Bill Text: CA SJR10 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

California Senate Joint Resolution 10

Bill Title: Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument Expansion Act.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-05-06 - Referred to Com. on W., P., & W. [SJR10 Detail]

Download: California-2023-SJR10-Amended.html

Amended IN Senate April 17, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Joint Resolution

No. 10

Introduced by Senator Dodd
(Coauthor: Senator McGuire)
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Aguiar-Curry)

January 18, 2024

Relative to the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument Expansion Act.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SJR 10, as amended, Dodd. Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument Expansion Act.

This measure would urge the President and the Congress of the United States to expand the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument to include the Walker Ridge (Molok Luyuk) Addition and to endorse the passage of House ~~bill~~ Bill No. 1396 and Senate ~~bill~~ Bill No. 683 of the 118th Congress.

Fiscal Committee: NO

WHEREAS, Approximately 60 percent of land in the continental United States is in a natural state, but we are losing a football field worth of it every 30 seconds, and the decline of nature threatens wildlife as approximately 1,000,000 animal and plant species are at risk of extinction in the coming decades across the globe, including one-third of United States wildlife; and

WHEREAS, The United States Geological Survey reports that only 12 percent of lands are permanently protected, and other studies show that roughly 23 percent of America’s ocean is currently strongly protected, with the vast majority of ocean protections found in the western Pacific Ocean; and

WHEREAS, On January 27, 2021, President Biden signed Executive Order No. 14008, which launched a governmentwide effort to confront climate change, restore balance on our nation’s public lands and waters, create jobs, and provide a path to align the management of our nation’s public lands and waters with national climate, conversation, and clean energy goals; and

WHEREAS, Executive Order No. 14008 directs the United States Department of the Interior to outline steps to achieve the President’s commitment to conserve at least 30 percent each of our lands and waters by the year 2030, known as the 30x30 goal, in order to safeguard our health, food supplies, biodiversity, and the prosperity of every community and to undertake the process with broad engagement, including agricultural and forest landowners, fishermen, outdoor enthusiasts, sovereign tribal nations, states, territories, local officials, and others to identify strategies that reflect the priorities of all communities; and

WHEREAS, In October 2020, Governor Newsom outlined a comprehensive and results-oriented agenda to expand nature-based solutions across California through Executive Order No. N-82-20, elevating the role of natural and working lands in the fight against climate change and advancing biodiversity conservation as an administration priority and committing the state to the goal of conserving 30 percent of our lands and coastal waters by 2030; and

WHEREAS, Executive Order No. N-82-20 directs the Natural Resources Agency to coordinate the execution of the 30x30 goal with other state agencies and stakeholders through a series of actions, including the development of a strategy document by February 2022 titled “Pathways to 30x30,” that sets California on the path to successfully implement our 30x30 conservation goal; and

WHEREAS, The Legislature has previously expressed bipartisan support for the designation of the Berryessa Snow Mountain region as the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument in Assembly Joint Resolution 4 of the 2015–16 Regular Session, adopted on April 9, 2015; and

WHEREAS, The Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument was established by former President Obama’s Presidential Proclamation 9298 on July 10, 2015, in order to protect its rich biodiversity, including rare endemic species, unique serpentine outcrops, relic prairies, and riparian habitats; and

WHEREAS, In addition to providing essential habitat for fish and wildlife, the area is important for scientific study, prehistoric and historic preservation, and exceptional outdoor recreational opportunities; and

WHEREAS, The lands within the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument additionally retain deep cultural significance for roughly 24 federally recognized Indian tribes who inhabited them for at least the last 11,000 years; and

WHEREAS, Encompassing more than 330,000 acres of public land, the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument is jointly managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management and the United States Forest Service, and both agencies have worked to carefully manage the objects and values identified in the proclamation, such as holding several community conversations to gather public input and building a shared vision for stewardship of the monument; and

WHEREAS, House ~~bill~~ Bill No. 1396 and Senate ~~bill~~ Bill No. 683 of the 118th Congress would add approximately 3,900 acres of land managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management to the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument in Lake County, California, and would rename the area commonly known as “Walker Ridge” to Condor Ridge, or Molok Luyuk in the Patwin language, to reflect the area’s cultural significance to the many federally recognized Indian tribes in this region; and

WHEREAS, House ~~bill~~ Bill No. 1396 and Senate ~~bill~~ Bill No. 683 of the 118th Congress would provide opportunities for the federal Bureau of Land Management and the United States Forest Service to enter into cooperative agreements and other financial partnership instruments with federally recognized Indian tribes for management of the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument and align with both the Biden Administration’s and California’s 30x30 conservation goals; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of California, jointly, That the State of California urges the President to use the Antiquities Act of 1906 ~~(16 U.S.C. Sec. 431 et seq.)~~ (54 U.S.C. Sec. 320101 et seq.) to expand the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument to include the Walker Ridge (Molok Luyuk) Addition; and be it further

Resolved, That the State of California endorses the passage of House ~~bill~~ Bill No. 1396 and Senate ~~bill~~ Bill No. 683 of the 118th Congress; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, the United States Secretary of the Interior, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, the Minority Leader of the United States Senate, and to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States.