AB 1630: Wildlife movements.

Existing law requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife to administer the Significant Natural Areas Program, and requires the department, among other things, to develop and maintain a spatial data system that identifies those areas in the state that are most essential for maintaining habitat connectivity, including wildlife corridors and habitat linkages. Existing law requires the department, contingent upon the provision of certain funding, to investigate, study, and identify those areas in the state that are most essential as wildlife corridors and habitat linkages and prioritize vegetative data development in those areas. Existing law requires the department to seek input from representatives of other state agencies, local government, federal agencies, nongovernmental conservation organizations, landowners, agriculture, recreation, scientific entities, and industry in determining essential wildlife corridors and habitat linkages. Existing law also declares that it is the policy of the state to encourage, wherever feasible and practicable, voluntary steps to protect the functioning of wildlife corridors through various means.

This bill would authorize the Department of Fish and Wildlife or the Department of Transportation to pursue development of a programmatic environmental review process with appropriate state and federal regulatory agencies for wildlife connectivity-related transportation infrastructure. The bill would require, bill, on or before January 1, 2019, 2020, would require the Department of Fish and Wildlife, in coordination with the Department of Transportation and the Transportation Agency, department to update the California Essential Habitat Connectivity Project and create a formal avenue for scientific data on wildlife movements gathered by universities, nonprofit corporations, public agencies, and independent biologists to be submitted to these departments and the agency, the department, as specified.