Wins for California Wildlife
Wildlife in California got a boost from the California Legislature this year! At the end of the state legislative session in September, numerous pro-wildlife bills have become law and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife got a modest funding increase. This good news comes at a critical time when the outlook about wildlife conservation from the federal administration has been grim.
California has a lot to lose if we do not protect and conserve our biodiversity. We have the most biologically diverse and rich landscape in the contiguous United States. From the rugged and majestic coastline to the expanse of the Central Valley to the peaks of the Sierra Nevada, California enjoys an amazing diversity of species and ecosystems. California has more native species than any other state in the U.S. and has the greatest number of endemic species that don’t occur anywhere else in the world.
Defenders of Wildlife worked tirelessly with our partners to ensure that the California’s legislature recognized this legacy and passed the following important legislation:
Increased funding for wildlife: Senate Bills 840 and 854 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review) included a $30 million increase in funding for California’s wildlife. This money is critical for California to manage its diverse, and fragile, fish and wildlife resources. This also comes with funding and legislative direction for the Department of Fish and Wildlife to conduct a two year “Service Based Budget” effort, which will be critical to help reform and right-size the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to better carry out its mission of biodiversity conservation.
Protection of our coasts and wildlife from offshore drilling: Assembly Bill 1775 and Senate Bill 834 effectively ban new offshore drilling by prohibiting the State Lands Commission from issuing new leases for oil-related infrastructure in the state’s coastal waters. This includes piers, pipelines, and wharves needed for oil and gas development. These bills directly respond to the federal administration’s efforts to open California’s coastline to new drilling, threatening marine fish and wildlife, including sea otters, whales, and brown pelicans.
Protecting our marine wildlife from plastic pollution: AB 1884 requires that restaurants only provide plastic straws upon request, and SB 1335 requires that by 2021 all disposable food packaging provided at state parks, beaches, and most other state facilities be made of material that has been determined by CalRecycle to be recycled or composted at a rate of 75 percent or more in the jurisdiction servicing the food provider. Food packaging in California generates tons of non-recyclable and non-compostable waste every day, much of which finds its way into our natural environment, including the ocean. Plastic pollution kills or injures large numbers of seabirds, fish, and marine mammals through entanglement and ingestion, and these bills assist in the protection of both Californians and marine life alike.
Protecting our marine wildlife from unsustainable and illegal fishing practices: Senate Bill 1017 phases out the use of drift gillnets in California while promoting sustainable, local fisheries. These nets entangle, harm, and kill marine mammals, sea turtles, sharks, and more when they become unintentional bycatch. AB 2369 increases the penalties for commercial poaching in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). California’s MPAs were established to conserve the state’s coastal resources, wildlife habitat, and the fisheries and wildlife that depend on healthy ocean ecosystems. Unfortunately, through illegal poaching, some entities continue to subvert the protections established by MPAs. This bill improves MPA compliance among commercial entities by sending a powerful message to would-be poachers that substantial penalties are in store for those that illegally take fish and other protected resources.
Promoting recovery efforts for monarch butterflies and other pollinators: AB 2421 establishes the Monarch & Pollinator Rescue Program (MPRP) at the Wildlife Conservation Board. At a time when the Monarch butterfly and other pollinators are declining at an alarming rate, this bill will provide funding and technical assistance to farmers, ranchers, nonprofits, and public agencies to recover and sustain populations of monarchs and other pollinators.
Protecting California’s Wild & Scenic Rivers: Acting in response to proposed threats to California’s important Wild and Scenic Rivers from the federal government, AB 2975 would protect these important areas and the fish and wildlife that depend on them by directing the California Natural Resources Agency Secretary to add any wild and scenic river threatened with the elimination of federal protection to the state system after holding a public hearing about the federal action. There are more than 2,145 miles of rivers and streams in California protected in the federal and state wild and scenic rivers systems. Stretching from the High Sierra to the Mojave Desert, these rivers are of critical biological importance to endangered species such as salmon, California red-legged frog, steelhead trout, and many other riparian species.
