BILL NUMBER: SB 1166	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Berryhill

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2012

   An act to add Sections 715 and 715.1 to the Fish and Game Code,
relating to fish and wildlife resources.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1166, as introduced, Berryhill. Department of Fish and Game:
wildlife-dependent recreational activities.
   The Wildlife Conservation Law of 1947 authorizes the Wildlife
Conservation Board to authorize the acquisition of real property,
rights in real property, water, or water rights by the Department of
Fish and Game. Other existing law authorizes the department, for the
purposes of propagating, feeding, and protecting birds, mammals, and
fish, and establishing wildlife management areas or public shooting
grounds, subject to the approval of the Fish and Game Commission, to
acquire and occupy, develop, maintain, use, and administer, land, or
land and nonmarine water, or land and nonmarine water rights,
suitable for state game farms, wildlife management areas, or public
shooting grounds.
   This bill would require the department to exercise its authority
to manage lands in a manner to support, promote, and enhance
wildlife-dependent recreational activities, including hunting and
sport fishing opportunities, to the extent authorized by law. The
bill would prohibit, to the greatest practicable extent, department
decisions and actions relating to land management from resulting in
any net loss of available wildlife-dependent recreational
opportunities that exist on January 1, 2013.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 715 is added to the Fish and Game Code, to
read:
   715.  The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) The National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and
Wildlife-Associated Recreation has been conducted since 1955 and is
one of the oldest and most comprehensive continuing recreation
surveys.
   (b) The 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and
Wildlife-Associated Recreation found all of the following:
   (1) Eighty-seven million five hundred thousand United States
residents 16 years of age and older participated in wildlife
dependent recreation.
   (2) Individuals participating in wildlife-dependent recreation
spent $122.3 billion in 2006 on their activities, which equated to 1
percent of the Gross Domestic Product.
   (3) Hunters and anglers spent $76.6 billion, while wildlife
viewers spent $45.7 billion.
   (4) Seven million four hundred thousand California residents and
nonresidents 16 years of age and older fished, hunted, or viewed
wildlife.
   (5) State residents and nonresidents spent $8 billion on
wildlife-dependent recreation.
   (c) The department reported that in 2006, hunters and anglers
spent seventy-eight million dollars ($78,000,000) on licenses,
stamps, tags, and access fees.
   (d) Revenue generated by wildlife-dependent recreational
activities play an exceedingly important role in California's
economy.
   (e) Revenue generated by hunters and anglers is critical to the
department's ability to protect, enhance, and manage wildlife
habitat.
  SEC. 2.  Section 715.1 is added to the Fish and Game Code, to read:

   715.1.  (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that lands managed
by the department be open to wildlife-dependent recreational
activities, including hunting and sport fishing, except as limited by
the commission or department for reasons of public safety or as
otherwise limited by law.
   (b) The department shall exercise its authority to manage lands in
a manner to support, promote, and enhance wildlife-dependent
recreational activities, including hunting and sport fishing
opportunities, to the extent authorized by law. To the greatest
practicable extent, department decisions and actions relating to land
management shall not result in any net loss of available
wildlife-dependent recreational opportunities, including hunting and
sport fishing, that exist on January 1, 2013.