BILL NUMBER: SB 457 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 6, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Senator Nielsen
(Coauthors: Senators Berryhill and Stone)
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Olsen)
FEBRUARY 25, 2015
An act to amend Section 4155 of the Fish and Game Code, relating
to fish and wildlife.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 457, as amended, Nielsen. Bobcat Protection Act of 2013.
Existing law, the Bobcat Protection Act of 2013, makes it unlawful
to trap any bobcat, or attempt to do so, or to sell or export any
bobcat or part of any bobcat taken in the area surrounding Joshua
Tree National Park, as specified. The act requires the Fish and Game
Commission to amend its regulations to prohibit the trapping of
bobcats adjacent to the boundaries of each national or state park and
national monument or wildlife refuge in which bobcat trapping is
prohibited. The act also requires the commission, commencing January
1, 2016, to consider whether to prohibit bobcat trapping within, and
adjacent to, preserves, state conservancies, and any other public or
private conservation areas identified to the commission by the public
as warranting protection, and to amend its regulations accordingly,
as specified. The act requires the commission to delineate the
boundaries of an area in which bobcat trapping is prohibited pursuant
to these provisions using readily identifiable features, such as
highways or other major roads, such as those delineated for Joshua
Tree National Park.
This bill would provide that these features also include,
but are not limited to, landmarks, and would make other
nonsubstantive changes to these provisions. may
include roads instead of major roads and would provide that landmarks
and geographic positions established by navigation and surveying
methods may be used to delineate the bo undaries of an
area described above in which bobcat trapping is prohibited.
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 4155 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to
read:
4155. (a) It shall be unlawful to trap any bobcat, or attempt to
do so, or to sell or export any bobcat or part of any bobcat taken in
the area surrounding Joshua Tree National Park, defined as follows:
East and South south of State Highway
Route 62 from the intersection of Interstate 10 to the
intersection of State Highway Route 177; West
west of State Highway Route 177 from
the intersection of State Highway Route 62 to the
intersection with Interstate 10; North north
of Interstate 10 from State Highway Route 177 to
State Highway Route 62.
(b) (1) Through the commission's next regularly scheduled mammal
hunting and trapping rulemaking process occurring after January 1,
2014, the commission shall amend its regulations to prohibit the
trapping of bobcats adjacent to the boundaries of each national or
state park and national monument or wildlife refuge in which bobcat
trapping is prohibited.
(2) Commencing January 1, 2016, the commission shall consider
whether to prohibit bobcat trapping within, and adjacent to,
preserves, state conservancies, and any additional public or private
conservation areas identified to the commission by the public as
warranting protection. The commission, as necessary, shall amend its
regulations through its next subsequently scheduled mammal hunting
and trapping rulemaking process to prohibit bobcat trapping in any
area determined by the commission to warrant protection.
(3) The commission shall delineate the boundaries of an area in
which bobcat trapping is prohibited pursuant to paragraph (1) or (2)
using readily any of the following:
(A) Readily identifiable
features, including, but not limited to, highways, other
major roads, or landmarks, such as those delineated for
Joshua Tree National Park in subdivision (a).
(a), or roads.
(B) Landmarks.
(C) Geographic positions established by navigation and surveying
methods, including, but not limited to, the Global Positioning
System.
(c) The prohibition on the trapping of bobcats in the areas
designated pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) shall not apply to
the taking of any bobcat by employees of the department acting in an
official capacity, to a taking in accordance with the conditions of a
scientific, educational, or propagation permit pursuant to Section
1002 by the holder of that permit, or to the lawful taking of bobcats
found to be injuring crops or other property pursuant to Section
4152 or other provisions of this code or regulations adopted pursuant
to this code.
(d) Notwithstanding Section 2016 or any other provisions of this
code, it shall be unlawful to trap any bobcat, or attempt to do so,
on any private land not belonging to the trapper without the express
written consent of the owner of that property. The placing or
possession of any trap or the possession of a bobcat or part thereof
on any land is prima facie evidence of a violation of this
subdivision.
(e) Consistent with the requirements of subdivision (c) of Section
4006, the commission shall set trapping license fees and associated
fees, including, but not limited to, shipping tags required pursuant
to Section 479 of Chapter 6 of Subdivision 2 of Division 1
of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, for the
2014-15 season, and any subsequent seasons in which bobcat trapping
is allowed, at the levels necessary to fully recover all reasonable
administrative and implementation costs of the department and the
commission associated with the trapping of bobcats in the state,
including, but not limited to, enforcement costs.
(f) This section does not limit the ability of the department or
the commission to impose additional requirements, restrictions, or
prohibitions related to the taking of bobcats, including a complete
prohibition on the trapping of bobcats pursuant to this code.