Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 68

Introduced by Senator Galgiani

(Principal coauthors: Senators Cannella and McGuire)

(Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Cooper, Dodd, and Perea)

(Coauthors: Senators Berryhill, Pan, Vidak, and Wolk)

May 26, 2015

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 68—Relative to 2015 California Invasive Species Action Week.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SCR 68, as introduced, Galgiani. California Invasive Species Action Week.

This measure would declare June 6, 2015, to June 14, 2015, inclusive, as the 2015 California Invasive Species Action Week and would urge all Californians to participate in activities that raise awareness of invasive species issues and to take action to prevent their spread.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, Invasive species threaten California’s environment,
economy, water, natural resources, agriculture, and climate
adaptation; and

WHEREAS, The Department of Food and Agriculture, the
Natural Resources Agency, and four other state agencies have
endorsed a Strategic Framework for Protecting California from
Invasive Species; and

WHEREAS, Invasive species include plants, animals, insects,
diseases, and other biological organisms that are nonnative to
California; and

WHEREAS, Invasive species spread more rapidly with
increasing global travel and commerce, at great cost to human and
animal health as well as economic security; and

WHEREAS, The destructive impact of invasive species is
profound, affecting California’s cropland, rangeland, forests, parks,
wildlands, and waterways, and causing enormous losses of private,
state, and federal resources through decreased land productivity,
degradation of wildlife habitat, and outright destruction of crops,
livestock, wetlands, watersheds, and recreational areas; and

WHEREAS, Invasive species are a factor in damaging habitat
for nearly half of the species federally listed as threatened or
endangered, and in California, 415 special status species are
threatened by invasive plants alone; and

WHEREAS, Scientists estimate the costs to prevent, monitor,
and control invasive species combined with the costs of damages
to crops, fisheries, forests, and other natural resources cost the
United States $137 billion annually; and

WHEREAS, In California quagga and zebra mussels have altered
ecosystems, water quality, and food webs, fouled shorelines and
watercraft, clogged water intakes and conveyances, and cost the
state, water agencies and municipalities, and watercraft owners
hundreds of millions of dollars since their introduction in 2007;
and

WHEREAS, Invasive pests like the European grapevine moth,
Asian citrus psyllid, and glassy-winged sharpshooter can cause
major damage to California’s agricultural crops, invasive plants
damage rangeland productivity, and other invasive pests like the
gold-spotted oak borer and polyphagous shothole borer threaten
our forests; and

WHEREAS, Incurable invasive plant diseases, such as
huanglongbing, transmitted by the Asian citrus psyllid, and Pierce’s
disease, transmitted by the glassy-winged sharpshooter, are serious
threats to California’s citrus and grape-growing industries,
respectively, and have already shown severe and widespread
damage to these agricultural crops both nationally and
internationally; and

WHEREAS, Invasive plants damage rangeland productivity,
and noxious and invasive weeds have destroyed large portions of
riparian habitat along creeks, streams, rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and
other bodies of freshwater in California, damaging the integrity
of the riparian system by altering erosion, sedimentation, flooding,
and fire; and

WHEREAS, Invasive aquatic plants, such as water hyacinth,
Egeria densa, and spongeplant, have significantly degraded
ecosystems in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta by severely
choking waterways, altering water quality, destroying aquatic
habitat, obstructing recreation and navigation, and clogging
infrastructure and equipment, vastly increasing commercial
operating costs and costing the state millions of dollars, annually;
and

WHEREAS, The invasive weed Arundo donax (giant reed) has
established large colonies across the state, most notably in southern
California, where in one 10,000-acre area of riparian habitat the
weed has been estimated to consume more than 30,000 acre-feet
of water each year, or enough water to meet the yearly freshwater
needs of 150,000 persons; and

WHEREAS, The invasive weed yellow star-thistle has infested
more than 14.3 million acres, making it the most common invasive
plant in California, choking out native plants, and killing horses
who eat its poisonous early season growth; and

WHEREAS, Pathways for the spread of harmful nonnative
weeds are many and varied, involving both accidental and
intentional introductions, and could be reduced by increased
awareness of the dangers posed by even seemingly innocuous
plants that are transplanted to a different ecosystem; and

WHEREAS, The federal government, through the United States
Department of Agriculture, United States Fish and Wildlife Service,
and several other agencies, maintains programs to prevent, control,
and manage invasive species; and

WHEREAS, The State of California, through the Department
of Food and Agriculture, the Natural Resources Agency, and
several other agencies, maintains several invasive species
management programs and public awareness campaigns for the
purpose of preventing invasive species entry, reporting and
mapping new detections, and controlling and eradicating existing
populations; and

WHEREAS, The State Wildlife Action Plan 2015 Update has
identified invasive species as the most prevalent and widely
identified threat to the state’s diverse fish, wildlife, and plant
resources, and the habitats upon which they depend; and

WHEREAS, These programs to prevent, control, manage, and
eradicate invasive species have emphasized information sharing,
education, and public awareness as crucial to the success of
prevention, control, and eradication efforts; and

WHEREAS, The National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate
Adaptation Strategy, the President’s Council on Climate
Preparedness’ Priority Agenda: Enhancing the Climate Resilience
of America’s Natural Resources, and the President’s State, Local
and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate Preparedness and
Resilience, and Safeguarding California, our state’s climate
adaptation plan, recommend action to control invasive species as
a means to improve climate resiliency; and

WHEREAS, The 24-member California Invasive Species
Advisory Committee emphasizes the importance of public
awareness and engagement on the issue of invasive species; now,
therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby declares June 6,
2015, to June 14, 2015, inclusive, as the 2015 California Invasive
Species Action Week; and be it further

Resolved, That on the occasion of California Invasive Species
Action Week, the Legislature encourages all Californians to
participate in activities that raise awareness of invasive species
issues and take action to prevent their spread; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.