AB-1987 • 2026

Department-managed lands: wildlife areas: hunting.

Budget

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor: Aguiar-Curry (A) , Hadwick
Last action: 2026-04-13
Official status: In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide detailed information about the conditions or requirements for nonprofit groups entering into agreements with the Department.

Department-managed Lands: Hunting Rules

This law allows the Department of Fish and Wildlife to enter into agreements with nonprofit groups to manage department lands for hunting programs, requires annual feedback from licensed hunters on wetland flooding conditions, and creates a fund for maintaining wildlife areas.

What This Bill Does

Allows the Department of Fish and Wildlife to enter into contracts or other agreements with nonprofit conservation groups for managing department-managed lands for hunting or public use programs.
Requires the Department to provide an annual opportunity for licensed hunters to comment on wetland flooding conditions in Type A and Type B wildlife areas.
Creates a special fund within the Fish and Game Preservation Fund to collect revenues from waterfowl hunting fees, which are continuously appropriated for maintaining and operating Type A and Type B Wildlife Areas.

Who It Names or Affects

The Department of Fish and Wildlife
Nonprofit conservation groups
Licensed hunters

Terms To Know

Department-managed lands: Land owned by the state that is managed by the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Waterfowl Management Areas Operations and Maintenance Account: A special fund created to collect money from waterfowl hunting fees for maintenance and operations of wildlife areas.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill does not specify the exact conditions or requirements for nonprofit groups entering into agreements with the Department.
It is unclear how much funding will be allocated from the new fund.

Bill History

2026-04-13 California Legislative Information
In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.
2026-04-13 California Legislative Information
Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 76. Noes 0.)
2026-04-09 California Legislative Information
Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
2026-04-08 California Legislative Information
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 14. Noes 0.) (April 8).
2026-03-26 California Legislative Information
Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
2026-03-25 California Legislative Information
Read second time and amended.
2026-03-24 California Legislative Information
From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (March 24).
2026-03-03 California Legislative Information
Re-referred to Com. on W., P., & W.
2026-03-02 California Legislative Information
From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on W., P., & W. Read second time and amended.
2026-03-02 California Legislative Information
Referred to Com. on W., P., & W.
2026-02-14 California Legislative Information
From printer. May be heard in committee March 16.
2026-02-13 California Legislative Information
Read first time. To print.

Official Summary Text

AB 1987, as amended, Aguiar-Curry.
Department-managed lands: wildlife areas: hunting.
Existing law requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife to operate department-managed lands on a nonprofit basis and authorizes the department to enter into contracts or other agreements for the management and operation of the department-managed lands with a nonprofit conservation group, as defined. Existing law authorizes the department to lease department-managed lands for agricultural activities if certain conditions are met and requires money collected from the lease of these lands to be deposited by the department in the Wildlife Restoration Fund or the Fish and Game Preservation Fund, and authorizes the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to use the funds to support the management, maintenance, restoration, and operations of department-managed lands.
This bill would authorize the department to enter into contracts or
other agreements for the management and operation of the department-managed lands for the purposes of administrating hunting or other public use programs. The bill would also require, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the above-described funds to be used by the department to support the management, maintenance, restoration, and operations of department-managed lands.
Existing law requires the department to annually provide an opportunity for licensed hunters to comment and make recommendations on public hunting programs, including anticipated habitat conditions in hunting areas on Type A and Type B wildlife areas, as provided.
This bill would add wetland floodup to the topics that the department is required to provide an opportunity for comment and recommendation on as described above.
The
This
bill would create the Waterfowl Management Areas Operations and Maintenance Account in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund and would require all revenues generated from the sale of waterfowl hunting reservation applications and daily and season long entry passes from Type A and Type B Wildlife Areas to be deposited into the account. The bill would continuously appropriate those revenues for the operation and maintenance of, and the reasonable administrative costs directly related to the public hunting programs for, Type A and Type B Wildlife Areas.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

Download Bill PDF