Bill Text: CA AB559 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Monarch butterflies: conservation.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2015-10-04 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 478, Statutes of 2015. [AB559 Detail]

Download: California-2015-AB559-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 559	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 26, 2015
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 16, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Lopez

                        FEBRUARY 23, 2015

   An act to add Section 1021 to the Fish and Game Code, relating to
monarch butterflies.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 559, as amended, Lopez. Monarch butterflies: conservation.
   Existing law establishes the Department of Fish and Wildlife and
sets forth the duties of that department, which include administering
various programs for the protection and conservation of fish and
wildlife resources.
   This bill would authorize the department to take actions to
conserve monarch butterflies and the unique habitats they depend upon
for successful migration. The bill would authorize the department to
partner with federal agencies, nonprofit organizations, academic
programs, private landowners, and other entities that undertake
actions to conserve monarch butterflies and aid their successful
migration, including the Monarch Joint Venture. The bill would
require the department, when undertaking actions to conserve monarch
butterflies and their habitats, to use the best available science and
consider taking specified actions.
   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.  The Legislature hereby finds and declares the
following:
   (a) Monarch butterflies are a favorite butterfly of people
throughout North America and concern for their survival brings people
together like few other wildlife species such that, in February
2014, the United States, Mexico, and Canada joined efforts to ensure
monarch butterfly recovery.
   (b) Monarch butterfly populations have declined significantly in
the past 20 years to where the eastern population has lost 90 percent
of historical numbers and the western population has shrunk to 50
percent of historical numbers. California is the only state to host
significant numbers of overwintering monarch butterflies.
   (c) While adult butterflies may obtain nectar from many different
plants, monarch caterpillars can only survive when native milkweed
plants are available for food. Of the 72 native milkweed species in
the United States, several exist in California, including six that
are endemic.
   (d) Milkweed habitat and density have declined significantly in
the eastern United States, and it is suspected that they have also
declined in the West. This has negatively impacted monarch
butterflies as well as native bees, honey bees, and other beneficial
insects, including insect predators of crop pests.
   (e) Since nearly one-third of the most promising California winter
habitat for monarch butterflies is on privately owned land,
collaboration with landowners is critical. Fortunately, many
landowners are some of the strongest advocates for protecting and
restoring overwintering and breeding habitat for the monarch
butterfly.
   (f) Current environmental protection laws, including those
concerning conservation and land use planning, have not adequately
protected monarch butterflies, creating a need for additional
collaborative restoration measures.
   (g) While several federal agencies, including the Natural Resource
Conservation Service, the Farm Service Agency, the United States
Forest Service, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and the
Federal Highway Administration, are undertaking initiatives to
protect and restore monarch butterflies, California needs to take
additional initiatives to guide and support monarch butterfly
conservation.
   (h) Numerous public and private research entities and
nongovernmental organizations are undertaking research and gathering
information that could significantly contribute to California's
efforts to protect and conserve monarch butterflies.
  SEC. 2.  Section 1021 is added to the Fish and Game Code, to read:
   1021.  (a) The department may take actions to conserve monarch
butterflies and the unique habitats they depend upon for successful
migration. These actions may include, but are not limited to, habitat
restoration on department lands, education programs, and voluntary
agreements with private landowners.
   (b) The department may partner with federal agencies, nonprofit
organizations, academic programs, private landowners, and other
entities that undertake actions to conserve monarch butterflies and
aid their successful migration, including the Monarch Joint Venture.
   (c) When undertaking actions to conserve monarch butterflies and
their habitats pursuant to this section or other authority, the
department shall use the best available science and consider, as
appropriate, all of the following:
   (1) Restoring or revegetating monarch caterpillar habitat using
regionally or locally appropriate native milkweed species.
   (2) Restoring or revegetating adult monarch butterfly habitat
using regionally or locally appropriate native nectar plant species.

   (3) Controlling nonnative weed species that threaten native
milkweed species using current best management practices consistent
with integrated pest management principles that pose low risk to
monarch butterflies and their habitat. 
   (3) 
    (   4)  Incorporating diverse tree species,
structures, and arrangements when restoring or establishing winter
habitat sites to match monarch butterfly preferences for temperature,
light, moisture, wind, and other microclimate characteristics.

   (4) 
    (   5)  Controlling pests and disease in
monarch butterfly habitat using natural biological measures and
alternative nonspray weed management strategies. 
   (5) 
    (   6)  Increasing the number of partnerships
and making the most of partnerships to use residential and
institutional landscaped areas, agricultural noncropped lands,
transportation corridors, and conservation easements to create,
restore, or enhance monarch butterfly habitat.