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California Mountain Lion Page
California Mountain Lion Page
This proposition was defeated by the voters of California, March 1996.
Bill number: SB 28 chaptered 10/12/95
Chapter 779. Filed with Secretary of State October 12, 1995, approved by Governor October 12, 1995, passed the Senate September 15, 1995, passed the Assembly September 15, 1995, amended in Assembly September 14, 1995, amended in Assembly September 8, 1995, amended in Assembly August 29, 1995, amended in Assembly July 17, 1995, amended in Assembly July 13, 1995, amended in Assembly June 22, 1995, amended in Senate May 31, 1995, amended in Senate May 30, 1995, amended in Senate May 18, 1995, amended in Senate May 16, 1995, amended in Senate April 3, 1995, amended in Senate March 23, 1995.
Introduced by Senator Leslie (Principal coauthor: Assembly member Goldsmith) (Coauthors: Senators Hurtt, Johannessen, Kopp, Leonard, Monteith, Peace, and Russell) (coauthors: Assembly members Alby, Allen, Baca, Baldwin, Bowler, Cannella, Conroy, Firestone, Frusetta, Harvey, Knowles, Margett, Willard Murray, Olberg, Poochigian, Rainey, Richter, Setencich, and Thompson)
December 8, 1994
An act to amend Sections 2786, 2787, 4800, 4801, and 4806 of, and to add Section 4801.5 to, the Fish and Game Code, and to amend Section 8 of the California Wildlife Protection Act of 1990, relating to wildlife.
SB 28, Leslie. Wildlife: mountain lions.
(1) Proposition 117, an initiative measure approved by the electors at the June 5, 1990, primary election, enacted the California Wildlife Protection Act of 1990. Among other things, the act made the mountain lion a specially protected mammal. The act prohibits the Legislature from changing the special protection of that mammal except by a 4/5 vote of the membership of both houses of the Legislature and then only consistent with, and in furtherance of, the purposes of the act.
This bill, which would take effect upon approval by the voters, would authorize the Legislature to amend or repeal provisions of that act that regulate the taking, injury, possession, transporting, importing, or sale of the mountain lion by a majority vote of the membership of both houses of the Legislature.
(2) Existing law authorizes the Fish and Game Commission to adopt regulations that supersede statutory provisions for not more than 12 months from the effective date, but the act exempts the regulation of mountain lions from that provision of law.
This bill, which would take effect upon approval by the voters, would remove that exemption and would require the commission to regulate mountain lions in accordance with certain specified provisions of existing law and would require the Department of Fish and Game to carry out the regulations of the commission and manage those mammals in the same manner as it carries out other regulations of the commission and manages mammals that are not rare, endangered, or threatened. The bill would, pursuant to those regulations, require the department to prepare, submit to the commission for approval, and implement a mountain lion management plan that promotes health and safety protection and protection for property and other wildlife species and that implements the general policy of the state to encourage the preservation, conservation, and maintenance of wildlife resources under the jurisdiction and influence of the state. The bill would provide for related matters.
(3) Under the act, the Controller is required to annually transfer 10% of the funds in the Unallocated Account in the Cigarette and Tobacco Products Surtax Fund to the Habitat Conservation Fund. Also, under the act, the Controller is required to annually transfer $30,000,000 to the Habitat Conservation Fund from the General Fund, less any amounts transferred from the Unallocated Account and other accounts and funds. Existing law continuously appropriates the Habitat Conservation Fund for specified purposes. The bill would continuously appropriate from the Habitat Conservation Fund to the department a sum not to exceed $250,000 for the 1996-97, 1997-98, and 1998-99 fiscal years, and a sum not to exceed $100,000 for each fiscal year thereafter, to pay the costs of preparing and implementing the mountain lion management plan.
(4) The act authorizes the department to remove or take any mountain lion, or authorize an appropriate local agency with public safety responsibility to remove or take any mountain lion, that is perceived to be an imminent threat to public health or safety.
This bill would, additionally, after the plan described in (2) is submitted to, and approved by, the commission, authorize the department to remove or take, or to authorize its designee, including, but not limited to, an appropriate governmental agency with public safety responsibility, an appropriate governmental agency with wildlife management responsibility, or an owner of land 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, except in the state park system. Within the state park system, the bill would authorize the department, or those governmental entities which are authorized by the department, to remove or take one or more mountain lions perceived to be an imminent threat to public health or safety.
(5) The bill would provide for its submittal to the voters for their approval at the March 26, 1996, direct primary election.
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares, as follows:
(a) It is appropriate for the Legislature and the Department of Fish and Game to act prudently to address the needs of our changing society. California's complex and ever-changing population requires that the department and the Legislature respond to emergencies and exigencies to safeguard the health and safety of the people of the state and to balance the needs of the people with the necessity to preserve the wildlife and its habitat for the enjoyment of the people.
(b) The wildlife species known as the mountain lion is the only specially protected mammal in the State of California; the mountain lion species is neither threatened nor endangered in the State of California; and the management of mountain lions by the Department of Fish and Game is prohibited by the passage of Proposition 117 by the voters in June, 1990.
(c) The presence of mountain lions pose a threat to people, pets, and livestock, as evidenced by the dramatic increase in the number of life-threatening and life-taking confrontations between mountain lions and people, including at least two confirmed deaths from mountain lion attacks in the past 12 months.
(d) The increase in mountain lion sightings and incidents in residential areas has caused great concern for the safety and well-being of rural and suburban residents, including small children.
(e) Wildlife authorities have determined that sightings and incidents involving mountain lions and people will continue to increase.
(f) The escalating loss of life and cost of injury to people, pets, and livestock caused by mountain lions has resulted, and will continue to result, in increased expenditures by public safety agencies.
(g) Proposition 117 mandates the expenditure of nine hundred million taxpayer dollars at a rate of thirty million dollars per year for thirty years, none of which is used to protect people or manage mountain lions.
(h) In order to maintain a healthy population and to minimize confrontations with humans and livestock, it is necessary to prepare and implement scientifically sound management plans.
SEC. 2. Section 2786 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to read:
2786. Except as otherwise expressly provided in paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 2787, the money in the Habitat Conservation Fund, which is hereby created, shall be used for the following purposes:
(a) The acquisition of habitat, including native oak woodlands, necessary to protect deer and mountain lions.
(b) The acquisition of habitat to protect rare, endangered, threatened, or fully protected species.
(c) The acquisition of habitat to further implement the Habitat Conservation Program pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 2721) excepting Section 2722 and subdivision (a) of Section 2723, and Sections 2724 and 2729.
(d The acquisition, enhancement, or restoration of wetlands.
(e) The acquisition, restoration, or enhancement of aquatic habitat for spawning and rearing of anadromous salmonids and trout resources.
(f) The acquisition, restoration, or enhancement of riparian habitat.
(g) The preparation and implementation of a mountain lion management plan pursuant to Section 4800.
SEC. 3. Section 2787 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to read:
2787. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, the money in the fund is continuously appropriated, without regard to fiscal years, as follows:
(a) To the Department of Parks and Recreation, four million five hundred thousand dollars ($4,500,000) annually for allocation as follows:
(1) One million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) for projects that are located in the Santa Lucia Mountain Range in Monterey County for expenditure by the Department of Parks and Recreation and for grants to the Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District.
(2) One million dollars ($1,000,000) for acquisitions in, and adjacent to, units of the state park system.
(3) Two million dollars ($2,000,000) for 50 percent matching grants to local agencies for projects meeting the purposes specified in Section 2786 and, additionally, for the acquisition of wildlife corridors and urban trails, nature interpretation programs, and other programs which bring urban residents into park and wildlife areas. The grants made pursuant to this subdivision are subject to the conditions of subdivision (d) of Section 5910, and Sections 5917 and 5919, of the Public Resources Code, as nearly as may be practicable.
(b) To the State Coastal Conservancy, four million dollars ($4,000,000) annually.
(c) To the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, five million dollars ($5,000,000) annually for the next 10 fiscal years, commencing with the 1990-91 fiscal year. The money shall be used for the purposes specified in Section 2786 for wildlife habitat, and for related open-space projects, within the Santa Monica Mountains Zone, the Rim of the Valley Corridor, and the Santa Clarita Woodlands. Of the total amount appropriated pursuant to this subdivision, not less than a total of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) shall be spent within the Santa Susana Mountains and the Simi Hills, and not less than a total of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) shall be spent within the Santa Clarita Woodlands. These funds shall be expended in accordance with Division 23 (commencing with Section 33000) of the Public Resources Code during the operative period of this section as specified in subdivision (f) and in Section 2797. The Legislature may, by statute, extend the period for expenditure of the funds provided by this subdivision.
(d) To the California Tahoe Conservancy, five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) annually.
(e) To the department to pay the costs of preparing and implementing the mountain lion management plan pursuant to Section 4800, a sum not to exceed two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) for each of the 1996-97, 1997-98, and 1998-99 fiscal years, and a sum not to exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) for each fiscal year thereafter. It is also the intent of the Legislature that an amount not to exceed two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) be appropriated annually from a source or sources other than the fund for public safety and public information programs related to mountain lions.
(f) To the board, the balance of the fund.
(g) The amendments to this section, as approved by the voters at the March 26, 1996, primary election, shall become operative on March 27, 1996. This section shall remain in effect until July 1, 2020, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, which becomes effective on or before July 1, 2020, deletes or extends that date.
SEC. 4. Section 4800 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to read:
4800. (a) The commission shall regulate the mountain lion (genus Felis) pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 200) of Division 1, and the department shall carry out the regulations of the commission and manage those mammals in the same manner as it carries out other regulations of the commission and manages other mammals that are not rare, endangered, or threatened species under the laws of this state.
(b) Pursuant to subdivision (a), the department shall prepare, submit to the commission for approval, and implement a mountain lion management plan that promotes health and safety protection and protection for livestock, domestic animals, other property, and other wildlife species and that implements Section 1801. The plan shall identify zones based on the department's estimates of mountain lion densities developed from the best information available to the department. The department shall designate the zones that are priority zones where the removal of individual mountain lions to protect public safety, livestock, domestic animals, other property, and other wildlife species has not alleviated threats. In designating priority zones, the department may consider, based on the best information available to the department, where the mountain lion population is depleting other wildlife species or where the mountain lion population may cause any of the following: (1) the extinction of threatened or endangered species; (2) mountain lion depredation of livestock and domestic animals; or (3) a threat to public health and safety. The taking of a mountain lion that is attacking an individual member of a wildlife species other than threatened or endangered species shall not be authorized based on that act alone. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the department shall not manage, regulate, or take mountain lions in a priority zone, as provided in this section or Section 4801, unless there is a plan for that zone and the department makes a finding that managing, regulating, or taking mountain lions is consistent with the plan for that zone and maintains a viable mountain lion population in that zone.
(c) It is unlawful to take, injure, possess, transport, import, or sell any mountain lion or any part or product thereof, except as specifically provided in this chapter, in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 2116) of Division 3, or as prescribed in regulations of the commission. This chapter does not prohibit the sale or possession of any mountain lion or any part or product thereof, when the owner can demonstrate that the mountain lion, or part or product thereof, was in the person's possession on June 6, 1990.
(d) Any violation of this section is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment. An individual is not guilty of a violation of this section if it is demonstrated that, in taking or injuring a mountain lion, the individual was acting in self-defense or in defense of others.
(e) In the case of conflict between this chapter and the California Endangered Species Act, Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 2050) of Division 3, the California Endangered Species Act shall prevail.
SEC. 5. Section 4801 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to read:
4801. The department may remove or take, or authorize its designee, including, but not limited to, an appropriate governmental agency with public safety responsibility, an appropriate governmental agency with wildlife management responsibility, or an owner of land, 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 except within the state park system. Within the state park system, the department may remove or take, or authorize an appropriate governmental agency with public safety responsibility or an appropriate governmental agency with wildlife management responsibility to remove or take, one or more mountain lions that are perceived to be an imminent threat to public health or safety only with the concurrence of the Department of Parks and Recreation.
SEC. 6. Section 4801.5 is added to the Fish and Game Code, to read:
4801.5. Prior to submittal to, and approval by, the commission of the plan required pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 4800, the department may remove or take any mountain lion, or authorize an appropriate local agency with public safety responsibility to remove or take any mountain lion, that is perceived to be an imminent threat to public health or safety.
SEC. 7. Section 4806 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to read:
4806. Any person who has captured, injured, or killed a mountain lion within a priority zone identified in a mountain lion management plan under Section 4800 or who has been issued a permit pursuant to Section 4803 or 4805 shall report, by telephone within 24 hours, the capturing, injuring, or killing of any mountain lion to an office of the department or, if telephoning is not practicable, in writing within five days after the capturing, injuring, or killing of the mountain lion. At the time of making the report of the capturing, injuring, or killing, the person authorized to take the mountain lion under a mountain lion management plan approved pursuant to Section 4800 shall make the remains of the mountain lion available for inspection to department personnel upon their request pursuant to regulations adopted by the commission and the holder of the permit under Section 4803 or 4805 shall make arrangements to turn over the mountain lion or the entire carcass of the mountain lion which has been recovered to a representative of the department and shall do so in a timely manner.
SEC. 8. Section 8 of the California Wildlife Protection Act of 1990, as added by Proposition 117, an initiative measure approved by the electors at the June 5, 1990, primary election, is amended to read:
Sec. 8. Except for amendments of subdivisions (c) and (g) of Section 2787 and subdivision (d) of Section 2796 of the Fish and Game Code to extend the operative effect of those sections and amendments of Section 3950.1 and Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 4800) of Part 3 of Division 4 of the Fish and Game Code, which may be enacted by statute enacted by the Legislature, this act shall be amended only by a statute approved by a vote of four-fifths of the members of both houses of the Legislature.
Except for amendments of Section 3950.1 and Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 4800) of Part 3 of Division 4 of the Fish and Game Code, any amendment of this act shall be consistent with, and further the purposes of, this act, except the Legislature shall not reallocate the funds allocated by Sections 2787 and 2788 of the Fish and Game Code, change the expenditure requirements of Section 2791 of the Fish and Game Code, or change the transfers of funds required by Sections 2795 and 2796 of the Fish Game Code.
SEC. 9. Sections 1 to 8, inclusive, of this act affect an initiative statute and shall become effective only when submitted to, and approved by, the voters, pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 10 of Article II of the California Constitution.
SEC. 10. (a) Notwithstanding Sections 9040, 9043, 9044, 9061, and 9094 of the Elections Code or any other provision of law, Senate Bill 28 of the 1995-96 Regular Session shall be submitted to the voters at the March 26, 1996, direct primary election.
(b) The Secretary of State shall ensure the placement of Senate Bill 28 of the 1995-96 Regular Session on the March 26, 1996, direct primary election ballot, in substantial compliance with any statutory time requirements applicable to the submission of statewide measures to the voters at a statewide election.
(c) Notwithstanding Section 9051 of the Elections Code, the Attorney General shall prepare and return to the Secretary of State a ballot title for Senate Bill 28 of the 1995-96 Regular Session as expeditiously as possible, but not later than two days after the effective date of this act.
(d) Notwithstanding Section 9087 of the Elections Code, the Legislative Analyst shall prepare an impartial analysis of Senate Bill 28 of the 1995-96 Regular Session as expeditiously as possible, but not later than five days after the effective date of this act, and the analysis shall not be submitted to a review committee.
(e) The Secretary of State shall include, in the ballot pamphlet mailed pursuant to Section 9094 of the Elections Code, the information specified in Section 9084 of the Elections Code regarding Senate Bill 28 of the 1995-96 Regular Session.
If that inclusion is not possible, the Secretary of State shall publish a supplemental ballot pamphlet regarding that legislative bill to be mailed with the ballot pamphlet. If the supplemental ballot pamphlet cannot be mailed with the ballot pamphlet, the supplemental ballot pamphlet shall, notwithstanding Section 9094 of the Elections Code, be mailed at least 14 days before the election.
(f) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all ballots of the election shall have printed thereon, in a square, the words: "Amendment of the California Wildlife Protection Act of 1990." In the same square, below the words, all ballots shall contain the following words in 8-point type: "This act authorizes the Legislature to manage mountain lions to protect the people and resources of California." Opposite the square, there shall be spaces left in which the voters may place a cross in the manner required by law to indicate whether they vote for or against the measure.
(2) Where voting is done by means of voting machines used pursuant to law in the manner that carries out the intent of this section that Senate Bill 28 of the 1995-96 Regular Session be properly placed before, and duly considered by, the voters at the March 26, 1996, direct primary election, the use of the voting machines are in compliance with this section.
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California Mountain Lion Page.
California Wildlife Protection Coalition. Source: http://www.sen.ca.gov/htbin/ca-html?GOPHER_ROOT2:[BILL.CURRENT.SB.FROM0000.SB0028]CURRVER.TXT;1/bill/SB28
Last updated 29 January 1996.
http://www.sierraclub.org/chapters/ca/mountain-lion/prop197.html