Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act: relocation.

Plain English Breakdown

Official summary text is incomplete, leading to some uncertainty in interpretation.

Western Joshua Tree Protection: Relocation Rules

This law sets rules for moving western Joshua trees within California, allowing up to 10 trees to be moved without fees if done carefully and within certain limits.

What This Bill Does

• It says that people can't move or sell western Joshua trees in the state unless they get a special permit from the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
• The law lets the department give permits to move up to 10 trees at once, as long as it's done within 2.5 kilometers (about 1.5 miles) and follows rules based on science.
• It says that moving trees between parcels owned by the same person or within the same parcel doesn't need a permit.

Who It Names or Affects

• People who own land with western Joshua trees on it
• Companies and individuals who might want to move these trees for construction or other reasons

Terms To Know

take

To hunt, pursue, catch, capture, kill, or try to do any of those things.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill doesn't say what happens if someone moves more than 10 trees without a permit.
• It's not clear how the department will decide which relocation requests get permits.

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