By Executive Order No. N-82-20, Governor Gavin Newsom directed the Natural Resources Agency to combat the biodiversity and climate crises by, among other things, establishing the California Biodiversity Collaborative and conserving at least 30% of the states lands and coastal waters by 2030. Existing law provides that it is the goal of the state to conserve at least 30% of Californias lands and coastal waters by 2030, known as the 30x30 goal. Existing law requires the Natural Resources Agency to prioritize specified actions, including partnering with federal agencies to leverage strategic funding and resources in achieving the 30x30 goal.

This bill would also require the agency to prioritize promoting and supporting partnering state agencies and departments that acquire and steward state land, including, but not limited to, the Department of Parks and Recreation, in the acquisition of new state land and responsible stewardship of state land, as feasible.

Existing law requires the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to prepare and submit, on or before March 31, 2024, and annually thereafter, a report to the Legislature on the progress made in the prior calendar year toward achieving the 30x30 goal. Existing law requires the report to include information on, among other things, (1) how and where state funding that was expended in the prior calendar year was used in furtherance of the 30x30 goal, including the amount of funding expended for land and water conservation, science and research, public outreach and engagement, and managing, monitoring, and restoring conserved lands and water and (2) the progress made in the prior year to address equity as part of the 30x30 goal, including state funding invested in specified things.

This bill would instead require the portion of the report concerning state funding expended in furtherance of the 30x30 goal to include information on the amount of funding expended by each partnering state agency and department for land and water conservation, science and research, public outreach and engagement, and managing, monitoring, and restoring conserved lands and water. The bill would also require the report to include information on state funding invested in equitable outdoor access.

By Executive Order No. N-82-20, Governor Gavin Newsom directed the Natural Resources Agency to combat the biodiversity and climate crises by, among other things, establishing the California Biodiversity Collaborative and conserving at least 30% of the states lands and coastal waters by 2030. Existing law provides that it is the goal of the state to conserve at least 30% of Californias lands and coastal waters by 2030, known as the 30x30 goal. Existing law requires the Natural Resources Agency to prioritize specified actions, including partnering with federal agencies to leverage strategic funding and resources in achieving the 30x30 goal.

This bill would also require the agency to prioritize promoting and supporting partnering state agencies and departments that acquire and steward state land, including, but not limited to, the Department of Parks and Recreation, in the acquisition of new state land and responsible stewardship of state land, as feasible.

Existing law requires the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to prepare and submit, on or before March 31, 2024, and annually thereafter, a report to the Legislature on the progress made in the prior calendar year toward achieving the 30x30 goal. Existing law requires the report to include information on, among other things, (1) how and where state funding that was expended in the prior calendar year was used in furtherance of the 30x30 goal, including the amount of funding expended for land and water conservation, science and research, public outreach and engagement, and managing, monitoring, and restoring conserved lands and water and (2) the progress made in the prior year to address equity as part of the 30x30 goal, including state funding invested in specified things.

This bill would instead require the portion of the report concerning state funding expended in furtherance of the 30x30 goal to include information on the amount of funding expended by each partnering state agency and department for land and water conservation, science and research, public outreach and engagement, and managing, monitoring, and restoring conserved lands and water. The bill would also require the report to include information on state funding invested in equitable outdoor access.

By Executive Order No. N-82-20, Governor Gavin Newsom directed the Natural Resources Agency to combat the biodiversity and climate crises by, among other things, establishing the California Biodiversity Collaborative and conserving at least 30% of the states lands and coastal waters by 2030. Existing law provides that it is the goal of the state to conserve at least 30% of Californias lands and coastal waters by 2030, known as the 30x30 goal. Existing law requires the Natural Resources Agency to prioritize specified actions, including partnering with federal agencies to leverage strategic funding and resources in achieving the 30x30 goal.

This bill would also require the agency to prioritize promoting and supporting partnering state agencies and departments, departments that acquire state land, including, but not limited to, the Department of Parks and Recreation, in the acquisition of new state land and responsible stewardship of state land. land, as feasible.

Existing law requires the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to prepare and submit, on or before March 31, 2024, and annually thereafter, a report to the Legislature on the progress made in the prior calendar year toward achieving the 30x30 goal. Existing law requires the report to include information on, among other things, (1) how and where state funding that was expended in the prior calendar year was used in furtherance of the 30x30 goal, including the amount of funding expended for land and water conservation, science and research, public outreach and engagement, and managing, monitoring, and restoring conserved lands and water and (2) the progress made in the prior year to address equity as part of the 30x30 goal, including state funding invested in specified things.

This bill would instead require the portion of the report concerning state funding expended in furtherance of the 30x30 goal to include information on the amount of funding expended by each partnering state agency and department for land and water conservation, science and research, public outreach and engagement, and managing, monitoring, and restoring conserved lands and water. The bill would also require the report to include information on state funding invested in equitable outdoor access.

By Executive Order No. N-82-20, Governor Gavin Newsom directed the Natural Resources Agency to combat the biodiversity and climate crises by, among other things, establishing the California Biodiversity Collaborative and conserving at least 30% of the states lands and coastal waters by 2030. Existing law provides that it is the goal of the state to conserve at least 30% of Californias lands and coastal waters by 2030, known as the 30x30 goal. Existing law requires the Natural Resources Agency to prioritize specified actions, including partnering with federal agencies to leverage strategic funding and resources in achieving the 30x30 goal.

This bill would also require the agency to prioritize promoting and supporting partnering state agencies and departments, including, but not limited to, the Department of Parks and Recreation, in the acquisition and responsible stewardship of state land.

Existing law requires the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to prepare and submit, on or before March 31, 2024, and annually thereafter, a report to the Legislature on the progress made in the prior calendar year toward achieving the 30x30 goal. Existing law requires the report to include information on, among other things, (1) how and where state funding that was expended in the prior calendar year was used in furtherance of the 30x30 goal, including the amount of funding expended for land and water conservation, science and research, public outreach and engagement, and managing, monitoring, and restoring conserved lands and water and (2) the progress made in the prior year to address equity as part of the 30x30 goal, including state funding invested in specified things.

This bill would instead require the portion of the report concerning state funding expended in furtherance of the 30x30 goal to include information on the amount of funding expended by each partnering state agency and department for land and water conservation, science and research, public outreach and engagement, and managing, monitoring, and restoring conserved lands and water. The bill would also require the report to include information on state funding invested in equitable outdoor access.

CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS

CSA1 Bill Id:AB 2440

Author:(Reyes)

As Amended Ver:August 15, 2024

Majority vote

SUMMARY

Requires the California Natural Resources Agency (NRA) to prioritize promoting and supporting partnering state agencies and departments, including, but not limited to, the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), in the acquisition and responsible stewardship of state land.

Senate Amendments

Modify the priority that NRA promote and support partnering state agencies and departments that acquire and steward state land, including, but not limited to, DPR, in the acquisition of new state land and responsible stewardship of state land, as feasible.

COMMENTS

AB 2440 requires NRA, in implementing the efforts to achieve the 30x30 goal, to additionally prioritize promoting and supporting partnering state agencies and departments, including, but not limited to, DPR, in the acquisition and responsible stewardship of state land.

DPR recognizes that California's population is expected to grow by nearly 30% in the next quarter century, which will put ever-increasing pressure on the state's remaining wild lands. Under its State Park Acquisition Guidelines, DPR will prioritize new lands for the park system that create linkages between existing units of the parks system to other large blocks of protected habitat, protect under-protected habitats, protect under-protected ecological regions, protect evolutionary hotspots, and other criterion that are consistent with the foundation of 30x30.

According to the Author

AB 2440 would incorporate DPR and other agencies managing state-owned lands into the state's goals to conserve 30% of lands and coastal waters by 2030 and require an update on progress towards expanding access to nature for all Californians. Given the unique role California State Parks plays in conserving public land in the United States, there should be an explicit call out to state agencies like State Parks in the 30x30 goal. As the state plans to achieve its ambitious 30x30 goal it should track outdoor equitable access to ensure that racial, economic, and historical disparities are not being replicated. Latino and Black populations are less likely to have access to green space because of existing racial inequities while green space access is most strongly associated with higher education and high-income communities. AB 2440 would push the state to be more strategic on how it's using public assets like State Parks in the 30x30 goal and hold the state accountable on equitable outdoor access.

Arguments in Support

The California State Parks Foundation writes, "… the state's massive investments in 30x30 have overlooked our state parks system, further exacerbating the ongoing struggles caused by decades of underfunding. Since 2021, California has invested [more than] $1 billion from the General Fund to fulfill our 30x30 goals and support multibenefit nature-based climate solutions, but only $12 million of this nature-based solutions funding was directed to State Parks.

AB 2440 would require the NRA to promote and support the acquisition and responsible stewardship of state lands as a part of fulfilling the 30x30 goal."

Arguments in Opposition

None on file

FISCAL COMMENTS

According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, this bill will result in cost pressure of an unknown, but potentially significant amount, likely in the tens of millions of dollars, to the extent this bill leads to more land acquisition, restoration, management, and stewardship by state agencies like DPR (General Fund, special funds such as the State Park and Recreation Fund, federal funds such as the Land and Water Conservation Fund, bond funds, and private funds).

VOTES:

ASM NATURAL RESOURCES: 11-0-0

YES: Bryan, Flora, Bauer-Kahan, Friedman, Hoover, Kalra, Mathis, Muratsuchi, Pellerin, Wicks, Wood

ASM WATER, PARKS, AND WILDLIFE: 14-0-1

YES: Papan, Addis, Alanis, Alvarez, Bennett, Bonta, Gallagher, Davies, Garcia, Hart, Luz Rivas, Schiavo, Villapudua, Weber

ABS, ABST OR NV: Mathis

ASM APPROPRIATIONS: 15-0-0

YES: Wicks, Sanchez, Arambula, Bryan, Calderon, Wendy Carrillo, Dixon, Mike Fong, Grayson, Haney, Hart, Jim Patterson, Pellerin, Ta, Villapudua

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 72-0-8

YES: Addis, Aguiar-Curry, Alanis, Alvarez, Arambula, Bains, Bauer-Kahan, Bennett, Berman, Boerner, Bonta, Bryan, Juan Carrillo, Wendy Carrillo, Chen, Connolly, Davies, Dixon, Flora, Mike Fong, Vince Fong, Gabriel, Gallagher, Garcia, Gipson, Grayson, Haney, Hart, Hoover, Irwin, Jackson, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Lackey, Lee, Low, Lowenthal, Maienschein, McCarty, McKinnor, Muratsuchi, Stephanie Nguyen, Ortega, Pacheco, Papan, Jim Patterson, Joe Patterson, Pellerin, Petrie-Norris, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Rendon, Reyes, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Sanchez, Santiago, Schiavo, Soria, Ta, Ting, Valencia, Villapudua, Waldron, Wallis, Ward, Weber, Wicks, Wilson, Wood, Zbur, Robert Rivas

ABS, ABST OR NV: Calderon, Cervantes, Megan Dahle, Essayli, Friedman, Holden, Mathis, Luz Rivas

SENATE FLOOR: 37-0-3

YES: Allen, Alvarado-Gil, Archuleta, Ashby, Atkins, Becker, Blakespear, Bradford, Caballero, Cortese, Dahle, Dodd, Durazo, Eggman, Glazer, Gonzalez, Grove, Hurtado, Jones, Laird, Limón, McGuire, Menjivar, Min, Newman, Niello, Padilla, Portantino, Roth, Rubio, Skinner, Smallwood-Cuevas, Stern, Umberg, Wahab, Wiener, Wilk

ABS, ABST OR NV: Nguyen, Ochoa Bogh, Seyarto

UPDATED

VERSION: August 15, 2024

CONSULTANT: Paige Brokaw / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092 FN: 0004713

CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS

CSA1 Bill Id:AB 2440

Author:(Reyes)

As Amended Ver:August 15, 2024

Majority vote

SUMMARY

Requires the California Natural Resources Agency (NRA) to prioritize promoting and supporting partnering state agencies and departments, including, but not limited to, the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), in the acquisition and responsible stewardship of state land.

Senate Amendments

Modify the priority that NRA promote and support partnering state agencies and departments that acquire and steward state land, including, but not limited to, DPR, in the acquisition of new state land and responsible stewardship of state land, as feasible.

COMMENTS

AB 2440 requires NRA, in implementing the efforts to achieve the 30x30 goal, to additionally prioritize promoting and supporting partnering state agencies and departments, including, but not limited to, DPR, in the acquisition and responsible stewardship of state land.

DPR recognizes that California's population is expected to grow by nearly 30% in the next quarter century, which will put ever-increasing pressure on the state's remaining wild lands. Under its State Park Acquisition Guidelines, DPR will prioritize new lands for the park system that create linkages between existing units of the parks system to other large blocks of protected habitat, protect under-protected habitats, protect under-protected ecological regions, protect evolutionary hotspots, and other criterion that are consistent with the foundation of 30x30.

According to the Author

AB 2440 would incorporate DPR and other agencies managing state-owned lands into the state's goals to conserve 30% of lands and coastal waters by 2030 and require an update on progress towards expanding access to nature for all Californians. Given the unique role California State Parks plays in conserving public land in the United States, there should be an explicit call out to state agencies like State Parks in the 30x30 goal. As the state plans to achieve its ambitious 30x30 goal it should track outdoor equitable access to ensure that racial, economic, and historical disparities are not being replicated. Latino and Black populations are less likely to have access to green space because of existing racial inequities while green space access is most strongly associated with higher education and high-income communities. AB 2440 would push the state to be more strategic on how it's using public assets like State Parks in the 30x30 goal and hold the state accountable on equitable outdoor access.

Arguments in Support

The California State Parks Foundation writes, "… the state's massive investments in 30x30 have overlooked our state parks system, further exacerbating the ongoing struggles caused by decades of underfunding. Since 2021, California has invested [more than] $1 billion from the General Fund to fulfill our 30x30 goals and support multibenefit nature-based climate solutions, but only $12 million of this nature-based solutions funding was directed to State Parks.

AB 2440 would require the NRA to promote and support the acquisition and responsible stewardship of state lands as a part of fulfilling the 30x30 goal."

Arguments in Opposition

None on file

FISCAL COMMENTS

According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, this bill will result in cost pressure of an unknown, but potentially significant amount, likely in the tens of millions of dollars, to the extent this bill leads to more land acquisition, restoration, management, and stewardship by state agencies like DPR (General Fund, special funds such as the State Park and Recreation Fund, federal funds such as the Land and Water Conservation Fund, bond funds, and private funds).

VOTES:

ASM NATURAL RESOURCES: 11-0-0

YES: Bryan, Flora, Bauer-Kahan, Friedman, Hoover, Kalra, Mathis, Muratsuchi, Pellerin, Wicks, Wood

ASM WATER, PARKS, AND WILDLIFE: 14-0-1

YES: Papan, Addis, Alanis, Alvarez, Bennett, Bonta, Gallagher, Davies, Garcia, Hart, Luz Rivas, Schiavo, Villapudua, Weber

ABS, ABST OR NV: Mathis

ASM APPROPRIATIONS: 15-0-0

YES: Wicks, Sanchez, Arambula, Bryan, Calderon, Wendy Carrillo, Dixon, Mike Fong, Grayson, Haney, Hart, Jim Patterson, Pellerin, Ta, Villapudua

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 72-0-8

YES: Addis, Aguiar-Curry, Alanis, Alvarez, Arambula, Bains, Bauer-Kahan, Bennett, Berman, Boerner, Bonta, Bryan, Juan Carrillo, Wendy Carrillo, Chen, Connolly, Davies, Dixon, Flora, Mike Fong, Vince Fong, Gabriel, Gallagher, Garcia, Gipson, Grayson, Haney, Hart, Hoover, Irwin, Jackson, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Lackey, Lee, Low, Lowenthal, Maienschein, McCarty, McKinnor, Muratsuchi, Stephanie Nguyen, Ortega, Pacheco, Papan, Jim Patterson, Joe Patterson, Pellerin, Petrie-Norris, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Rendon, Reyes, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Sanchez, Santiago, Schiavo, Soria, Ta, Ting, Valencia, Villapudua, Waldron, Wallis, Ward, Weber, Wicks, Wilson, Wood, Zbur, Robert Rivas

ABS, ABST OR NV: Calderon, Cervantes, Megan Dahle, Essayli, Friedman, Holden, Mathis, Luz Rivas

UPDATED

VERSION: August 15, 2024

CONSULTANT: Paige Brokaw / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092 FN: 0004713

 THIRD READING  

Bill No: AB 2440

Author: Reyes (D)

Amended: 8/15/24 in Senate

Vote: 21

SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE: 6-0, 6/17/24

AYES: Min, Allen, Laird, Limón, Padilla, Stern

NO VOTE RECORDED: Seyarto, Dahle, Eggman, Grove, Hurtado

SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 6-0, 8/15/24

AYES: Caballero, Jones, Ashby, Becker, Bradford, Wahab

NO VOTE RECORDED: Seyarto

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 72-0, 5/22/24 - See last page for vote

SUBJECT: 30x30 goal: partnering state agencies: Department of Parks and Recreation

SOURCE: California State Parks Foundation

DIGEST:

This bill requires the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) to prioritize promoting and supporting partnering state agencies and departments that acquire steel and, including the California Department of Parks and Recreation (State Parks), in the acquisition of new state land and responsible stewardship of state land, as feasible.

ANALYSIS:

Existing law:

1. Declares that it is the goal of the state to conserve at least 30% of California’s lands and coastal waters by 2030. This is known as the 30x30 goal. (Public Resources Code (PRC) §71450.)
2. Requires CNRA, in implementing actions to achieve the 30x30 goal, to prioritize specified actions. Requires the Secretary of CNRA to prepare and submit, beginning on or before March 31, 2024, an annual report to the Legislature on the progress made during the prior calendar year toward achieving that goal, as provided. (PRC §§71451 – 71452.)
3. Establishes the California state park system and vests State Parks with control of the state park system and responsibility for administering, protecting, developing, and interpreting state parks for the use and enjoyment of the public. (PRC §§5001 et seq.)
4. Allows State Parks to receive and accept any gift, dedication, devise, grant, or other conveyance of title to or any interest in real property, including water rights, roads, trails, rights-of-way, buildings, facilities, and other improvements, to be added to or used in connection with the state park system. (PRC §5005.)
5. Declares that it is vital to ensure public confidence in amounts paid, and procedures used, for the acquisition of property by state agencies that spend taxpayer or bond funds and that it is important to ensure that an acquisition agency act expeditiously to purchase critically needed conservation lands for their preservation and protection. (PRC §5096.500.)

This bill:

1. Requires CNRA, in implementing the 10 pathways and specific near-term priority actions described in the Pathways to 30x30 California: Accelerating Conservation of California’s Nature (Pathways) report to achieve the 30x30 goal, to additionally prioritize promoting and supporting partnering state agencies and departments that acquire in stewards the land, including State Parks, in the acquisition of new state land and responsible stewardship of state land, as feasible.
2. Requires CNRA’s annual Pathways report to specify the amount of funding expended by each partnering state agency and department for specified efforts and to include information on progress made to provide equitable outdoor access.

Background

30x30 initiative. To combat the biodiversity crisis in California, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-82-20 in 2020, which adopted a goal to conserve at least 30% of California’s land and coastal waters by 2030. SB 337 (Min, Chapter 392, Statutes of 2023) later codified this goal. In 2022, CNRA released the Pathways report, which defines the term “conserved” for the purpose of the goal, identifies how many acres of land and coastal waters are already conserved, adopts key objectives and core commitments, identifies strategies to achieve the goal, and establishes an implementation framework to coordinate action across agencies and stakeholders.

According to CNRA’s 2023 progress report, the state has already conserved 24.4% of lands and 16.2% of its coastal waters. To reach the goal, it must conserve approximately 5.6 million more acres of land and approximately 500,000 more acres of coastal waters. Key actions in the progress report related to land acquisition include:

• Through the California Biodiversity Council, mobilizing a state-federal interagency team to identify and secure emerging federal funding for new conservation acquisitions;
• Prioritizing additional lands for acquisition that provide habitats that are underrepresented in currently conserved areas;
• Prioritizing acquisition of unprotected lands adjacent to or surrounded by currently established public lands to expand and improve habitat and achieve climate benefits; and
• Strategically coordinating acquisitions to increase connectivity between conserved or restored habitats to provide wildlife corridors.

Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK). TEK, also known as indigenous knowledge, traditional knowledge, or native science, refers to the evolving knowledge acquired by indigenous peoples over hundreds or thousands of years through direct contact with the environment. This knowledge is specific to a location and includes the relationships between plants, animals, natural phenomena, landscapes, and timing of events that are used for lifeways, like hunting, fishing, trapping, agriculture, and forestry.

Before Euro-American contact, Native American tribes managed and stewarded California’s terrestrial and marine resources for thousands of years using TEK to maintain an environment capable of supporting large, thriving human, plant, and animal populations. Colonialism, genocide, and the forced removal of Native people from their ancestral homelands significantly reduced their sovereignty of the land and ability to implement TEK land management practices. California Native American tribes nevertheless retain many TEK practices, and are now working to revitalize these practices across their ancestral territories as part of a broader shift toward self-governance, self-determination, and tribal leadership.

Comments

State land acquisitions. California’s state parks system include beaches, underwater refuges, native Californian cultural preserves, museums, lighthouses, ghost towns, recreation areas, and wilderness areas. The system of 280 state park units encompasses nearly 1.6 million acres of land, more than 340 miles of coastline, 970 miles of lake and river frontage, 15,000 campsites, 5,200 miles of trails, 3,195 historic buildings, and more than 11,000 known prehistoric and historic archaeological sites.

The 30x30 Status Report identifies projects with the specific funding committed as part of the 2022–2023 Nature Based Solutions budget package, including numerous acquisitions by state conservancies and land trusts. Further, CNRA continues to make progress on acquiring additional lands for conservation from willing sellers. Ongoing efforts include mobilizing a state-federal interagency team to identify and secure emerging federal funding for new conservation acquisitions, including the recently approved federal infrastructure bill and expansion of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and prioritizing acquisition of unprotected lands adjacent to or surrounded by currently established public lands.

By requiring CNRA’s annual report to specify the amount of funding expended by each partnering state agency and department, this bill is essentially formalizing in state law information the report is already providing, and it ensures the annual reports will continue to provide that level of detail.

State Parks maintenance backlog. According to the 2022–23 California Five-Year Infrastructure Plan, State Park’s backlog of deferred maintenance is estimated at over $1 billion. This raises the question of how feasible it is for the state to acquire new acquisitions that will add to this backlog, especially in light of the current budget deficit.

Possible alternatives. Rather than acquiring land for State Parks that will add to the maintenance backlog, other alternatives could be considered to include as priorities for reaching the 30x30 goal. One of these alternatives could be to create and expand local and regional parks through grants from State Parks instead of creating new or expanding State Parks.

Another alternative for consideration could be to acquire land for return to California Native Nations. After losing control of almost all of their land from the Gold Rush, the federal government promised to reserve 7,466,000 acres for California Indians through treaties. However, those treaties were hidden and never ratified, and today federally recognized tribes in California only hold 635,739 acres, less than 1% of the state.

In recent decades, California has adopted a series of policies seeking to begin to address its troubled history with indigenous people. Governor Brown directed state agencies via Executive Order B-10-11 to permit tribal representatives to provide meaningful input into the development of legislation, regulations, rules, and policies that may affect tribal communities. Governor Newsom adopted this policy and formally apologized to California’s Native Americans for historical mistreatment, violence, and neglect in Executive Order N-15-19, and initiated a truth and healing process.

As part of an ongoing truth and healing process, California is supporting the return of ancestral land to tribal stewardship and advancing nature-based solutions projects on tribal lands. This effort includes more than $100 million for ancestral land return, implementation of TEK and tribal expertise, habitat restoration, and climate and wildfire resilience projects. The Governor’s Office states that these projects will also help bring California closer to the 30x30 goal. The initiative builds on the Governor’s direction for state entities to work cooperatively with California Native American tribes in returning ancestral lands to tribal ownership in excess of state needs, and support California tribes’ co-management of and access to natural lands within a California tribe’s ancestral land.

However, despite all of these efforts mentioned above, with respect to native people, the Public Resources Code that requires CNRA to prioritize specified actions in implementing actions to achieve the 30x30 goal only mentions “…supporting tribal engagement and leadership in implementing the goal.” It may be worthwhile to explore the possibility of adding ancestral land return as one of these priorities to achieve the 30x30 goal. Federally recognized tribes in California receive funding from the federal government and many have independent sources of revenue from gaming or other business enterprises. Federally recognized tribes that are willing to fund the long-term operation and maintenance of acquired land may be able to achieve the goals intended in this bill without the future budgetary burdens on the state.

Although the land sizes have been small, there have been several examples of the state providing land back to Native American tribes in California. These include the Mount Whitney Fish Hatchery to the Fort Independence Indian Community and 1,199 acres of land to the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County, among others. In some cases, these land transfers come with conservation easements to ensure long-term land management maintains certain conservation goals. While not an ideal solution for returning sovereignty over their ancestral lands, these types of easements could be an agreement federally recognized tribes are willing to negotiate on in order to ensure their land management will achieve the 30x30 goal.

Support if amended. Taking a support if amended position, Safe Healthy Playing Fields, Inc. has requested an amendment that would place guardrails on this bill by including “…a proactive prohibition of use of petrochemical plastics offered in grants under the Department of Parks and Recreation, and all state partnering agencies that provide grants to groups, cities, counties, educational agencies, nonprofits and others who apply for such grants.”

Related/Prior legislation

SB 337 (Min, Chapter 392, Statutes of 2023) codified the goal to conserve at least 30% of California’s lands and coastal waters by 2030.

AB 2278 (Kalra, Chapter 349, Statutes of 2022) establishes priorities for implementing the 30x30 goal and requires CNRA to submit an annual report to the Legislature on progress made toward achieving the 30x30 goal.

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No

According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, “Cost pressure of an unknown but potentially significant amount, likely in the tens of millions of dollars, to the extent this bill leads to more land acquisition, restoration, management, and stewardship by state agencies like State Parks (General Fund, special funds such as the State Park and Recreation Fund [SPRF], federal funds such as the Land and Water Conservation Fund [LWCF], bond funds, and private funds).”

SUPPORT: (Verified 8/14/2024)

California State Parks Foundation (source)

California Environmental Voters

California Institute for Biodiversity

Clockshop

East Bay Regional Park District

Endangered Habitats League

Epic

Friends of China Camp State Park

Hills for Everyone

Literacy for Environmental Justice

Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust

Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District

Mojave Desert Land Trust

Mono Lake Committee

Outdoor Alliance

Outdoor Outreach

Planning and Conservation League

Save Mount Diablo

Save the Redwoods League

Sempervirens Fund

Sierra Club California

Sierra Nevada Alliance

OPPOSITION: (Verified 8/14/24)

None received

ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, “AB 2440 would incorporate State Parks Department and other agencies managing state-owned lands into the state’s goals to conserve 30% of lands and coastal waters by 2030 and require an update on progress towards expanding access to nature for all Californians. The California Department of Parks & Recreation contains the largest and most diverse recreational, natural and cultural heritage holdings of any state agency in the nation. It oversees 280 state park units, over 340 miles of coastline, 970 miles of lake and river frontage, 15,000 campsites, 5,200 miles of trails, 3,195 historic buildings and more than 11,000 known prehistoric and historic archaeological sites. Given the unique role California State Parks plays in conserving public land in the United States, there should be an explicit call out to state agencies like State Parks in the 30x30 goal. As the state plans to achieve its ambitious 30x30 goal it should track outdoor equitable access to ensure that racial, economic, and historical disparities are not being replicated. Latino and Black populations are less likely to have access to green space because of existing racial inequities while green space access is most strongly associated with higher education and high-income communities. AB 2440 would push the state to be more strategic on how it’s using public assets like State Parks in the 30x30 goal and hold the state accountable on equitable outdoor access.”

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 72-0, 5/22/24

AYES: Addis, Aguiar-Curry, Alanis, Alvarez, Arambula, Bains, Bauer-Kahan, Bennett, Berman, Boerner, Bonta, Bryan, Juan Carrillo, Wendy Carrillo, Chen, Connolly, Davies, Dixon, Flora, Mike Fong, Vince Fong, Gabriel, Gallagher, Garcia, Gipson, Grayson, Haney, Hart, Hoover, Irwin, Jackson, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Lackey, Lee, Low, Lowenthal, Maienschein, McCarty, McKinnor, Muratsuchi, Stephanie Nguyen, Ortega, Pacheco, Papan, Jim Patterson, Joe Patterson, Pellerin, Petrie-Norris, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Rendon, Reyes, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Sanchez, Santiago, Schiavo, Soria, Ta, Ting, Valencia, Villapudua, Waldron, Wallis, Ward, Weber, Wicks, Wilson, Wood, Zbur, Robert Rivas

NO VOTE RECORDED: Calderon, Cervantes, Megan Dahle, Essayli, Friedman, Holden, Mathis, Luz Rivas

Prepared by: Paul Jacobs / N.R. & W. / (916) 651-4116

8/18/24 17:50:05

**** END ****

SENATE COMMITTEE ON

Senator Anna Caballero, Chair

2023 - 2024 Regular Session

AB 2440 (Reyes) - 30x30 goal: partnering state agencies: Department of Parks and Recreation

Bill Summary:

This bill would require the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) to prioritize promoting and supporting partnering state agencies and departments, including the California Department of Parks and Recreation (State Parks), in the acquisition and responsible stewardship of state land.

*********** ANALYSIS ADDENDUM – SUSPENSE FILE ***********

The following information is revised to reflect amendments

adopted by the committee on August 15, 2024

Fiscal Impact:

• Cost pressure of an unknown but potentially significant amount, likely in the tens of millions of dollars, to the extent this bill leads to more land acquisition, restoration, management, and stewardship by state agencies like State Parks (General Fund, special funds such as the State Park and Recreation Fund [SPRF], federal funds such as the Land and Water Conservation Fund [LWCF], bond funds, and private funds).

Author Amendments:

These amendments would require CNRA to prioritize promoting and supporting partnering state agencies and departments in the acquisition and responsible stewardship of state land only "as feasible."

-- END --

SENATE COMMITTEE ON

Senator Anna Caballero, Chair

2023 - 2024 Regular Session

AB 2440 (Reyes) - 30x30 goal: partnering state agencies: Department of Parks and Recreation

Bill Summary:

This bill would require the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) to prioritize promoting and supporting partnering state agencies and departments, including the California Department of Parks and Recreation (State Parks), in the acquisition and responsible stewardship of state land.

Fiscal Impact:

• Cost pressure of an unknown but potentially significant amount, likely in the tens of millions of dollars, to the extent this bill leads to more land acquisition, restoration, management, and stewardship by state agencies like State Parks (General Fund, special funds such as the State Park and Recreation Fund [SPRF], federal funds such as the Land and Water Conservation Fund [LWCF], bond funds, and private funds).

Background:

30x30 initiative. To combat the biodiversity crisis in California, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-82-20 in 2020, which adopted a goal to conserve at least 30% of California’s land and coastal waters by 2030. SB 337 (Min, Chapter 392, Statutes of 2023) later codified this goal. In 2022, CNRA released Pathways to 30x30 California: Accelerating Conservation of California’s Nature (Pathways), which defines the term “conserved” for the purpose of the goal, identifies how many acres of land and coastal waters are already conserved, adopts key objectives and core commitments, identifies strategies to achieve the goal, and establishes an implementation framework to coordinate action across agencies and stakeholders.

According to CNRA’s 2023 progress report, the state has already conserved 24.4% of lands and 16.2% of its coastal waters. To reach the goal, it must conserve approximately 5.6 million more acres of land and approximately 500,000 more acres of coastal waters. Key actions in the progress report related to land acquisition include:

• Through the California Biodiversity Council, mobilizing a state-federal interagency team to identify and secure emerging federal funding for new conservation acquisitions;
• Prioritizing additional lands for acquisition that provide habitats that are underrepresented in currently conserved areas;
• Prioritizing acquisition of unprotected lands adjacent to or surrounded by currently established public lands to expand and improve habitat and achieve climate benefits; and
• Strategically coordinating acquisitions to increase connectivity between conserved or restored habitats to provide wildlife corridors.

Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK). TEK, also known as indigenous knowledge, traditional knowledge, or native science, refers to the evolving knowledge acquired by indigenous peoples over hundreds or thousands of years through direct contact with the environment. This knowledge is specific to a location and includes the relationships between plants, animals, natural phenomena, landscapes, and timing of events that are used for lifeways, like hunting, fishing, trapping, agriculture, and forestry.

Before Euro-American contact, Native American tribes managed and stewarded California’s terrestrial and marine resources for thousands of years using TEK to maintain an environment capable of supporting large, thriving human, plant, and animal populations. Colonialism, genocide, and the forced removal of Native people from their ancestral homelands significantly reduced their sovereignty of the land and ability to implement TEK land management practices. California Native American tribes nevertheless retain many TEK practices, and are now working to revitalize these practices across their ancestral territories as part of a broader shift toward self-governance, self-determination, and tribal leadership.

Proposed Law:

This bill would:

1. Require CNRA, in implementing the 10 pathways and specific near-term priority actions described in the Pathways report to achieve the 30x30 goal, to additionally prioritize promoting and supporting partnering state agencies and departments, including State Parks, in the acquisition and responsible stewardship of state land.
2. Require CNRA’s annual Pathways report to specify the amount of funding expended by each partnering state agency and department for specified efforts and to include information on progress made to provide equitable outdoor access.

Related Legislation:

AB 1284 (Ramos, 2024) would encourage CNRA and its departments, conservancies, and commissions to enter into cogovernance and comanagement agreements with federally recognized tribes.

AB 2285 (Rendon, 2024) recognizes the Outdoors for All priorities and encourages the Governor’s office, state agencies, and the Legislature, when distributing resources to aspire to recognize the goals and benefits of the 30x30 goal and Outdoors for All and, to the extent practical, maximize investment in historically underserved urban communities consistent with those initiatives.

AB 2103 (Pellerin, 2024) exempts real property acquisitions by State Parks for Big Basin Redwoods, Año Nuevo, and Butano State Parks from the requirement that the State Public Works Board be responsible for property acquisitions.

SB 1402 (Min, 2024) directs all state agencies, departments, boards, offices, commissions, and conservancies to consider the 30x30 goal when adopting, revising, or establishing plans, policies, and regulations that directly affect land use, management of natural resources, water use and quality, or biodiversity conservation.

AB 2320 (Irwin, 2024) would require the 30x30 progress report to the Legislature to identify key wildlife corridors in the state, connections between large blocks of natural areas and habitats, progress on protecting additional acres of wildlife corridors, and goals for wildlife corridor protection in the next five years.

SB 337 (Min, Chapter 392, Statutes of 2023) codified the goal to conserve at least 30% of California’s lands and coastal waters by 2030.

AB 2278 (Kalra, Chapter 349, Statutes of 2022) establishes priorities for implementing the 30x30 goal and requires CNRA to submit an annual report to the Legislature on progress made toward achieving the 30x30 goal.

Staff Comments:

According to the 2022–23 California Five-Year Infrastructure Plan, State Park’s backlog of deferred maintenance is estimated at over $1 billion. This raises the question of how much the state should invest in new acquisitions that will add to this backlog, especially in light of the current budget deficit.

According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), the General Fund faces a structural deficit in the tens of billions of dollars over the next several fiscal years. According to the LAO, the SPRF is projected to have an annual gap of approximately $15 million between its estimated revenues (roughly $255 million) and projected expenditures (roughly $270 million) in each of the next few years. This structural deficit would cause SPRF to deplete its remaining fund balance (which is estimated to total $71 million at the end of fiscal year (FY) 2023 24) and become insolvent by FY 2028 29.

-- END --

SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER

Senator Dave Min, Chair

2023 - 2024 Regular

Bill No: AB Hearing Date: June 17, 2024

Subject: 30x30 goal: partnering state agencies: Department of Parks and Recreation

SUMMARY

This bill would require the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) to prioritize promoting and supporting partnering state agencies and departments, including the California Department of Parks and Recreation (State Parks), in the acquisition and responsible stewardship of state land.

BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW

Background:

30x30 initiative. To combat the biodiversity crisis in California, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-82-20 in 2020, which adopted a goal to conserve at least 30% of California’s land and coastal waters by 2030. SB 337 (Min, Chapter 392, Statutes of 2023) later codified this goal. In 2022, CNRA released Pathways to 30x30 California: Accelerating Conservation of California’s Nature (Pathways), which defines the term “conserved” for the purpose of the goal, identifies how many acres of land and coastal waters are already conserved, adopts key objectives and core commitments, identifies strategies to achieve the goal, and establishes an implementation framework to coordinate action across agencies and stakeholders.

According to CNRA’s 2023 progress report, the state has already conserved 24.4% of lands and 16.2% of its coastal waters. To reach the goal, it must conserve approximately 5.6 million more acres of land and approximately 500,000 more acres of coastal waters. Key actions in the progress report related to land acquisition include:

• Through the California Biodiversity Council, mobilizing a state-federal interagency team to identify and secure emerging federal funding for new conservation acquisitions;
• Prioritizing additional lands for acquisition that provide habitats that are underrepresented in currently conserved areas;
• Prioritizing acquisition of unprotected lands adjacent to or surrounded by currently established public lands to expand and improve habitat and achieve climate benefits; and
• Strategically coordinating acquisitions to increase connectivity between conserved or restored habitats to provide wildlife corridors.

Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK). TEK, also known as indigenous knowledge, traditional knowledge, or native science, refers to the evolving knowledge acquired by indigenous peoples over hundreds or thousands of years through direct contact with the environment. This knowledge is specific to a location and includes the relationships between plants, animals, natural phenomena, landscapes, and timing of events that are used for lifeways, like hunting, fishing, trapping, agriculture, and forestry.

Before Euro-American contact, Native American tribes managed and stewarded California’s terrestrial and marine resources for thousands of years using TEK to maintain an environment capable of supporting large, thriving human, plant, and animal populations. Colonialism, genocide, and the forced removal of Native people from their ancestral homelands significantly reduced their sovereignty of the land and ability to implement TEK land management practices. California Native American tribes nevertheless retain many TEK practices, and are now working to revitalize these practices across their ancestral territories as part of a broader shift toward self-governance, self-determination, and tribal leadership.

Existing law:

1. Declares that it is the goal of the state to conserve at least 30% of California’s lands and coastal waters by 2030. This is known as the 30x30 goal. Public Resources Code (PRC) §71450.
2. Requires CNRA, in implementing actions to achieve the 30x30 goal, to prioritize specified actions. Requires the Secretary of CNRA to prepare and submit, beginning on or before March 31, 2024, an annual report to the Legislature on the progress made during the prior calendar year toward achieving that goal, as provided. PRC §§71451 – 71452.
3. Establishes the California state park system and vests State Parks with control of the state park system and responsibility for administering, protecting, developing, and interpreting state parks for the use and enjoyment of the public. PRC §§5001 et seq.
4. Allows State Parks to receive and accept any gift, dedication, devise, grant, or other conveyance of title to or any interest in real property, including water rights, roads, trails, rights-of-way, buildings, facilities, and other improvements, to be added to or used in connection with the state park system. PRC §5005.
5. Declares that it is vital to ensure public confidence in amounts paid, and procedures used, for the acquisition of property by state agencies that spend taxpayer or bond funds and that it is important to ensure that an acquisition agency act expeditiously to purchase critically needed conservation lands for their preservation and protection. PRC §5096.500.

PROPOSED LAW

This bill would:

1. Require CNRA, in implementing the 10 pathways and specific near-term priority actions described in the Pathways report to achieve the 30x30 goal, to additionally prioritize promoting and supporting partnering state agencies and departments, including State Parks, in the acquisition and responsible stewardship of state land.
2. Require CNRA’s annual Pathways report to specify the amount of funding expended by each partnering state agency and department for specified efforts and to include information on progress made to provide equitable outdoor access.

ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT

According to the author, “AB 2440 would incorporate State Parks Department and other agencies managing state-owned lands into the state’s goals to conserve 30% of lands and coastal waters by 2030 and require an update on progress towards expanding access to nature for all Californians. The California Department of Parks & Recreation contains the largest and most diverse recreational, natural and cultural heritage holdings of any state agency in the nation. It oversees 280 state park units, over 340 miles of coastline, 970 miles of lake and river frontage, 15,000 campsites, 5,200 miles of trails, 3,195 historic buildings and more than 11,000 known prehistoric and historic archaeological sites. Given the unique role California State Parks plays in conserving public land in the United States, there should be an explicit call out to state agencies like State Parks in the 30x30 goal. As the state plans to achieve its ambitious 30x30 goal it should track outdoor equitable access to ensure that racial, economic, and historical disparities are not being replicated. Latino and Black populations are less likely to have access to green space because of existing racial inequities while green space access is most strongly associated with higher education and high-income communities. AB 2440 would push the state to be more strategic on how it’s using public assets like State Parks in the 30x30 goal and hold the state accountable on equitable outdoor access.”

ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION

None Received

COMMENTS

State land acquisitions. California’s state parks system include beaches, underwater refuges, native Californian cultural preserves, museums, lighthouses, ghost towns, recreation areas, and wilderness areas. The system of 280 state park units encompasses nearly 1.6 million acres of land, more than 340 miles of coastline, 970 miles of lake and river frontage, 15,000 campsites, 5,200 miles of trails, 3,195 historic buildings, and more than 11,000 known prehistoric and historic archaeological sites.

The 30x30 Status Report identifies projects with the specific funding committed as part of the 2022–2023 Nature Based Solutions budget package, including numerous acquisitions by state conservancies and land trusts. Further, CNRA continues to make progress on acquiring additional lands for conservation from willing sellers. Ongoing efforts include mobilizing a state-federal interagency team to identify and secure emerging federal funding for new conservation acquisitions, including the recently approved federal infrastructure bill and expansion of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and prioritizing acquisition of unprotected lands adjacent to or surrounded by currently established public lands.

By requiring CNRA’s annual report to specify the amount of funding expended by each partnering state agency and department, this bill is essentially formalizing in state law information the report is already providing, and it ensures the annual reports will continue to provide that level of detail.

State Parks maintenance backlog. According to the 2022–23 California Five-Year Infrastructure Plan, State Park’s backlog of deferred maintenance is estimated at over $1 billion. This raises the question of how much the state should invest in new acquisitions that will add to this backlog, especially in light of the current budget deficit.

Possible alternatives. Rather than acquiring land for State Parks that will add to the maintenance backlog, other alternatives could be considered to include as priorities for reaching the 30x30 goal. One of these alternatives could be to create and expand local and regional parks through grants from State Parks instead of creating new or expanding State Parks.

Described in more detail below, another alternative for consideration could be to acquire land for return to California Native Nations. After losing control of almost all of their land from the Gold Rush, the federal government promised to reserve 7,466,000 acres for California Indians through treaties. However, those treaties were hidden and never ratified, and today federally recognized tribes in California only hold 635,739 acres, less than 1% of the state.

In recent decades, California has adopted a series of policies seeking to begin to address its troubled history with indigenous people. Governor Brown directed state agencies via Executive Order B-10-11 to permit tribal representatives to provide meaningful input into the development of legislation, regulations, rules, and policies that may affect tribal communities. Governor Newsom adopted this policy and formally apologized to California’s Native Americans for historical mistreatment, violence, and neglect in Executive Order N-15-19, and initiated a truth and healing process.

As part of an ongoing truth and healing process, California is supporting the return of ancestral land to tribal stewardship and advancing nature-based solutions projects on tribal lands. This effort includes more than $100 million for ancestral land return, implementation of TEK and tribal expertise, habitat restoration, and climate and wildfire resilience projects. The Governor’s Office states that these projects will also help bring California closer to the 30x30 goal. The initiative builds on the Governor’s direction for state entities to work cooperatively with California Native American tribes in returning ancestral lands to tribal ownership in excess of state needs, and support California tribes’ co-management of and access to natural lands within a California tribe’s ancestral land.

However, despite all of these efforts mentioned above, with respect to native people, the Public Resources Code that requires CNRA to prioritize specified actions in implementing actions to achieve the 30x30 goal only mentions “…supporting tribal engagement and leadership in implementing the goal.” It may be worthwhile to explore the possibility of adding ancestral land return as one of these priorities to achieve the 30x30 goal. Federally recognized tribes in California receive funding from the federal government and many have independent sources of revenue from gaming or other business enterprises. Federally recognized tribes that are willing to fund the long-term operation and maintenance of acquired land may be able to achieve the goals intended in this bill without the future budgetary burdens on the state.

Although the land sizes have been small, there have been several examples of the state providing land back to Native American tribes in California. These include the Mount Whitney Fish Hatchery to the Fort Independence Indian Community and 1,199 acres of land to the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County, among others. In some cases, these land transfers come with conservation easements to ensure long-term land management maintains certain conservation goals. While not an ideal solution for returning sovereignty over their ancestral lands, these types of easements could be an agreement federally recognized tribes are willing to negotiate on in order to ensure their land management will achieve the 30x30 goal.

Support if amended. Taking a support if amended position, Safe Healthy Playing Fields, Inc. has requested an amendment that would place guardrails on this bill by including “…a proactive prohibition of use of petrochemical plastics offered in grants under the Department of Parks and Recreation, and all state partnering agencies that provide grants to groups, cities, counties, educational agencies, nonprofits and others who apply for such grants.” Their letter to the committee further states, “Inclusion of a proactive amendment to AB2440 that calls for discontinuation of funding for problematic and unnecessary plastic products that contain hazardous chemicals, such as synthetic turf and used tire crumb surfacing, to the Department of Parks and Recreation and all other state agencies will reduce the negative impacts contributing to the climate crisis, stimulate research and development of non-hazardous products and help in creation of a circular, not linear economy. Continued funding for products so detrimental to human and environmental health must not be allowed to continue. California must lead the way.”

Related legislation.

AB 1284 (Ramos, 2024) would encourage CNRA and its departments, conservancies, and commissions to enter into cogovernance and comanagement agreements with federally recognized tribes. This bill passed this committee 11-0 on June 11, 2024, and is now pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

AB 2285 (Rendon, 2024) recognizes the Outdoors for All priorities and encourages the Governor’s office, state agencies, and the Legislature, when distributing resources to aspire to recognize the goals and benefits of the 30x30 goal and Outdoors for All and, to the extent practical, maximize investment in historically underserved urban communities consistent with those initiatives. This bill passed this committee 9-0 on June 11, 2024, and is now pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

AB 2103 (Pellerin, 2024) exempts real property acquisitions by State Parks for Big Basin Redwoods, Año Nuevo, and Butano State Parks from the requirement that the State Public Works Board be responsible for property acquisitions. This bill is set for hearing in this Committee on June 17, 2024.

SB 1402 (Min, 2024) directs all state agencies, departments, boards, offices, commissions, and conservancies to consider the 30x30 goal when adopting, revising, or establishing plans, policies, and regulations that directly affect land use, management of natural resources, water use and quality, or biodiversity conservation. This bill is pending in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.

AB 2320 (Irwin, 2024) would require the 30x30 progress report to the Legislature to identify key wildlife corridors in the state, connections between large blocks of natural areas and habitats, progress on protecting additional acres of wildlife corridors, and goals for wildlife corridor protection in the next five years. This bill is set for hearing in this Committee on June 17, 2024.

SB 337 (Min, Chapter 392, Statutes of 2023) codified the goal to conserve at least 30% of California’s lands and coastal waters by 2030.

AB 2278 (Kalra, Chapter 349, Statutes of 2022) establishes priorities for implementing the 30x30 goal and requires CNRA to submit an annual report to the Legislature on progress made toward achieving the 30x30 goal.

SUPPORT

California State Parks Foundation (sponsor)

California Environmental Voters

California Institute for Biodiversity

Clockshop

East Bay Regional Park District

Endangered Habitats League

Epic

Friends of China Camp State Park

Hills for Everyone

Literacy for Environmental Justice

Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust

Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District

Mojave Desert Land Trust

Mono Lake Committee

Outdoor Alliance

Outdoor Outreach

Planning and Conservation League

Safe Healthy Playing Fields, INC. (if amended)

Save Mount Diablo

Save the Redwoods League

Sempervirens Fund

Sierra Club California

Sierra Nevada Alliance

OPPOSITION

None Received

-- END --

ASSEMBLY THIRD READING

ATR Bill Id:AB 2440

Author:(Reyes)

As Introduced Ver:February 13, 2024

Majority vote

SUMMARY

Requires the California Natural Resources Agency (NRA) to prioritize promoting and supporting partnering state agencies and departments, including, but not limited to, the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), in the acquisition and responsible stewardship of state land.

Major Provisions

1. Requires NRA, in implementing the 10 pathways and specific near-term priority actions described in the Pathways to 30x30 Report to achieve the 30x30 goal, to additionally prioritize promoting and supporting partnering state agencies and departments, including, but not limited to, DPR, in the acquisition and responsible stewardship of state land.
2. Requires NRA's annual Pathways to 30x30 Report to specify the amount of funding expended by each partnering state agency and department for specified efforts, and to include information on progress made to provide equitable outdoor access.

COMMENTS

AB 2440 requires NRA, in implementing the efforts to achieve the 30x30 goal, to additionally prioritize promoting and supporting partnering state agencies and departments, including, but not limited to, DPR, in the acquisition and responsible stewardship of state land.

DPR recognizes that California's population is expected to grow by nearly 30% in the next quarter century, which will put ever-increasing pressure on the state's remaining wild lands. Under its State Park Acquisition Guidelines, DPR will prioritize new lands for the park system that create linkages between existing units of the parks system to other large blocks of protected habitat, protect under-protected habitats, protect under-protected ecological regions, protect evolutionary hotspots, and other criterion that are consistent with the foundation of 30x30.

According to the Author

AB 2440 would incorporate DPR and other agencies managing state-owned lands into the state's goals to conserve 30% of lands and coastal waters by 2030 and require an update on progress towards expanding access to nature for all Californians. Given the unique role California State Parks plays in conserving public land in the United States, there should be an explicit call out to state agencies like State Parks in the 30x30 goal. As the state plans to achieve its ambitious 30x30 goal it should track outdoor equitable access to ensure that racial, economic, and historical disparities are not being replicated. Latino and Black populations are less likely to have access to green space because of existing racial inequities while green space access is most strongly associated with higher education and high-income communities. AB 2440 would push the state to be more strategic on how it's using public assets like State Parks in the 30x30 goal and hold the state accountable on equitable outdoor access.

Arguments in Support

The California State Parks Foundation writes, "… the state's massive investments in 30x30 have overlooked our state parks system, further exacerbating the ongoing struggles caused by decades of underfunding. Since 2021, California has invested [more than] $1 billion from the General Fund to fulfill our 30x30 goals and support multibenefit nature-based climate solutions, but only $12 million of this nature-based solutions funding was directed to State Parks.

AB 2440 would require the NRA to promote and support the acquisition and responsible stewardship of state lands as a part of fulfilling the 30x30 goal."

Arguments in Opposition

None on file.

FISCAL COMMENTS

According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, this bill will result in cost pressure of an unknown, but potentially significant amount, likely in the tens of millions of dollars, to the extent this bill leads to more land acquisition, restoration, management, and stewardship by state agencies like DPR (General Fund, special funds such as the State Park and Recreation Fund, federal funds such as the Land and Water Conservation Fund, bond funds, and private funds).

VOTES

ASM NATURAL RESOURCES: 11-0-0

YES: Bryan, Flora, Bauer-Kahan, Friedman, Hoover, Kalra, Mathis, Muratsuchi, Pellerin, Wicks, Wood

ASM WATER, PARKS, AND WILDLIFE: 14-0-1

YES: Papan, Addis, Alanis, Alvarez, Bennett, Bonta, Gallagher, Davies, Garcia, Hart, Luz Rivas, Schiavo, Villapudua, Weber

ABS, ABST OR NV: Mathis

ASM APPROPRIATIONS: 15-0-0

YES: Wicks, Sanchez, Arambula, Bryan, Calderon, Wendy Carrillo, Dixon, Mike Fong, Grayson, Haney, Hart, Jim Patterson, Pellerin, Ta, Villapudua

UPDATED

VERSION: February 13, 2024

CONSULTANT: Paige Brokaw / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092 FN: 0003028

Date of Hearing: May 8, 2024

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Buffy Wicks, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 2440

Author:(Reyes) – As Introduced Ver:February 13, 2024

Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No

SUMMARY:

This bill requires the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) to prioritize promoting and supporting partnering state agencies and departments in the acquisition and responsible stewardship of state land.

Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires CNRA, in implementing the 10 pathways and specific near-term priority actions described in the “Pathways to 30x30 Report” (pathways report) to achieve the 30x30 goal, to additionally prioritize promoting and supporting partnering state agencies and departments, including the Department of Parks and Recreation (State Parks), in the acquisition and responsible stewardship of state land.
2. Requires CNRA’s annual pathways report to additionally specify the amount of funding expended by each partnering state agency and department for specified efforts, and to include information on progress made to provide equitable outdoor access.

FISCAL EFFECT:

Cost pressure of an unknown but potentially significant amount, likely in the tens of millions of dollars, to the extent this bill leads to more land acquisition, restoration, management, and stewardship by state agencies like State Parks (General Fund, special funds such as the State Park and Recreation Fund (SPRF), federal funds such as the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), bond funds, and private funds).

According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), the General Fund faces a structural deficit in the tens of billions of dollars over the next several fiscal years. According to the LAO, the SPRF is projected to have an annual gap of approximately $15 million between its estimated revenues (roughly $255 million) and projected expenditures (roughly $270 million) in each of the next few years. This structural deficit would cause SPRF to deplete its remaining fund balance (which is estimated to total $71 million at the end of fiscal year (FY) 2023‑24) and become insolvent by FY 2028‑29.

COMMENTS:

1) Purpose. According to the author:

AB 2440 would incorporate State Parks Department and other agencies managing state-owned lands into the state’s goals to conserve 30% of lands and coastal waters by 2030 and require an update on progress towards expanding access to nature for all Californians. Given the unique role California State Parks plays in conserving public land in the United States, there should be an explicit call out to state agencies like State Parks in the 30x30 goal. As the state plans to achieve its ambitious 30x30 goal it should track outdoor equitable access to ensure that racial, economic, and historical disparities are not being replicated.

2) Background.

30x30. In October 2020, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-82-20, which establishes a state goal of conserving 30% of California’s lands and coastal waters by 2030. The 30x30 goal was codified by SB 337 (Min), Chapter 392, Statutes of 2023. CNRA released its pathways report in April 2022, which, among other things, describes the key objectives and core commitments that are part of California’s 30x30 conservation framework, defines conservation for the purpose of the 30x30 initiative and establishes a current baseline of conserved areas, and outlines strategic actions necessary to achieve 30x30. According to CNRA, as of May 2023, approximately 24% of the state’s lands and 16% of the state’s coastal waters were already conserved based on CNRA’s definition of 30x30 “conservation areas”. California’s strategy to conserve an additional six million acres of land and half a million acres of coastal waters is organized into ten pathways that identify specific state actions that will help the state achieve its 30x30 goal.

Acquisitions. Writing in support of this bill, a coalition of environmental organizations contends:

The state’s massive investments in 30x30 have overlooked our state parks system, further exacerbating the ongoing struggles caused by decades of underfunding. Since 2021, California has invested over $1 billion from the General Fund to fulfill our 30x30 goals and support multibenefit nature-based climate solutions, but only $12 million of this nature-based solutions funding was directed to State Parks.

According to the pathways report, the state agencies that will work together and with regional partners to acquire lands for conservation include the Wildlife Conservation Board, State Parks, CNRA, and the state’s ten regional conservancies. The report notes that a range of non-governmental entities including land trusts and conservation organizations will also acquire lands. The report outlines nine priority actions by state agencies that will help support strategic acquisitions, such as mobilizing a state and federal interagency team to identify and secure emerging federal funding for new conservation acquisitions, including the federal infrastructure bill and the expansion of the LWCF.

The fiscal year 2023-2024 state budget included $5.8 million in one-time funding and $3.3 million in ongoing funding (General Fund) to establish and open Dos Rios Ranch as a new state park. This funding supplemented more than $45 million in combined acquisition and restoration funding secured from state and federal agencies, business partners, and nonprofit organizations. In 2023, a $97 million acquisition was finalized by the Trust for Public Land and made possible by funding from the state and other sources to secure Banning Ranch - 387 acres of lowlands and coastal bluffs in West Newport Beach near where the Santa Ana River meets the Pacific Ocean. Over the next several years, Banning Ranch will undergo substantial clean-up and limited restoration to convert former oil fields into a coastal park that will be open to the public.

SPRF. The SPRF is State Parks’ primary ongoing funding source. According to the LAO, in recent years, for a variety of reasons, yearly expenditures from the SPRF have exceeded its typical level of annual revenues. During the pandemic, the General Fund provided $114 million in one‑time support to offset anticipated reductions in revenues resulting from park closures. However, this and other one-time transfers have not addressed the long‑term trends affecting the solvency of the SPRF. State Parks’ large backlog of deferred maintenance is estimated at over $1 billion, and the department has struggled to generate sufficient funding for the operation and maintenance of properties and facilities already within the state park system. The state will need to balance these funding challenges as it works to meet its 30x30 goal by, in part, expanding the state’s acquisition and stewardship of land.

Analysis Prepared by: Nikita Koraddi / APPR. / (916) 319-2081

Date of Hearing: April 23, 2024

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS, AND WILDLIFE

Diane Papan, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 2440 (

Author:Reyes) – As Introduced Ver:February 13, 2024

SUBJECT: 30x30 goal: partnering state agencies: Department of Parks and Recreation

SUMMARY: Requires the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) to prioritize promoting and supporting partnering state agencies and departments, includingthe Department of Parks and Recreation (State Parks), in the acquisition and responsible stewardship of state land. Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires CNRA, in implementing the 10 pathways and specific near-term priority actions described in the Pathways to 30x30 Report to achieve the 30x30 goal, to additionally prioritize promoting and supporting partnering state agencies and departments, including State Parks, in the acquisition and responsible stewardship of state land.
2. Requires CNRA’s annual Pathways to 30x30 Report to specify the amount of funding expended by each partnering state agency and department for specified efforts and to include information on progress made to provide equitable outdoor access.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Directs CNRA to combat the biodiversity and climate crisis by, among other things, establishing the California Biodiversity Collaborative and establishing the goal of conserving at least 30% of the state’s lands and coastal waters by 2030 (30x30) [Executive Order (EO) No. N-82-20].
2. Codifies the 30x30 goal [Public Resources Code (PRC) § 71450].
3. Requires CNRA, in implementing actions to achieve the 30x30 goal, to prioritize specified actions. Requires the Secretary of CNRA to prepare and submit, beginning on or before March 31, 2024, an annual report to the Legislature on the progress made during the prior calendar year toward achieving that goal, as provided (PRC §§ 71451– 71452).
4. Establishes the California state park system and vests State Parks with control of the state park system and responsibility for administering, protecting, developing, and interpreting state parks for the use and enjoyment of the public (PRC § 5001 et seq.).
5. Allows State Parks to receive and accept any gift, dedication, devise, grant, or other conveyance of title to or any interest in real property, including water rights, roads, trails, rights-of-way, buildings, facilities, and other improvements, to be added to or used in connection with the state park system (PRC § 5005).
6. Declares that it is vital to ensure public confidence in amounts paid, and procedures used, for the acquisition of property by state agencies that spend taxpayer or bond funds and that it is important to ensure that an acquisition agency act expeditiously to purchase critically needed conservation lands for their preservation and protection (PRC § 5096.500).

FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. This bill is keyed fiscal.

COMMENTS:

1. Purpose of this bill. According to the author, “[This bill] would incorporate [State Parks] and other agencies managing state-owned lands into the state’s goals to conserve 30% of lands and coastal waters by 2030 and require an update on progress towards expanding access to nature for all Californians. [...] Given the unique role California State Parks plays in conserving public land in the United States, there should be an explicit call out to state agencies like State Parks in the 30x30 goal. As the state plans to achieve its ambitious 30x30 goal it should track outdoor equitable access to ensure that racial, economic, and historical disparities are not being replicated. Latino and Black populations are less likely to have access to green space because of existing racial inequities while green space access is most strongly associated with higher education and high-income communities. [This bill] would push the state to be more strategic on how it’s using public assets like State Parks in the 30x30 goal and hold the state accountable on equitable outdoor access.”
2. Background. In October 2020, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-82-20, which establishes a state goal of conserving 30% of California’s lands and coastal waters by 2030 – known as 30x30. The 30x30 goal is intended to help conserve state lands and coastal waters through voluntary, collaborative action with partners across the state to meet three objectives: conserve and restore biodiversity, expand access to nature, and mitigate and build resilience to climate change. The 30x30 goal was codified by SB 337 (Min), Chapter 392, Statutes of 2023.

As of May 2023, the state has conserved 24.4% of lands and 16.2% of coastal waters for 30x30. California’s strategy to conserve an additional six million acres of land and half a million acres of coastal waters is organized into ten pathways that are specific state actions that will help achieve 30x30.

According to the May 2023 progress report, Pathways to 30x30 California Annual Progress Report, key actions related to land acquisition include:

• Through the California Biodiversity Council, mobilizing a state-federal interagency team to identify and secure emerging federal funding for new conservation acquisitions;
• Prioritizing additional lands for acquisition that provide habitats that are underrepresented in currently conserved areas;
• Prioritizing acquisition of unprotected lands adjacent to or surrounded by currently established public lands to expand and improve habitat and achieve climate benefits; and
• Strategically coordinate acquisitions to increase connectivity between conserved or restored habitats to provide wildlife corridors.

State Park Acquisitions. This bill requires CNRA, in implementing the efforts to achieve the 30x30 goal, to additionally prioritize promoting and supporting partnering state agencies and departments, including, State Parks, in the acquisition and responsible stewardship of state land.

California’s state parks system include beaches, underwater refuges, native Californian cultural preserves, museums, lighthouses, ghost towns, recreation areas, and wilderness areas. The system of 280 state park units encompasses nearly 1.6 million acres of land, more than 340 miles of coastline, 970 miles of lake and river frontage, 15,000 campsites, 5,200 miles of trails, 3,195 historic buildings, and more than 11,000 known prehistoric and historic archaeological sites.

State Parks recognizes that California's population is expected to grow by nearly 30% in the next quarter century, which will put ever-increasing pressure on the state's remaining wild lands. Under its State Park Acquisition Guidelines, State Parks will, in part, focus its efforts on the preservation of under-protected, under-represented, and rarely found resources in California.

Specifically, the guidelines require State Parks to prioritize new lands for the park system that create linkages between existing units of the parks system to other large blocks of protected habitat, protect under-protected habitats, protect under-protected ecological regions, protect evolutionary hotspots, and other criterion that are consistent with the foundation of 30x30.

The May 2023 30x30 Progress Report notes that accomplishments that advanced the 30x30 initiative in the past year include State Parks and California Native American tribes having begun collaborative management and shared stewardship of specific park units through two new memoranda of understanding.

In addition, the state budget for 2023–2024 included $5.8 million in one-time and ongoing support for Dos Rios Ranch in the Central Valley to become California’s newest state park. This funding supplemented more than $45 million in combined acquisition and restoration funding secured from state and federal agencies, business partners, and nonprofit organizations. The investment initiated the process of opening this spot for public access in a part of the state that lacks parks.

Other state agencies that acquire land. The 30x30 Status Report identifies projects with the specific funding committed as part of the 2022–2023 Nature Based Solutions budget package, including numerous acquisitions by state conservancies and land trusts, including:

• Sierra Nevada Conservancy investments in the Sierra County Land Trust acquisition of the Sierra Buttes O'Gara-Currens Parcels 33, 34 ($158,000); the Bear Yuba Land Trust acquisition of the Wildflower Ridge Preserve ($735,000); and, the Placer Land Trust acquisition of the Moy Acquisition and Protection Project ($591,000); and
• Wildlife Conservation Board granted $20 million for the Yanci Ranch Conservation Easement for Yolo County’s land acquisition program.

Further, CNRA continues to make progress on acquiring additional lands for conservation from willing sellers. Ongoing efforts include mobilizing a state-federal interagency team to identify and secure emerging federal funding for new conservation acquisitions, including the recently approved federal infrastructure bill and expansion of the Land and Water Conservation Fund and prioritizing acquisition of unprotected lands adjacent to or surrounded by currently established public lands.

By requiring CNRA’s annual report to specify the amount of funding expended by each partnering state agency and department, this bill is essentially formalizing in state law information the report is already providing, and it ensures the annual reports will continue to provide that level of detail.

1. Policy considerations. According to the 2022–23 California Five-Year Infrastructure Plan, State Park’s backlog of deferred maintenance is estimated at over $1 billion. This raises the question of how much the state should invest in new acquisitions when existing units have unmet operations and maintenance needs, especially in light of the budget deficit.
2. Arguments in support. Numerous environmental organization write in support of this bill. These groups voice concern over the threat of climate change and loss of biodiversity and believe California’s state park system has a critical role in meeting the state’s 30x30 goals and combatting those threats. They write, “Unfortunately, the state’s massive investments in 30x30 have overlooked our state parks system, further exacerbating the ongoing struggles caused by decades of underfunding. Since 2021, California has invested over $1 billion from the General Fund to fulfill our 30x30 goals and support multibenefit nature-based climate solutions, but only $12 million of this nature-based solutions funding was directed to State Parks. […] This bill will clearly recognize the important role that State Parks and other state land managers play in achieving 30x30 and will increase transparency in the state’s progress towards fulfilling this goal.”
3. Double referral. This bill was also referred to the Assembly Natural Resources Committee and passed that committee 11–0 on March 19, 2024.
4. Related legislation. AB 2320 (Irwin) of the current legislative session requires CNRA’s annual report to the Legislature on progress made to achieve the 30x30 goals to include the identification of key wildlife corridors in the state, connections between large blocks of natural areas and habitats, progress on protecting additional acres of wildlife corridors, and goals for wildlife corridor protection in the next five years. AB 2320 was referred to both this Committee and Assembly Natural Resources Committee. AB 2320 passed this Committee 12–2 on April 9, 2024 and is set for hearing in Assembly Natural Resources Committee on April 22, 2024.

AB 2285 (Rendon) of the current legislative session codifies the Outdoors for All priorities and encourages the Governor’s office, state agencies, and the Legislature, when distributing resources to recognize the goals and benefits of the 30x30 and Outdoors for All and, to the extent practical, maximize investment in urban communities consistent with those initiatives. AB 2285 was referred to both Assembly Natural Resources Committee and this Committee. AB 2285 passed Assembly Natural Resources Committee 11–0 on March 19, 2024 and this Committee 14–0 on April 9, 2024.

AB 2103 (Pellerin) of the current legislative session, exempts real property acquisitions by State Parks for Big Basin Redwoods, Año Nuevo, and Butano State Parks from the requirement that the State Public Works Board be responsible for property acquisitions. AB 2103 is set for hearing in this Committee.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

California State Parks Foundation (Sponsor)
California Environmental Voters
Clockshop
East Bay Regional Park District
Endangered Habitats League
Environmental Protection Information Center
Epic
Friends of China Camp State Park
Hills for Everyone
Literacy for Environmental Justice
Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust
Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District
Mojave Desert Land Trust
Mono Lake Committee
Outdoor Alliance
Outdoor Outreach
Planning and Conservation League
Save Mount Diablo
Save the Redwoods League
Sempervirens Fund
Sierra Club California
Sierra Nevada Alliance

Opposition

None on file

Analysis Prepared by: Stephanie Mitchell / W., P., & W. / (916) 319-2096

Date of Hearing: March 19, 2024

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES

Isaac G. Bryan, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 2440 (

Author:Reyes) – As Introduced Ver:February 13, 2024

SUBJECT: 30x30 goal: partnering state agencies: Department of Parks and Recreation

SUMMARY: Requires the California Natural Resources Agency (NRA) to prioritize promoting and supporting partnering state agencies and departments, including, but not limited to, the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), in the acquisition and responsible stewardship of state land.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Directs NRA to combat the biodiversity and climate crisis by, among other things, establishing the California Biodiversity Collaborative and establishing the goal of conserving at least 30% of the state’s lands and coastal waters by 2030 (30x30). (Executive Order (EO) No. N-82-20)
2. Codifies the 30x30 goal. (Public Resources Code (PRC) 71450)
3. Requires NRA, in implementing actions to achieve the 30x30 goal, to prioritize specified actions. Requires the Secretary of NRA to prepare and submit, beginning on or before March 31, 2024, an annual report to the Legislature on the progress made during the prior calendar year toward achieving that goal, as provided. (PRC 71451-71452)

THIS BILL:

1. Requires NRA, in implementing the 10 pathways and specific near-term priority actions described in the Pathways to 30x30 Report to achieve the 30x30 goal, to additionally prioritize promoting and supporting partnering state agencies and departments, including, but not limited to, DPR, in the acquisition and responsible stewardship of state land.
2. Requires NRA’s annual Pathways to 30x30 Report to specify the amount of funding expended by each partnering state agency and department for specified efforts, and to include information on progress made to provide equitable outdoor access.

FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown

COMMENTS:

1. Author’s statement:

AB 2440 would incorporate State Parks Department and other agencies managing state-owned lands into the state’s goals to conserve 30% of lands and coastal waters by 2030 and require an update on progress towards expanding access to nature for all Californians. Given the unique role California State Parks plays in conserving public land in the United States, there should be an explicit call out to state agencies like State Parks in the 30x30 goal. As the state plans to achieve its ambitious 30x30 goal it should track outdoor equitable access to ensure that racial, economic, and historical disparities are not being replicated. Latino and Black populations are less likely to have access to green space because of existing racial inequities while green space access is most strongly associated with higher education and high-income communities. AB 2440 would push the state to be more strategic on how it’s using public assets like State Parks in the 30x30 goal and hold the state accountable on equitable outdoor access.

1. 30x30. In October 2020, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-82-20, which establishes a state goal of conserving 30% of California’s lands and coastal waters by 2030 – known as 30x30. The 30x30 goal is intended to help conserve our lands and coastal waters through voluntary, collaborative action with partners across the state to meet three objectives: conserve and restore biodiversity, expand access to nature, and mitigate and build resilience to climate change. The 30x30 goal was codified by SB 337 (Min), Chapter 392, Statutes of 2023. California’s 30x30 commitment is part of a global effort to increase biodiversity conservation, including in the United States. In January of 2021, the Biden Administration issued an EO on tackling the climate crisis and committed the United States to 30x30 through its America the Beautiful initiative.

NRA released Pathways to 30x30 California in April 2022, which describes the key objectives and core commitments that are a part of California’s 30x30 conservation framework; defines conservation for the purpose of California’s 30x30 initiative and establishes a current baseline of conserved areas; outlines strategic actions necessary to achieve 30x30; and, introduces CA Nature, a suite of publicly available applications to identify conservation opportunities and track our collective progress.

As of May 2023, the state has conserved 24.4% of lands and 16.2% of coastal waters for 30x30, adding approximately 631,000 acres to lands conserved over the past year and identifying concrete strategies to strengthen conservation in coastal waters. California’s strategy to conserve an additional six million acres of land and half a million acres of coastal waters is organized into ten pathways that are specific state actions that will help achieve 30x30.

According to the May 2023 progress report, Pathways to 30x30 California Annual Progress Report, key actions related to land acquisition include:

• Through the California Biodiversity Council, mobilizing a state-federal interagency team to identify and secure emerging federal funding for new conservation acquisitions;
• Prioritizing additional lands for acquisition that provide habitats that are underrepresented in currently conserved areas;
• Prioritizing acquisition of unprotected lands adjacent to or surrounded by currently established public lands to expand and improve habitat and achieve climate benefits; and,
• Strategically coordinate acquisitions to increase connectivity between conserved or restored habitats to provide wildlife corridors.

1. Park Acquisitions. AB 2440 requires NRA, in implementing the efforts to achieve the 30x30 goal, to additionally prioritize promoting and supporting partnering state agencies and departments, including, but not limited to, DPR, in the acquisition and responsible stewardship of state land.

California’s state parks system include beaches, underwater refuges, native Californian cultural preserves, museums, lighthouses, ghost towns, recreation areas, and wilderness areas. The system encompasses nearly 1.6 million acres of land and includes 279 state park units, more than 340 miles of coastline, 970 miles of lake and river frontage, 15,000 campsites, 5,200 miles of trails, 3,195 historic buildings, and more than 11,000 known prehistoric and historic archaeological sites.

DPR recognizes that California's population is expected to grow by nearly 30% in the next quarter century, which will put ever-increasing pressure on the state's remaining wild lands. Under its State Park Acquisition Guidelines, DPR will, in part, focus its efforts on the preservation of under-protected, under-represented, and rarely found resources in California.

Specifically, the guidelines require DPR to prioritize new lands for the park system that create linkages between existing units of the parks system to other large blocks of protected habitat, protect under-protected habitats, protect under-protected ecological regions, protect evolutionary hotspots, and other criterion that are consistent with the foundation of 30x30.

The May 2023 30x30 Progress Report notes that accomplishments that advanced the 30x30 initiative in the past year include DPR and California Native American tribes having begun collaborative management and shared stewardship of specific park units through two new memoranda of understanding.

In addition, the state budget for 2023-2024 included $5.8 million in one-time and ongoing support for Dos Rios Ranch in the Central Valley to become California’s newest state park. This funding supplemented more than $45 million in combined acquisition and restoration funding secured from state and federal agencies, business partners, and nonprofit organizations. The investment initiated the process of opening this spot for public access in a part of the state that lacks parks.

Also last year, a $97 million acquisition was finalized by the Trust for Public Land and made possible by funding from the state and other sources to secure Banning Ranch - 387 acres of lowlands and coastal bluffs in West Newport Beach near where the Santa Ana River meets the Pacific Ocean. Over the next several years, Banning Ranch will undergo substantial clean up and limited restoration to convert former oil fields into a coastal park that will be open to the public.

The California State Parks Foundation, sponsor of the bill, writes that AB 2440 “highlights the critical role of State Parks in reaching the state’s goal to conserve 30% of lands and coastal waters by 2030 and ensure equitable access to the outdoors for all.” With the state facing a $70 billion+ budget deficit, DPR won’t likely have funding for new acquisitions or funding for maintenance for new lands. However, codifying the prioritization could be implemented in the future when the state is equipped to expand the state parks system and use that expansion to further the goals of meeting 30x30.

1. Other state agencies that acquire land. The 30x30 Status Report identifies projects with the specific funding committed as part of the 2022-2023 Nature Based Solutions budget package, including numerous acquisitions by state conservancies and land trusts, including:

• Sierra Nevada Conservancy investments in the Sierra County Land Trust acquisition of the Sierra Buttes O'Gara-Currens Parcels 33, 34 ($158,000); the Bear Yuba Land Trust acquisition of the Wildflower Ridge Preserve ($735,000); and, the Placer Land Trust acquisition of the Moy Acquisition and Protection Project ($591,000).
• Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) granted $20 million for the Yanci Ranch Conservation Easement for Yolo County’s land acquisition program.

Further, CNRA continues to make progress on acquiring additional lands for conservation from willing sellers. Ongoing efforts include mobilizing a state-federal interagency team to identify and secure emerging federal funding for new conservation acquisitions, including the recently approved federal infrastructure bill and expansion of the Land and Water Conservation Fund and prioritizing acquisition of unprotected lands adjacent to or surrounded by currently established public lands.

By requiring NRA’s annual report to specify the amount of funding expended by each partnering state agency and department, the bill is essentially formalizing in state law information the report is already providing, and it ensures the annual reports will continue to provide that level of detail.

1. Double referral. This bill has also been referred to the Assembly Water, Parks & Wildlife Committee.
2. Related legislation:

AB 2320 (Irwin) requires NRA’s annual report to the Legislature on progress made to achieve the 30x30 goals to include the identification of key wildlife corridors in the state, connections between large blocks of natural areas and habitats, progress on protecting additional acres of wildlife corridors, and goals for wildlife corridor protection in the next five years. This bill has been referred to the Assembly Water, Parks & Wildlife Committee.

AB 2285 (Rendon) encourages the Governor’s office, state agencies, and the Legislature, when distributing resources towards conservation and restoration goals during future budgetary deliberations, to ensure parity in allocations toward urban nature-based investments and requires state funding agencies to amend guidelines as necessary to meet the 30x30 goal to allow for urban nature-based projects on degraded lands to be eligible and competitive for state funds. This bill is scheduled to be heard in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee on March 19.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

California State Parks Foundation

Opposition

None on file

Analysis Prepared by: Paige Brokaw / NAT. RES. /