BILL ANALYSIS
AB 117
Date of Hearing: April 18, 1995
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS AND WILDLIFE
Dominic L. Cortese, Chair
AB 117 (Knowles) - As Proposed to be Amended
SUBJECT
Proposition 117: Mountain Lion Protection/Funding
DIGEST
Existing law (Proposition 117, June, 1990):
1) Prohibits the classification of mountain lion as a game mammal
by the Department of Fish and Game or the Fish and Game
Commission.
2) Classifies the mountain lion as a specially protected species.
3) Provides for depredation permits for the taking of mountain
lions under specified conditions for damage to personal or
private property, and authorizes DFG to take lions for public
safety purposes.
4) Creates the Habitat Conservation Fund (HCF), and requires the
state to spend no less than $30 million annually on wildlife
habitat and related purposes for the next thirty years, or
through the year 2020.
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5) Authorizes the Legislature to use the following sources to
achieve the $30 million annual goal:
a) New bond acts
b) Wildlife Restoration Fund
c) Environmental License Plate Fund
d) Public Resources Account, Cigarette and Tobacco Products
Surtax Fund (Proposition 99 funds)
e) Endangered Species Income Tax Checkoff
f) Any new appropriate fish and wildlife funds
6) Specifies that if funds from the above sources are not
appropriated to the HCF then the balance of the funds are
automatically appropriated from the General Fund.
7) Directs ten percent of the Unallocated Account created by
Proposition 99 to the HCF.
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Existing law (Proposition 99, June 1988):
8) Requires five percent of the money received from the tax each
year to be placed in the Public Resources Account and the funds
be split between state and local parks, and fish and wildlife.
Existing law:
9) Authorizes DFG to take fish and wildlife, including mountain
lions, for scientific purposes notwithstanding any other
provision of law.
This bill:
1) Places a statutory initiative before the voters on the
statewide ballot to:
a) Repeal the $30 million allocation for fish and wildlife
habitat and state and local parks projects on July 1, 2001.
b) Repeal the ban on hunting of mountain lion.
2) Deletes the continuous appropriation status of the Habitat
Conservation Fund and the Wildlife Restoration Fund.
3) Deletes the allocation of funds to the Department of Parks and
Recreation, State Coastal Conservancy, Santa Monica Mountains
Conservancy, and the Tahoe Conservancy.
4) Deletes the reporting requirement to WCB for those agencies
receiving funds from the Habitat Conservation Fund.
5) Deletes the specific time and dollar allocations to be spent
on fish and wildlife habitat and instead specifies a
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particular percentage of the total allocation be spent on
projects.
6) Limits WCB expenditures from the Habitat Conservation Fund to
monies in existence on March 26, 1996, and specifies that any
fund balance remaining may be spent on projects selected by
WCB.
7) Prohibits all acquisition and restoration habitat projects
unless these projects have the approval of the board of
supervisors of the county in which the habitat is located.
8) Requires any lands acquired pursuant to this program to be
managed in accordance with the approved management plan.
9) Requires the management plans to be submitted to the
Legislature on or before June 30, 1997, or within one year
after the acquisition date, whichever is later.
10) Requires all amendments to a management plan to be submitted
to the Legislature within 30 days of the adoption of the
amendment.
12) Reclassifies the mountain lion as a game mammal, and
authorizes the take of mountain lion under a valid hunting
license and a mountain lion tag.
13) Establishes the mountain lion tag fee at $23 for residents and
$149.50 for nonresidents.
14) Requires the department to report to the Legislature on an
annual basis the number of mountain lions taken per license
year.
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15) Provides for the taking of mountain lions at any time and in
any manner, if land or property is being damaged or destroyed
or is in immediate danger of being damaged or destroyed by a
mountain lion.
16) Authorizes the use of traps, except steel-jawed traps to take
mountain lions.
17) Requires DFG to report to the Legislature on the following:
a) The number of lions taken per license year.
b) The estimated population of lions statewide.
c) The anticipated increase in the population of lions.
d) The number of incidents involving lions reported by county,
the number lions predicted to be taken in the next license
year, and any detected increase in diseased lions.
18) Requires DFG to present a plan for the management of lions to
the Legislature which includes the reporting of all incidents
involving lions whether or not they are substantiated.
19) Authorizes DFG to relocate lions to other states, if approved
by the affected state, and authorizes DFG to enter into
agreements with bordering states to manage lions.
20) Specifies that the enforcement of any law or regulations
relating to the management of lions or wildlife habitat in
this state that, in any manner, encroaches, defines, limits,
acquires, or, in any other manner, affects private property
shall constitute a taking under the Fifth Amendment of the
Federal Constitution.
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21) Transfers $5 million from the Unallocated Account in the
Cigarette and Tobacco Products Surtax Fund (Prop. 99) to the
Mountain Lion Management Fund created by this proposed
initiative.
22) Authorizes the State Controller to annually transfer a maximum
of $5 million from the Environmental License Plate Fund to the
Mountain Lion Management Fund, less any amount transferred
from the following accounts or funds:
a) Public Resources Account and the Unallocated Account
(Proposition 99, 1988 ballot)
b) Income Tax Check-Off (Endangered & Rare Fish, Wildlife, &
Plant Species Conservation & Enhancement Account)
c) The Wildlife Restoration Fund.
d) Any other non-General Fund account which are consistent
with the purposes of this Act.
23) Appropriates the $5 million from the Mountain Lion Management
Fund to DFG for management purposes.
24) Requires DFG to reimburse any local agency for any costs
incurred by the local agency for projects or activities
mandated by this chapter from the fund.
25) Specifies any unallocated funds in the account at the end of
each fiscal year are to be transferred to the original source
fund.
26) Repeals the annual transfer of funds from the Unallocated
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Account in the Cigarette and Tobacco Products Surtax Fund
(Proposition 99) and the General Fund to the Habitat
Conservation Fund.
27) Specifies that any unencumbered money in the Habitat
Conservation Fund on the effective date of this act shall be
transferred to the original source of the funds and any other
funds shall be transferred to the Wildlife Restoration Fund.
FISCAL EFFECT
1) Loss or redirection of up to $25 million annually to fund
projects which benefit fish and wildlife and state and local
park projects.
2) Appropriates $5 million from the Proposition 99 Unallocated
Account to the newly created Mountain Lion Management Fund.
Specifies that the funds may be secured from a variety of
special funds which is similar the current funding provisions
of Proposition 117.
3) Unknown costs to the department to prepare the necessary
environmental documents to allow for the hunting of mountain
lions and the report to the Legislature.
COMMENTS
1) According to the author, current law fails to protect the
public from a dangerous predatory animal. Proposition 117
removed scientific management from the control of the
Department of Fish and Game. This bill seeks to return
management back to the department.
2) Proponents state that mountain lion sightings and depredation
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have reached unacceptable levels. Additionally, livestock
depredation by mountain lions have dramatically increased over
the last few years as reflected in a Fish and Game Report
prepared pursuant to Senate Resolution 29.
Proponents also point out that the Legislature should not be
tied from making critical decisions involving mountain lions
when public health and safety and private property are
jeopardized.
3) Opponents state that repeal of the funding would lead to
serious funding cuts for many Resource Agency departments,
including the Department of Parks and Recreation which
anticipated using a portion of these funds for a strategic
acquisition of redwood watershed in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
In addition, repeal of the funding would adversely affect
acquisition of bighorn sheep habitat, wetlands, and riparian
areas, as well as local and state park programs.
In addition, opponents state that repealing protections for the
mountain lion will not solve the safety problem. There have
been fatal attacks in states which allow hunting of mountain
lions (Montana, Colorado, New Mexico, and British Columbia).
All of the attacks in California since 1986 have occurred in
state or regional parks, where sport hunting is currently not
permitted.
4) Opponents further question the requirement placed upon DFG to
report unsubstantiated lion incidents (rumors) would jeopardize
scientific management and sound public policy decisions. In
addition, opponents state that since sport hunting is often
used as a wildlife management tool, would the "takings"
provisions in this bill essentially preclude enforcement of
hunting regulations on private property.
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SUPPORT
Safari Club International
Gun Owners of California, Inc.
North Central California Houndsmen
Association
California Cattlemen's Association
California Wool Growers Association
Shasta Cascade Houndsmen
California Houndsmen For Conservation
Outdoor Sportsmen's Coalition of California
Tri County Houndsmen
52 individual letters
OPPOSITION
Southern Council of Conservation Clubs
Mountain Lion Foundation
Point Lobos Natural History Association
Sonoma Land Trust
Sierra Club, Angeles Chapter
Neumeier Investment Counsel
Ecology Center of Southern California
San Joaquin River Parkway and Conservation Trust
California Federation for Animal Legislation
Newport Conservancy
Friends of the Tecate Cypress
Solano County Farmlands and Open Space Foundation
Small Wilderness Area Preservation
Endangered Habitats League
Marin Agricultural Land Trust
Friends of the Ventura River
Trust for Public Lands
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The Fund For Animals
Friends of California Parks
La Canada Flintridge Trails Council
Mountain Lion Foundation
Fresno Audubon Society
Coastwalk
El Dorado Audubon
Parks and Preserves Foundation
Natural Resources
The California State Park Rangers' Association
The South Bay Greens
The Elkhorn Slough Foundation
Whittier Audubon Society
Citizens for Alameda's Last Marshlands (CALM)
The Port Costa Conservation Society
The San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy
Redwood Community Action Agency
The Stone Lakes Refuge Alliance
Save-The-Redwoods League
The Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society
The Marin Horse Council, Inc.
Advocates For Animals
The Desert Trail Association of California
The Siskiyou Land Trust
Ormond Beach Observers
The Monterey Bay Chapter of the California Native Plant Society
The Rural Advocate
Amador Land Trust
The Mendocino Land Trust
The Laguna Greenbelt, Inc.
Sierra Madre Environmental Action Council
The Lake County Land Trust
Placer Bikeways and Trails Partnership
California Bicycle Coalition
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The Los Altos Hills Horseman's Association
The Placer Greenbelt Alliance
Urban Creeks Council, Sacramento Chapter
Antelope Valley Trails Recreation and Environmental Council
North Coast Center for Biodiversity and Sustainability
California Native Plant Society, San Diego Chapter
The Center for Natural Lands Management
The Comptche Land Conservancy
Friends of the Desert Mountains
Tuolumne County Land Trust, Inc.
South Coast Audubon
Laguna Hills Audubon Society
Rural Canyons Conservation Fund
The California Native Plant Society
Redwood Coast Land Conservancy
California Native Plant Society, Yerba Buena Chapter
Hills for Everyone
Friends of the Santa Clara River
The National Opossum Society
The Alliance for Survival
Cottonwood Creek Conservancy
Save Our Coastline 2000
Land Utilization Trust
California Sportfishing Protection Alliance
Friends of the Northern San Jacinto Valley
Action For Animals
Jacoby Creek Land Trust
California Native Plant Society, Santa Paula Chapter
The Kern Audubon Society
People For Parks
Citizens For Better Forestry
The Endangered Habitats League
Laguna Canyon Foundation
California Native Plant Society, San Pedro Chapter
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Greenspace, The Cambria Land Trust
Rural Canyons Conservation Fund, Trabuco Canyon
The Acorn Group
The Northcoast Environmental Center
Friends Of The Ridgeline
Pacific Forest Trust
Sierra Club, Mother Lode Chapter
Sierra Club of California
Contra Costa Humane Society
In Defense of Animals (IDA)
Animal Emancipation, Inc.
Guadalupe Regional Group of the Sierra Club, Loma Prieta Chapter
Advantage Marketing
Rural Canyon Residents Association
Approx. 6,703 individual letters
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