BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE RULES COMMITTEE
Office of Senate Floor Analyses
1020 N Street, Suite 524
(916) 445-6614 Fax: (916) 327-4478
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THIRD READING
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Bill No: SB 28
Author: Leslie (R), et al
Amended: 5/30/95
Vote: 21
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SENATE NATURAL RES. & WILD. COMMITTEE: 5-5, 4/5/95
AYES: Johannessen, Johnston, Leslie, Monteith, Rogers
NOES: Hayden, Killea, Mello, O'Connell, Solis
NOT VOTING: Thompson
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WILD. COMMITTEE: 6-3, 4/25/95
AYES: Thompson, Johannessen, Johnston, Leslie, Monteith,
Rogers
NOES: Hayden, Mello, Solis
NOT VOTING: Killea, O'Connell
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 11-2, 5/25/95
AYES: Johnston, Alquist, Calderon, Greene, Kelley, Killea,
Leonard, Leslie, Lewis, Mountjoy, Polanco
NOES: Dills, Mello
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SUBJECT: Wildlife: mountain lions
SOURCE: Author
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DIGEST: The bill authorizes the Legislature, upon
approval of the voters, to amend or repeal any provision of
current law relating to mountain lions by a majority vote
except for appropriations, transfers, or allocations of
funds.
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The bill authorizes the Fish and Game Commission and the
Department of Fish and Game, upon approval of the voters,
to regulate and manage mountain lions in the same manner as
it regulates and manages mammals that are not rare,
endangered, or threatened species. Requires the department
to prepare a mountain lion management plan.
The bill authorizes the department and licensed hunters to
hunt and kill one or more mountain lions that are a threat
to public health or safety or livestock anywhere in the
state.
ANALYSIS: Current law, as specified by the passage of
Proposition 117, the Wildlife Protection Act of 1990,
designates mountain lions as "specially protected mammals."
This status protects mountain lions from sport hunting.
Proposition 117 allows the Department of Fish and Game to
hunt and kill mountain lions for the purposes of preventing
livestock losses and health and safety threats. The act
further prohibits the Fish and Game Commission from
enacting regulations that conflict with or supersede
provisions of the act.
Proposition 117 creates the Habitat Conservation Fund (HCF)
and requires
a minimum annual appropriation to the HCF of $30 million.
The act
requires the Controller to transfer annually 10% of the
funds in the
Unallocated Account in the Cigarette and Tobacco Products
Surtax Fund to HCF. The funds in the HCF are to be spent
annually for habitat acquisition and protection as
specified in the act.
The act prohibits the Legislature from changing the special
protective
status of the mountain lion except by a four-fifths vote of
the membership of both houses, and then only consistent
with, and in furtherance of, the purposes of the act. The
HCF may not be altered without a vote of the electorate.
Under current law, the Fish and Game Commission manages
mammals that are not threatened, rare, or endangered using
management tools such as regulated sport hunting, habitat
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enhancement, and public education.
This bill:
1. Places an initiative measure on the March, 26 1996
primary election ballot which would allow any provision
of Proposition 117 to be amended or repealed by a
majority vote of the Legislature, except for an
appropriation, transfer, or allocation of funds.
2. If approved by the voters in the March 26, 1996, direct
primary election ballot SB 28:
A. Repeals the four-fifths vote requirement for
amendments to Proposition 117.
B. Reverses the prohibition on Fish and Game Commission
and Department of Fish and Game activities relating
to mountain lions by requiring the Fish and Game
Commission and the department to regulate specially
protected mammals (mountain lions) in the same manner
as they regulate and manage other mammals that are
not rare, endangered, or threatened species.
C. Requires the Department of Fish and Game to prepare
a scientifically sound management plan that achieves
health and safety protection and protection of
livestock and other wildlife species. The plan shall
identify zones where the predator-prey ratio
threatens humans or livestock. The department shall
establish priority zones based on the ratio.
D. Authorizes the department, an appropriate local
agency or a licensed hunter to remove or take one or
more mountain lions that are perceived to be an
imminent threat to public health or safety or
livestock anywhere in the state, including state
parks.
E. Appropriates from the Habitat Conservation Fund an
amount to be appropriated in the annual Budget Act as
necessary to pay the departmentos cost of preparing
the mountain lion management plan not to exceed
$100,000 for each of fiscal years 1996-97, 1997-98
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and 1998-99 and $50,000 for each fiscal year
thereafter. Requires a General Fund match for each
fiscal year.
3. SB 28 specifies that the ballots of the election will
read:
"Amendment of the California Wildlife Protection Act
of 1990: This act authorizes the Legislature to regulate
mountain lions for health and safety of the people of
California."
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Comment:
Since 1890 (earliest records available) five people have
been killed by mountain lions. Over the past decade
incidents of mountain lion sightings and confrontations
have increased in California and other western states.
There have been seven mountain lion attacks on humans in
California since 1985. Last year, two individuals were
killed by mountain lions, the first fatalities in
California since 1909.
Based on the best available information, the Department of
Fish and Game estimates that the statewide mountain lion
population expanded from 2,400-3,000 in the early 1970s to
approximately 4,000-6,000 in 1994. Trends in confirmed
mountain lion damage to livestock and pets show a
significant increase from 10-15 confirmed incidents in the
early 1970s to 322 confirmed incidents in 1994. In
addition, 121 mountain lions were killed under permits
issued in 1994 for causing damage to property.
It is not clear whether this increase in incidents is due
to human encroachment into mountain lion habitat, a
heightened state of awareness by the public due to
publicity surrounding attacks and/or an increased mountain
lion population.
Related Legislation:
AB 87 (Cortese) would develop a statewide policy and
procedure to remove mountain lions which are an imminent
threat.
AB 117 (Knowles) would (a) place repeal of Proposition 117
on the ballot, (b) authorize the killing of mountain lions
as game mammals under license tags issued by the
department.
AB 1362 (Knowles) would upon the approval of the voters,
repeal the provisions of Proposition 117 granting special
protection to mountain lions and would restore the law
relating to mountain lions to that existing before
enactment of the California Wildlife Protection Act of
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1990.
AB 1363 (Knowles) would require the Department of Fish and
Game to do biennial reports on the mountain lion
population.
AB 1364 (Knowles) is a spot bill that would add to wildlife
protection provisions to mountain lions.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
$300,000 one time election costs from the General Fund,
based on the average of six pages (at $50 per page) per
ballot proposition.
Appropriates from the Habitat Conservation Fund an amount
to be appropriated in the annual Budget Act as necessary to
pay the departmentos cost of preparing the mountain lion
management plan not to exceed $100,000 for each of fiscal
years 1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99 and $50,000 for each
fiscal year thereafter. Requires a General Fund match for
each fiscal year.
SUPPORT: (Verified 5/30/95)
Redwood Houndsmen
Fresno County Sportsmen's Club
Gun Owners of California, Inc.
Modoc County Cattlemen's Association
North Central California Houndsmen Association
Lassen Sportsmen's Club
California Houndsmen for Conservation
California Farm Bureau Federation
California Cattlemen's Association
Shasta Cascade Houndsmen
California Grange
California Wool Growers Association
Internmountain Houndsmen & Hunters Association
Sportsmen's Council of Central California
California Trappers Association
California Forestry Association
California Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc.
Outdoor Sportsmen's Coalition of California
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California Trappers Association
Numerous individual letters
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OPPOSITION: (Verified 5/30/95)
Mountain Lion Foundation
Sierra Club
Planning and Conservation League
Environmental Protection Information Center
Endangered Habitats League
Humane Society of the United States
Fund for Animals
Friends of the California River
Ormond Beach Observers
Contra Costa Humane Society
Marin Agricultural Land Trust
Elsa Wild Animal Appeal
Citizens for Alameda's Last Marshlands (CALM)
The South Bay Greens
The Elkhorn Slough Foundation
Friends of the Northern San Jacinto Valley
Truckee-Donnor Land Trust
The Kern Audubon Society
The Northcoast Environmental Center
Save Our Coastline 2000
The Port Costa Conservation Society
California Sportsfishing Alliance
The League of Women Voters
Action for Animals
The Alliance for Survival
Save the Redwoods League
North Coast Center for Biodiversity and Sustainability
Friends of the Ridgeline
Friends of the Ventura River
The Pacific Forest Trust
San Diego Chapter, California Native Plant Society
Tuolumne County Land Trust, Inc.
California Native Plant Society
South Coast Audubon
Redwood Coast Land Conservancy
The Acorn Group
Laguna Hills Audubon Society
Greenspace, The Cambria Land Trust
The Comptche Land Conservancy
The Newport Conservancy
The California State Park Rangers' Association
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Friends of the Desert Mountains
The Mendocino Land Trust
The Laguna Greenbelt, Inc.
Advocates for Animals
People for Parks
Jacoby Creek Land Trust
Yerba Buena Chapter, California Native Plant Society
Whittier Audubon Society
Desert Trail Association of California
Citizens for Better For Forestry
Redwood Community Action Agency
The San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy
The Stone Lakes Refuge Alliance
The Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society
Cottonwood Creek Conservancy
Hills for Everyone
National Opossum Society
Land Utilization Trust
Solano County Farmland's and Open Space Foundation
Small Wilderness Area Preservation
Siskiyou Land Trust
Marin Horse Council
Lake County Land Trust
El Dorado Audubon
Sierra Madre Environmental Action Council
Rural Advocate
Monterey Chapter of the California Native Plant Society
Laguna Canyon Foundation
Center For Natural Lands Management
Friends of the Tecate Cypress
Ecology Center of Southern California
Parks and Preserves Foundation
Land Trust of Santa Cruz County
Big Sur Land Trust
California Federation for Animal Legislation
Friends of California Parks
Placer Greenbelt Alliance
Numerous individual letters
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the authoros office,
this bill would entrust to wildlife scientists the ability
to manage the species proactively, rather than only after
an attack has occurred. The authoros office states that
Proposition 117 has not protected the public safety as
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evidenced by three deaths, several brutal attacks on men,
women and children and countless accounts of wildlife and
domestic animal maulings. Fish and Game needs the ability
to better respond to the growing threats of the lion. This
bill will return management authority to the stateos
wildlife experts.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: According to the Mountain Lion
Foundation, this bill allows the Department of Fish and
Game and the Fish and Game Commission to trophy hunt
mountain lions, even in state parks and refuges. Random
hunting of mountain lions by amateur sport hunters will not
solve public safety problems.
The Mountain Lion Foundation further states that this bill
will waste millions of tax dollars for studies to justify
trophy hunting, plus a public vote on the March 1996
ballot.
We need to (1) remove problem lions that pose a threat to
humans and livestock, (2) conduct research on ways to avoid
conflicts with mountain lions, and (3) educate the public
on ways to avoid mountain lion encounters.
They state that AB 87 by Assemblymember Dominic Cortese
improves public safety without undercutting needed
protection for mountain lions.
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CP:jk 5/30/95 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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