AB 2525: Conservation of public lands: unlawful cannabis cultivation: mitigation and enforcement.

Existing law establishes the Department of Fish and Wildlife in the Natural Resources Agency and makes the Department of Fish and Wildlife the trustee for fish and wildlife resources of the state. Existing law prohibits a person or other entity from diverting or obstructing the natural flow of any river, stream, or lake, without first notifying the department and, if necessary, entering into a lake or streambed alteration agreement. Existing law requires the department to establish a watershed enforcement program to facilitate the investigation, enforcement, and prosecution of unlawful water diversions and other violations of the Fish and Game Code associated with cannabis cultivation. Existing law requires the department, in coordination with the State Water Resources Control Board and the Department of Food and Agriculture, to establish a multiagency task force, known as the Watershed Enforcement Team, to address the environmental impacts of cannabis cultivation.

Existing law establishes the Department of Parks and Recreation in the Natural Resources Agency and requires the Director of Parks and Recreation, among other things, to promote and regulate the use of the state park system in a manner that conserves the scenery, natural and historic resources, and wildlife in units of the state park system for the enjoyment of future generations.

This bill would require the Department of Fish and Wildlife to collaborate with the Department of Parks and Recreation to conduct an annual survey of all public lands, as defined, and all surface water sources on public lands, for unlawful cannabis cultivation activity; to compile a database of unlawful cannabis cultivation activity occurring on public lands; and to ensure that this activity is eradicated by the Watershed Enforcement Team or other appropriate authority. The bill would require the Watershed Enforcement Team to prioritize the eradication of unlawful cannabis cultivation described in these provisions.

The bill would require the Natural Resources Agency to establish a program to restore public lands damaged by unlawful cannabis cultivation activity. The bill would create the Public Lands Cannabis Eradication Fund in the State Treasury. The bill would provide for moneys in the fund to be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to protect and restore public lands damaged by unlawful cannabis cultivation activity, including through the above-described activities.