BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1956|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1956
Author: Monning (D)
Amended: 8/9/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/9/10
AYES: Pavley, Cogdill, Huff, Kehoe, Lowenthal, Padilla,
Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hollingsworth, Simitian
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 72-0, 4/22/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : California condors: feeding
SOURCE : Ventana Wildlife Society
DIGEST : This bill exempts from a prohibition regarding
the transport of a dead animal by a dead animal hauler or
any other person to any place other than prescribed
locations, a nonprofit organization promoting the recovery
of California condors that participates in a memorandum of
understanding with the Department of Fish and Game to
provide food for free-ranging California condors and
possesses an annual permit for the transport of dead
animals that this bill authorizes the Secretary of the
Department of Food and Agriculture to issue to such an
organization.
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Senate Floor Amendments of 8/9/10 authorize the Secretary
to issue an annual permit to a nonprofit organization for
the purpose of providing carcasses to condors, provided
that specified information is provided to the Department of
Food and Agriculture, and clarify that a nonprofit
organization that provides food for condors does not need
to obtain a waiver from the state veterinarian for that
purpose.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Authorizes the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) to
implement programs to preserve California condors.
2. Prohibits the transport of a dead animal by a dead
animal hauler or any other person to any place other
than prescribed locations, except under certain
circumstances, including transport pursuant to
prescribed waivers or permits.
This bill:
1. Exempts from a prohibition regarding the transport of a
dead animal by a dead animal hauler or any other person
to any place other than prescribed locations, a
nonprofit organization promoting the recovery of
California condors that participates in a memorandum of
understanding with DFG to provide food for free-ranging
California condors and possesses an annual permit for
the transport of dead animals that this bill authorizes
the Secretary of the Department of Food and Agriculture
(DFA) to issue to such an organization.
2. Authorizes the Secretary to issue an annual permit to a
nonprofit organization for the purpose of providing
carcasses to condors, provided that specified
information is provided to DFA.
3. Clarifies that a nonprofit organization that provides
food for condors does not need to obtain a waiver from
the state veterinarian for that purpose.
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Background
The California condor is North America's largest
terrestrial bird, with a wingspan of nine and one-half
feet. The condor dates back to before the Pleistocene era
and has inhabited this continent for at least 50,000 years.
Condors are scavengers and feed primarily on dead carrion,
which has been a source of ingested lead ammunition
fragments. Although condors once ranged over much of North
America, by the 1940s their range had been reduced to the
coastal mountains of southern California. Condors were
listed as endangered in California in 1967. The condor
reached near extinction in the early 1980s, with less than
30 individual birds left alive in the wild. Key factors
determined by biologists as contributing to the decline of
the condor include lead poisoning and illegal shooting, in
addition to habitat loss and other factors. Scientists
determined that the only hope for the condor's survival was
to institute a captive breeding program. The last wild
birds were captured in 1987, and an intensive captive
breeding program was instituted.
Biologists began reintroducing condors back into the wild
in 1992. Today, they are being reintroduced into the
mountains of southern California north of the Los Angeles
basin, in the Big Sur vicinity of the central California
coast, at Pinnacles National Monument, and near the Grand
Canyon in Arizona. Just this year, the first condor nest
in California's Pinnacles National Monument in 100 years
was found with a single egg. Condors typically do not
begin breeding until they are seven years old and normally
mate for life.
Comment
Currently, DFG has a memorandum of understanding with the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) for
contracting organizations to help re-establish the condor
in the wild.
As of 2007, major expenditures for the recovery effort came
from USFWS, the Los Angeles Zoo, the San Diego Wild Animal
Park, The Peregrine Fund, the Ventana Wildlife Society,
Pinnacles National Monument, and the Oregon Zoo. These
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participants maintain captive-rearing facilities, release
sites, or both. In 2008, the total funding for this effort
from public and private sources was $5.34 million.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/10/10)
Audubon California
Defenders of Wildlife
Green California
Sierra Club California
The Big Sur Land Trust
Ventana Wildlife Society
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/10/10)
Department of Finance
Department of Fish and Game
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
existing law ignores the foraging needs of California
condors and prohibits the transport of dead animals and
their use as food for other species, including endangered
species, which he believes is contrary to the spirit of the
state Endangered Species Act.
The Ventana Wildlife Society, which has assisted for years
with the condor recovery effort, states that this bill
would enable DFG to authorize the feeding of condors and is
therefore an important step in advancing the recovery of
this species.
Defenders of Wildlife states that dead livestock and
road-killed wildlife offer an ample food supply for condors
but are often unavailable to free-ranging California
condors due to existing collection and disposal procedures.
Sierra Club California believes that current law requiring
disposal of dead carcasses is contrary to the spirit of the
state Endangered Species Act in that these carcasses can
not be made available to condors, a federal and state
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listed endangered species.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Department of Finance
writes: "DFG is concerned that allowing individuals to
transport domestic carcasses that were killed on roads or
die of natural causes could result in carcasses infested
with disease being displaced to new areas. Additionally,
DFG believes that the transportation exemption could lead
to contagious disease vectors being transmitted between
domestic and wild animals. This bill removes restrictions
that are currently in place to prevent free-range condors
from feeding on diseased carcasses."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Tom
Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Bradford, Brownley,
Buchanan, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Cook, Coto,
Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Emmerson, Eng,
Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani,
Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall,
Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Jeffries, Jones, Knight,
Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller,
Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, V. Manuel
Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva,
Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson,
Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, John
A. Perez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bill Berryhill, Blumenfield, Caballero,
Conway, Harkey, Huffman, Norby, Vacancy
CTW:mw 8/10/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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