Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act: relocation.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary and digest do not provide specific details on how success of relocations will be measured, leaving this point uncertain.

Western Joshua Tree Protection: Relocation Rules

This law allows up to 10 western Joshua trees to be moved within a short distance without fees if done carefully and according to rules set by the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

What This Bill Does

• It permits people to move up to 10 western Joshua trees from one place to another nearby place, as long as it is within 2.5 kilometers, without paying extra money or doing special work to fix any harm caused by moving them.
• The Department of Fish and Wildlife must make sure that anyone who wants to move a tree follows rules about how far the tree can be moved and what steps they need to take to protect the tree during the move.

Who It Names or Affects

• People who own land where western Joshua trees grow
• The Department of Fish and Wildlife, which will make rules about moving these trees

Terms To Know

take

To hunt, catch, or harm a western Joshua tree on purpose.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how the success of tree relocations will be measured.
• It is unclear what happens if someone wants to move more than 10 trees or move them further away from their original location.

Official Summary Text

SB 1061, as amended, Ochoa Bogh.
Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act:
take:
relocation.
(1)
The
The
Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act prohibits any person or public agency from importing into the state, exporting out of the state, or taking, possessing, purchasing, or selling within the state, a western Joshua tree or any part or product of the tree, except as specified. The act authorizes the Department of Fish and Wildlife to permit the taking of a western Joshua tree if specified conditions are met, including, but not limited to, that the permittee mitigates all impacts to, and
taking of, the western Joshua tree through measures that are roughly proportional in extent to the impact of the authorized taking of the western Joshua tree. The act authorizes, in lieu of completing the mitigation measures, a permittee to elect to satisfy the mitigation obligation by paying fees pursuant to a specified fee schedule, as provided.
Existing law authorizes the department to include permit conditions that require the permittee to relocate one or more of the western Joshua trees, as specified. Existing law requires the department to adopt guidelines and relocation protocols, based on the best available science, to relocate western Joshua trees successfully.
This bill would exempt from the act the relocation of a western Joshua tree that is relocated within the same parcel or relocated to a contiguous parcel that is owned by the same owner of the parcel where the western Joshua tree is being relocated from.
(2)
Existing law defines “take” to mean hunt, pursue, catch, capture, or kill, or attempt to hunt, pursue, catch, capture, or kill.
This bill would specify for the purposes of the act that “take” does not include unintentionally or accidentally causing the death of a western Joshua tree.
This bill would authorize the department to authorize, by permit, and without payment of fees or other mitigation, the relocation of up to 10 individual western Joshua trees from a parcel, as provided. The bill would require a person seeking a relocation permit to submit a permit application to the department and meet certain conditions including, among other conditions, that the tree identified in the application would be relocated within 2.5 kilometers of its original location and that the relocation be consistent with the guidelines and relocation protocols adopted by the department. The bill would require the department to maintain a list of relocation permits issued pursuant to this authority and sufficient information regarding each relocation to be able to assess the success or failure of the relocation and the factors contributing to that success or failure.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF