve  
          monarch butterflies, to use the best available science and to  
          make specific considerations.




          Staff  
          Comments:  By giving DFW explicit authority to take conservation  
          actions on behalf of monarchs, this bill arguably would  
          encourage DFW to take such actions, thereby imposing cost  
          pressures on the Fish and Game Preservation Account. As an  
          illustration of potential costs, DFW notes that a full-scale  
          restoration project to provide high quality foraging habitat,  
          including follow-up treatments and management, is estimated to  
          cost at least $4,000 per acre. Given that DFW currently manages  
          approximately 230 acres over five of its properties for  
          monarchs, restoration costs could be in the high hundreds of  
          thousands of dollars to low millions.
          While there are cost pressures associated with monarch  
          conservation, staff believes that these cost pressures are at  
          least largely preexisting because of DFW's general authority  
          over wild animals, which includes butterflies.  




                                      -- END --