Existing law authorizes the Department of Parks and Recreation to collect fees, rents, and other returns for use of any state park system area, as provided. Existing law establishes the Golden Bear Pass as a discount program available to persons who meet specified criteria for the use of state park facilities. Existing law requires the department to waive, until July 1, 2024, the $5 fee to obtain the Golden Bear Pass.

This bill would make a nonsubstantive change regarding the Golden Bear Pass discount program.

SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Senator Anthony Portantino, Chair

2023 - 2024 Regular Session

AB 720 (Addis) - California Rangeland, Grazing Land, and Grassland Protection Program: grants for local programs

Bill Summary:

This bill would expand the California Rangeland, Grazing Land, and Grassland Protection Program to include grants to enhance or restore California’s private rangelands.

Fiscal Impact:

• Unknown ongoing cost pressure, possibly in the millions of dollars annually (General Fund), to provide funding for grants to enhance or restore private rangelands.
• The Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) estimates costs associated with administering the expanded grant program would be minor and absorbable. The bill would allow WCB to use up to 5 percent of moneys appropriated for the program for its administrative costs.

Background:

Existing law establishes several programs that support private landowners to conserve natural resources and provide habitat, among other things.

The California Farmland Conservancy Program (CFCP). CFCP offers grants for agricultural conservation easements and fee title, agricultural land improvement projects, conservation planning, and technical assistance. CFCP restricts the use of land improvement grants to lands protected by conservation easements, as specified.

The program has received funding from the General Fund, Environmental License Plate Fund, Soil Conservation Fund, and Propositions 12, 40, 68, and 84.

The California Waterfowl Habitat Program. This program offers 10-year contracts to private landowners or lessees of land to implement habitat management practices for the conservation of waterfowl and wetland habitat according to a management plan written by CDFW biologists. It pays $30/acre ($60/acre in the Tulare Basin) annually for the management of traditional (fall and winter-flooded) seasonal wetlands and uplands, and $60/acre for the management of semi-permanent and reverse-cycle (spring and summer-flooded) wetlands.

When the Legislature established the California Waterfowl Habitat Program in 1987, it also established the California Waterfowl Habitat Preservation Account and deposited $100,000 into that account. Any funding in the account is transferred to the State Money Investment Fund for investment, with any proceeds generated deposited back into the account, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes of the program. This endowment authority has provided a significant portion of the program’s funding. The Cigarette and Tobacco Products Surtax Fund (Proposition 99) has also provided funding and, more recently, Proposition 68, which allocated $10 million for the program.

The California Winter Rice Habitat Incentive Program. This program offers three-year contracts to private landowners or lessees to manage their winter-flooded, productive agricultural rice lands according to a management plan written by CDFW biologists. These plans require flooding of harvested rice fields for a minimum of 70 continuous days during the winter months (October through March). This program pays $15 per acre per year.

The California Winter Rice Habitat Incentive Program received a $5 million General Fund appropriation connected to the California Waterfowl Habitat Program, but with language “to include working agricultural rice fields.”

The Nesting Bird Habitat Incentive Program. The purpose of this program is to provide direct payments or other incentives to landowners to voluntarily cultivate or retain upland cover crops or other upland vegetation on idled lands to provide waterfowl, upland game bird, and other wildlife habitat cover. The program allows for one year or multiyear contracts.

The Nesting Bird Habitat Incentive Program has yet to be funded. The original legislation made implementation of the program continent on either passage of Proposition 3, an $8.9 billion bond on the November 2018 ballot, or the securing of a sufficient amount of federal grants or other funds. Proposition 3 failed at the ballot. AB 2106 (Aguiar-Curry, 2020) sought to generate funding by raising the upland game bird hunting validation and the state duck hunting validation fees. This was unsuccessful and to date no other funds have been secured.

Other Similar Programs. CDFW administers the California Landowner Incentive Program in partnership with the federal government to provide monetary incentives and technical assistance to private landowners. The Wildlife Conservation Board administers multiple grant programs for habitat restoration and conservation on private lands, mostly funded with general obligation bonds. Existing law directs the California Department of Food and Agriculture to establish the Environmental Farming Program, the Healthy Soils Program, and the State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program.

Effectiveness of similar programs. A 2015 peer-reviewed evaluation of the benefits provided by the California Waterfowl Habitat Program (CWHP) and similar federal programs found that the programs provided habitat for the species they were designed to protect, including a variety of resident and migratory bird species and many special status species. CDFW is partnering with the U.S. Geological Survey to document the ecological benefits of the CWHP and the California Winter Rice Habitat Incentive Program (CWRHIP). Notably, CDFW entered into the first CWRHIP contracts in 2019, so outcomes and monitoring data are still limited for this program. However:

• CWHP has enrolled 29,295 acres across 126 properties and expects to pay $805,460 for the contracts in fiscal year 2020-21.
• CWRHIP has enrolled 41,627 acres across 102 properties. This includes 33,790 acres with landowners and 7,837 acres with lessees. The program expects to pay $613,635 for the contracts in fiscal year 2020-21.

CDFW also notes that recent CWHP efforts (which were boosted by new funding for the first time in 15 years from Proposition 68) have resulted in a net gain of approximately 3,000 acres of summer-flooded wetlands. For seasonal wetlands (fall and winter flooded), CDFW estimates that, at a minimum, the CWHP program doubles the carrying capacity (how much wildlife can be supporter per acre) of enrolled acres.

Past monitoring of CWHP wetlands has detected 181 bird species at CWHP’s wetland breeding sites (summer wetlands) comprised of semi-permanent and permanent wetlands, including 30 of the 43 special conservation status bird species known to occur in Central Valley wetlands at that time. In addition, during the fall months, 63 species of birds were detected in flooded croplands, and 88 different species were documented in seasonal wetlands. As of the last round of monitoring, properties enrolled in CWHP’s riparian and grassland habitat programs hosted 134 different bird species, including 32 California Partners in Flight focal species during the breeding season.

Proposed Law:

This bill would expand the California Rangeland, Grazing Land, and Grassland Protection Program to include grants to enhance or restore California’s private rangelands. Specifically, this bill would:

1. Direct WCB to develop program grant guidelines, which must include eligibility and selection criteria, as specified. Further, prescribe requirements for grant applications.
2. Require all funded practices to be consistent with biodiversity conservation management, including conserving and managing native plant communities.
3. Prescribe requirements for management plans, including that the plan include science-based goals and actions and measurable outcomes to maintain or improve the ecological function of the rangeland, as specified, and that the plan be prepared by someone with adequate expertise in rangeland management, as specified.
4. Authorize any funds appropriated to WCB for the California Rangeland, Grazing Land, and Grassland Protection Program on or after January 1, 2024, except for bond funds, to be used to award grants for this program.
5. Limit WCB’s administrative costs for this program to no more than 5 percent of the moneys appropriated for the California Rangeland, Grazing Land, and Grassland Protection Program.
6. Provide that WCB may authorize a program grantee to use not more than 30 percent of the grant for specified purposes, including for technical assistance and to assist WCB in the design, outreach, implementation, and monitoring of the program.
7. Authorize WCB to require additional monitoring to evaluate the effectiveness of the program and to use grant funding for this purpose.
8. Include reporting requirements, including annual reports and a final project report from the program grantee to WCB.
9. Define terms.
10. Make other conforming, technical, and nonsubstantive changes.

Related Legislation:

SB 675 (Limón, 2023) would define “prescribed grazing,” and integrate this practice into certain wildfire and forest resilience programs and strategies.

SB 867 (Allen, 2023) would enact a new bond act, which, if approved by the voters, would make $50 million available to establish an Environmental Farming Incentive Program to address natural resource concerns on agricultural lands. Eligible projects could include wildlife-friendly farming and ranching practices, among others.

Staff Comments:

This bill would expand a grant program, which could create cost pressure to provide additional funding for the program in future years. Based on funding levels for similar state programs, staff estimates this bill would create cost pressure in the low millions of dollars to fund additional grants under the provisions of this bill. Staff note that the bill would provide for an administrative allocation to WCB from any appropriation, which would support costs for implementing the program (developing guidelines, solicitations, application materials, and contract agreements).

Grazing, when actively managed to promote biodiversity, can support grassland conservation and provide other benefits. Especially in Mediterranean climates like in California where grasslands have suffered substantial losses to other uses and invasive species, research suggests that actively managed grazing for biodiversity can help manage exotic and invasive species and create diversity within the vegetative structure, benefitting native grasses, grassland birds, and other species. Managed grazing can also reduce overgrown invasive grasses that intensify wildfires. Best practices and methods for maximizing the benefits of grazing for reducing fire hazard, however, are still in development. It is important to note that grazing is not a one-size fits all solution and can degrade the ecosystem when unmanaged or poorly managed. It requires careful consideration of the existing landscape conditions, the goals for the species targeted, and which grazing animals would provide the desired outcomes, among others. It is also important to combine these efforts with other efforts to protect large blocks of remaining grasslands from conversion and fragmentation and to restore degraded grasslands.

Funding for similar programs. When the Legislature established the California Waterfowl Habitat Program in 1987, it also established the California Waterfowl Habitat Preservation Account and deposited $100,000 into that account. Any funding in the account is transferred to the State Money Investment Fund for investment, with any proceeds generated deposited back into the account, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes of the program. This endowment authority has provided a significant portion of the program’s funding. The Cigarette and Tobacco Products Surtax Fund (Proposition 99) has also provided funding and, more recently, Proposition 68, which allocated $10 million for the program.

The California Winter Rice Habitat Incentive Program received a $5 million General Fund appropriation connected to the California Waterfowl Habitat Program, but with language “to include working agricultural rice fields.” More recently, AB 614 (Aguiar-Curry, Chapter 521, Statutes of 2021) raised duck and upland game bird hunting validation fees by $10 to fund the Nesting Bird Habitat Incentive Program.

SB 253 (Dodd, 2019) and SB 1028 (Dodd, 2020) sought to establish the California Environmental Farming Incentive Program at California Department of Food and Agriculture to provide incentives to farmers or ranchers to adopt management practices that contribute to wildlife habitat and provide multiple conservation benefits. SB 867 (Allen, 2023) would enact a new bond act, which, if approved by the voters, would make $50 million available to establish the Environmental Farming Incentive Program to address natural resource concerns on agricultural lands. Eligible projects could include wildlife-friendly farming and ranching practices, among others.

All of these programs are similar to the program proposed in this bill in that they offer financial incentives to landowners (and sometimes to lessees) to manage their lands for natural resource benefits.

-- END --

SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER

Senator Dave Min, Chair

2023 - 2024 Regular

Bill No: AB Hearing Date: June 22, 2023

Subject: California Rangeland, Grazing Land, and Grassland Protection Program: grants for local programs

BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW

Existing law:

1. Establishes the Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) in the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), consisting of the president of the Fish and Game Commission, the director of CDFW, the director of the Department of Finance, and four public members. WCB’s stated purpose is to provide a single and coordinated program for the acquisition of lands and facilities suitable for recreational purposes, and adaptable for conservation, propagation, and utilization of the fish and game resources of the state. Fish and Game Code (FGC) §§1301 and 1320.
2. Establishes the California Rangeland, Grazing Land, and Grassland Protection Program under WCB to protect California’s rangeland, grazing land, and grasslands through the use of conservation easements. Public Resources Code (PRC) §§10330 and 10331.

Background. Existing law establishes or directs CDFW to establish the following programs to provide financial assistance to private landowners for certain activities that benefit habitat and wildlife on private lands:

• The California Waterfowl Habitat Program offers 10-year contracts to private landowners or lessees of land to implement habitat management practices for the conservation of waterfowl and wetland habitat according to a management plan written by CDFW biologists. It pays $30/acre ($60/acre in the Tulare Basin) annually for the management of traditional (fall and winter-flooded) seasonal wetlands and uplands, and $60/acre for the management of semi-permanent and reverse-cycle (spring and summer-flooded) wetlands. 
• The California Winter Rice Habitat Incentive Program offers three-year contracts to private landowners or lessees to manage their winter-flooded, productive agricultural rice lands according to a management plan written by CDFW biologists. These plans require flooding of harvested rice fields for a minimum of 70 continuous days during the winter months (October through March). This General Fund program pays $15 per acre per year.
• The Nesting Bird Habitat Incentive Program provides direct payments or other incentives to landowners to voluntarily cultivate or retain upland cover crops or other upland vegetation on idled lands to provide waterfowl, upland game bird, and other wildlife habitat cover. The program allows for one year or multiyear contracts. AB 614 (Aguiar-Curry, Chapter 521, Statutes of 2021) raised duck and upland game bird hunting validation fees by $10 to fund this program.

CDFW also administers the California Landowner Incentive Program in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which funds the program. The program provides financial and technical assistance to private landowners to enhance and manage riparian, wetland, and native grassland habitats in the Central Valley. The program has two phases, both of which are active:

• Phase 1 promotes management of newly restored wetland, riparian, and native grassland habitats on private lands. 
• Phase 2 actively restores and manages riparian buffers on working agricultural lands.

For recently restored grassland habitats, the program offers three-year contracts to private landowners to implement various management activities, including using upland management tools such as mowing and herbicide application. The goal is to increase the success of native grass restorations and heighten the value of these lands to special status species by providing optimum grassland management until these habitats are self-sustaining. This component of the program pays $50 per acre.

WCB also administers multiple grant programs for habitat restoration and conservation on private lands, mostly funded with bond funds.

PROPOSED LAW

This bill would direct WCB, as part of the California Rangeland, Grazing Land, and Grassland Protection Program, to administer a program to award grants to eligible entities to administer, plan, and implement local programs to enhance or restore California’s private rangelands. Further, this bill would:

1. Direct WCB to develop program grant guidelines, which must include eligibility and selection criteria, as specified. Further, prescribe requirements for grant applications.
2. Require all funded practices to be consistent with biodiversity conservation management, including conserving and managing native plant communities.
3. Prescribe requirements for management plans, including that the plan include science-based goals and actions and measurable outcomes to maintain or improve the ecological function of the rangeland, as specified, and that the plan be prepared by someone with adequate expertise in rangeland management, as specified.
4. Authorize any funds appropriated to WCB for the California Rangeland, Grazing Land, and Grassland Protection Program on or after January 1, 2024, except for bond funds, to be used to award grants for this program.
5. Limit WCB’s administrative costs for this program to no more than 5 percent of the moneys appropriated for the California Rangeland, Grazing Land, and Grassland Protection Program.
6. Provide that WCB may authorize a program grantee to use not more than 30 percent of the grant for specified purposes, including for technical assistance and to assist WCB in the design, outreach, implementation, and monitoring of the program.
7. Authorize WCB to require additional monitoring to evaluate the effectiveness of the program and to use grant funding for this purpose.
8. Include reporting requirements, including annual reports and a final project report from the program grantee to WCB.
9. Define terms, including, among others:
   1. “Local program” means a local program implemented by a program grantee within a defined area of consistent or connected ecosystem values to meet the purposes of the California Rangeland, Grazing Land, and Grassland Protection Program.
   2. “Program grantee” means an eligible entity, as defined, awarded a grant to administer, plan, and implement local programs to meet the purposes of the Rangeland, Grazing Land, and Grassland Protection Act.
   3. “Project” means an agreement between a program grantee and a landowner or lessee of private rangelands, as defined, to award grant moneys to the landowner or lessee to implement conservation ranching practices on the subject property that meet the purposes of the California Rangeland, Grazing Land, and Grassland Protection Program.
10. Make other conforming, technical, and nonsubstantive changes.

ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT

According to the author, “North America's grasslands are among the most endangered ecosystems in the world. Despite unprecedented hurdles of environmental and economic vulnerability, we have real solutions to sustainability. AB 720 builds on existing efforts across the state and the nation by equipping us with the tools necessary to mimic historic wild herds of grazing mammals, support nutrient cycles, and remove carbon from the atmosphere. Specifically, AB 720 includes grants for conservation ranching under the Rangeland, Grazing Land, and Grassland Program. With 61 million acres of rangeland across California, it’s crucial that we take these important steps to protect our agricultural biodiversity while bolstering California’s ranching economy for years to come.”

According to the California Cattlemen’s Association, “Ranchers own or manage approximately 38 million acres of California rangelands. Unfortunately, financial pressures often result in the conversion of rangelands to development or crop production, resulting in the loss of approximately 20,000 acres per year of California rangeland. The loss of these rangelands is devastating to birds, pollinators, and other wildlife species. A 2019 Cornell University study, for instance, demonstrated a 52% decline in grassland bird species since 1970, due in large part to the loss of the species’ rangeland habitat. Moreover, analysis from the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources demonstrates that well-managed grazing provides habitat benefits for 85 of the 143 California wildlife species listed as federally threatened or endangered. The grant program established under AB 720 will enable ranchers and other landowners to access funding to preserve, enhance, and restore rangelands to continue providing habitat for a vast array of California wildlife.

AB 720 will also enable and incentivize stewardship practices that improve soil health, allowing the land to hold more water, and will promote practices that drive sequestration of carbon in soils and minimize the risk of wildfires on rangelands, advancing California’s ambitious climate goals.”

ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION

None received.

COMMENTS

Looks familiar? This bill is similar to SB 977 (Laird, 2022), which would have established, upon an appropriation by the Legislature, the California Conservation Ranching Incentive Program at WCB to restore and enhance the ecological health of private rangelands. This Committee passed SB 977 8-0 on April 19, 2022. The bill was ultimately held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on the suspense file. SB 977 bill would have established the California Conservation Ranching Incentive Program at WCB as a distinct program. This bill would establish the same program as a component of WCB’s California Rangeland, Grazing Land, and Grassland Protection Program.

California rangelands and grazing. Depending on how it is defined, “rangeland” makes up nearly two-thirds of California’s area. Vegetation on rangelands can be grasses, forbs, or shrubs and can include scattered trees (e.g., oak woodlands). Rangelands include grasslands, savannahs, shrublands, meadows, many deserts, and montane areas.

While rangelands in California have always been grazed by small and large animals (e.g., tule elk), beginning with European settlement in the 18^th century they have also been used for livestock production. Since that time, the native herbaceous species that once proliferated on California’s grasslands, likely a diversity of plant types, particularly annual forbs, have been replaced by non-native grasses and forbs, particularly fast-growing, large-statured annual grasses from other Mediterranean-type regions. For example, wild oats and brome grass are now common non-native grasses found in California. Research suggests that the state’s grasslands have lost an average of 40 Mg/ha of soil carbon in the top half meter of soil due to invasion by non-native annual plants.

Grazing is spatially and temporally complex given California’s variable climate and the different types of ecosystems that constitute “rangeland.” Grazing intensity and frequency, as well as livestock selectivity, can be manipulated using the four principles of range management. These four principles, or variables that can be manipulated, are the kind and class, number, spatial distribution, and temporal distribution of livestock. Changes in these four variables can support specific management goals, such as enhancing vegetative productivity, controlling invasive species, reducing fire hazard, improving habitat, and sequestering carbon dioxide. Grazing systems are commonly used to prevent selectivity, or the tendency of livestock to repeatedly select particular plant species or communities, which can cause soil erosion or compaction.

Grazing, when actively managed to promote biodiversity, can support grassland conservation and provide other benefits. Especially in Mediterranean climates like in California where grasslands have suffered substantial losses to other uses and invasive species, research suggests that actively managed grazing for biodiversity can help manage exotic and invasive species and create diversity within the vegetative structure, benefitting native grasses, grassland birds, and other species. Managed grazing can also reduce overgrown invasive grasses that intensify wildfires. Best practices and methods for maximizing the benefits of grazing for reducing fire hazard, however, are still in development. It’s important to note that grazing is not a one-size fits all solution and can degrade the ecosystem when unmanaged or poorly managed. It requires careful consideration of the existing landscape conditions, the goals for the species targeted, and which grazing animals would provide the desired outcomes, among others. It is also important to combine these efforts with other efforts to protect large blocks of remaining grasslands from conversion and fragmentation and to restore degraded grasslands.

The Legislature has considered or adopted similar programs in recent years. This includes the California Winter Rice Habitat Incentive Program and the Nesting Bird Habitat Program described in the Background. SB 253 (Dodd, 2019) and SB 1028 (Dodd, 2020) sought to establish the California Environmental Farming Incentive Program at California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to provide incentives to farmers or ranchers to adopt management practices that contribute to wildlife habitat and provide multiple conservation benefits. SB 867 (Allen, 2023) would enact a new bond act, which, if approved by the voters, would make $50 million available to establish the Environmental Farming Incentive Program to address natural resource concerns on agricultural lands. Eligible projects could include wildlife-friendly farming and ranching practices, among others.

All of these programs (as well as the older California Waterfowl Habitat Program) are similar to the program proposed in this bill in that they offer financial incentives to landowners (and sometimes to lessees) to manage their lands for natural resource benefits.

What have similar programs accomplished? A 2015 peer-reviewed evaluation of the benefits provided by the California Waterfowl Habitat Program and similar federal programs found that the programs provided habitat for the species they were designed to protect, including a variety of resident and migratory bird species and many special status species. CDFW is partnering with the U.S. Geological Survey to document the ecological benefits of the California Waterfowl Habitat Program and the California Winter Rice Habitat Incentive Program.

Past monitoring of California Waterfowl Habitat Program wetlands has detected 181 bird species at the program’s wetland breeding sites (summer wetlands) comprised of semi-permanent and permanent wetlands, including 30 of the 43 special conservation status bird species known to occur in Central Valley wetlands at that time. In addition, during the fall months, 63 species of birds were detected in flooded croplands, and 88 different species were documented in seasonal wetlands. As of the last round of monitoring, properties enrolled in California Waterfowl Habitat Program riparian and grassland habitat programs hosted 134 different bird species, including 32 California Partners in Flight focal species during the breeding season.

Related legislation.

SB 675 (Limón, 2023) would define “prescribed grazing,” and integrate this practice into certain wildfire and forest resilience programs and strategies. This bill is pending in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.

SB 867 (Allen, 2023) would enact a new bond act, which, if approved by the voters, would make $50 million available to establish an Environmental Farming Incentive Program to address natural resource concerns on agricultural lands. Eligible projects could include wildlife-friendly farming and ranching practices, among others. This bill is pending referral in the Assembly.

Previous legislation.

SB 977 (Laird, 2022) would have established, upon an appropriation by the Legislature, the California Conservation Ranching Incentive Program at WCB to restore and enhance the ecological health of private rangelands. AB 720 is substantially similar to this bill. This bill was held on the suspense file in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

SB 322 (Laird, 2021) would have established the California Conservation Ranching Incentive Program at the Department of Conservation to enroll private landowners or lessees of productive rangelands, grazing lands, or grasslands in contracts to restore, enhance, and protect the land’s grassland habitat character. This bill was held on the suspense file in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

AB 2550 (E. Garcia, 2020) would have established the California Conservation Ranching Incentive Program at the Department of Conservation, to be administered as a separate component of the California Farmland Conservancy Program. This bill was not heard in the first policy committee due to COVID-19.

SUPPORT

Audubon California (sponsor)

California Cattlemen's Association

California Climate & Agricultural Network

California Environmental Voters

Land Trust of Santa Cruz County

Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District

The Nature Conservancy

OPPOSITION

None received

-- END --

ASSEMBLY THIRD READING

ATR Bill Id:AB 720

Author:(Addis)

As Amended Ver:March 16, 2023

Majority vote

SUMMARY

Expands the California Rangeland, Grazing Land, and Grassland Protection Program (Program) administered by the Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) to include grants to enhance or restore California's private rangelands.

Major Provisions

1. Expands the Program by requiring WCB to award grants to eligible entities to administer, plan, and implement local programs to enhance or restore the state's private rangelands, and allows WCB to use up to 5% of moneys appropriated for the Program for its administrative costs.
2. Authorizes WCB to develop grant guidelines, including eligibility and selection criteria, and requires WCB and any grantee, in evaluating a proposed project, to evaluate the ability of the project to meet the purposes of this bill and to consider specified selection criteria.
3. Permits WCB to authorize a grantee to use up to 30% of the grant moneys for specified purposes, including providing technical assistance to landowners and assisting landowners or lessees of private rangelands in the design and implementation of projects and the preparation of management plans.
4. Requires each grantee, on or before a date determined by WCB in the grant agreement, to submit an annual report describing and evaluating the implementation of the project and the use of the grant moneys for the project during the previous year.

COMMENTS

Rangelands comprise land on which vegetation is predominantly grasses, forbs (i.e., a kind of flowering plant), or shrubs and in some cases includes scattered trees (e.g., oak woodlands); rangelands include grasslands, savannah, shrublands, meadows, many deserts, and montane areas and cover nearly two-thirds of California's land area (61 million acres). Along with economic benefits from ranching, rangelands provide a number of ecological and social benefits such as wildlife habitat, habitat connectivity, carbon sequestration, soil protection, water quality improvement, groundwater recharge, and cultural preservation.

This bill deals with a subset of rangelands, primarily annual grasslands and oak woodlands, where livestock grazing or ranching occurs. An estimated 22 million acres of this subset of rangeland is privately-owned and could be eligible to receive incentives through the expanded program proposed by this bill.

According to the Author

"[This bill] will support sustainable grazing in California. With 61 million acres of rangeland across California, it's crucial that we take these important steps to protect our agricultural biodiversity while bolstering California's ranching economy for years to come."

Arguments in Support

Several organizations write in support, with the California Cattlemen's Association stating that "to address the decline in grassland bird species and other wildlife, keep ranchers ranching, and meet California's climate goals, the state must work to slow conversion of rangeland while fostering partnerships with ranchers to steward those lands for the multiple benefits they bestow upon people and wildlife."

Arguments in Opposition

No opposition on file.

FISCAL COMMENTS

According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, there is cost pressure of an unknown but potentially significant amount, likely in the millions of dollars, for WCB to provide grants to enhance or restore private rangelands (General Fund). WCB notes its administrative costs would be minor and absorbable.

VOTES

ASM WATER, PARKS, AND WILDLIFE: 15-0-0

YES: Bauer-Kahan, Mathis, Alanis, Bennett, Megan Dahle, Davies, Friedman, Hart, Kalra, Pellerin, Blanca Rubio, Schiavo, Villapudua, Ward, Weber

ASM APPROPRIATIONS: 15-0-1

YES: Holden, Megan Dahle, Bryan, Calderon, Wendy Carrillo, Dixon, Mike Fong, Hart, Lowenthal, Mathis, Papan, Pellerin, Sanchez, Weber, Ortega

ABS, ABST OR NV: Robert Rivas

UPDATED

VERSION: March 16, 2023

CONSULTANT: Keith Cialino / W., P., & W. / (916) 319-2096 FN: 0000498

Date of Hearing: May 10, 2023

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Chris Holden, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 720

Author:(Addis) – As Amended Ver:March 16, 2023

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

SUMMARY:

This bill expands the California Rangeland, Grazing Land, and Grassland Protection Program (Program) administered by the Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) to include grants to enhance or restore California’s private rangelands.

Specifically, this bill, among other things:

1. Expands the Program by requiring WCB to award grants to eligible entities to administer, plan, and implement local programs to enhance or restore the state’s private rangelands, and allows WCB to use up to 5% of moneys appropriated for the Program for its administrative costs.
2. Authorizes WCB to develop grant guidelines, including eligibility and selection criteria, and requires WCB and any grantee, in evaluating a proposed project, to evaluate the ability of the project to meet the purposes of this bill and to consider specified selection criteria.
3. Permits WCB to authorize a grantee to use up to 30% of the grant moneys for specified purposes, including providing technical assistance to landowners and assisting landowners or lessees of private rangelands in the design and implementation of projects and the preparation of management plans.
4. Requires each grantee, on or before a date determined by WCB in the grant agreement, to submit an annual report describing and evaluating the implementation of the project and the use of the grant moneys for the project during the previous year.

FISCAL EFFECT:

1) Cost pressure of an unknown but potentially significant amount, likely in the millions of dollars, for WCB to provide grants to enhance or restore private rangelands (General Fund).

2) WCB notes its administrative costs would be minor and absorbable.

COMMENTS:

1) Purpose. According to the author:

[This bill] will support sustainable grazing in California. With 61 million acres of rangeland across California, it’s crucial that we take these important steps to protect our agricultural biodiversity while bolstering California’s ranching economy for years to come.

2) Background. Rangelands cover about 60 million acres of California’s land area. Along with economic benefits from ranching, rangelands provide a number of ecological and social benefits such as wildlife habitat, habitat connectivity, carbon sequestration, soil protection, water quality improvement, groundwater recharge, and cultural preservation. However, this land use is under threat with an average of 20,000 acres a year being lost to development, climate change, or land use conversion. Invasive species, aquifer depletion, and poor grazing practices also degrade large portions of rangelands.

This bill deals with a subset of rangelands, primarily annual grasslands and oak woodlands, where livestock grazing or ranching occurs. An estimated 22 million acres of this subset of rangeland is privately owned and could be eligible to receive incentives through the expanded program proposed by this bill. The existing California Rangeland, Grazing Land, and Grassland Protection Program, which this bill proposes to expand, has awarded nearly $36 million in funding since its establishment in 2003, leading to the protection of approximately $70,000 acres of land. The Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) notes it has about $150 million in funding allocated as part of the “nature-based solutions” budget package from the 2022 state budget for six different WCB programs, including the Program.

The state has a number of programs administered by various state agencies to protect and enhance different types of lands and habitats on private lands; WCB itself has more than a dozen existing programs to preserve specific types of habitat and species or special resources. Many existing programs have relied on bond funding and focus on activities that have a longer-term benefit such as land acquisition, conservation easements, or large-scale restoration.

The program proposed by this bill will fund planning and ongoing conservation ranching practices that will enhance ecological benefits on rangelands. This is not to say that this approach is unprecedented among state conservation programs. A number of DFW programs provide funding for one-to-ten-year contracts with land owners or lessees to implement habitat management practices to benefit wildlife. Some examples include the California Waterfowl Habitat Program, the California Winter Rice Habitat Incentive Program, and the Nesting Bird Habitat Incentive Program. Likewise, the California Department of Food and Agriculture administers the Healthy Soils Program that offers incentives to landowners to adopt practices that provide environmental and climate benefits.

Somewhat relatedly, the Department of Conservation (DOC) administers the California Farmland Conservancy Program (CFCP). In March 2023, DOC approved more than $3 million in grants through this program. According to DOC, while many of the projects and outcomes outlined in this bill are generally eligible under CFCP, DOC and WCB prioritize their programs differently. WCB’s program focuses primarily on enhancing and restoring biodiversity and habitat on private grazing lands, while DOC’s program focuses primarily on preserving agricultural lands for agricultural production and protecting and enhancing habitat as a co-benefit. Further, according to DOC, under CFCP, DOC predominately focuses on conserving irrigated agricultural lands, which are not eligible under WCB’s program.

3) Prior Legislation. SB 977 (Laird), of 2021-2022 Legislative Session, would have established the California Conservation Ranching Incentive Program at WCB to restore and enhance the ecological health of private rangelands. SB 977 was held on this committee’s suspense file.

SB 322 (Laird), of the 2021-2022 Legislative Session, would have created the California Conservation Ranching Incentive Program at DOC. SB 322 was held on the Senate Appropriations Committee’s suspense file.

AB 2550 (E. Garcia), of the 2019-2020 Legislative Session, was substantially similar to SB 322 (Laird). AB 2550 was referred to but not heard by the Assembly Agriculture Committee.

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

Date of Hearing: April 18, 2023

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS, AND WILDLIFE

Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 720 (

Author:Addis) – As Amended Ver:March 16, 2023

SUBJECT: California Rangeland, Grazing Land, and Grassland Protection Program: grants for local programs

SUMMARY: Expands the California Rangeland, Grazing Land, and Grassland Protection Program (Program) administered by the Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) to include grants to enhance or restore California’s private rangelands. Specifically, this bill:

1. Expands the Program by requiring WCB to administer a local grant program to award grants to eligible entities, as defined, to administer, plan, and implement local programs to enhance or restore California’s private rangelands, as specified.
2. Authorizes WCB to develop Program grant guidelines.
3. Requires WCB and any Program grantee, in evaluating proposed projects, to evaluate the ability of the project to meet the purposes of the Program and to consider the following selection criteria:
   1. The potential for restoring, enhancing, and protecting biodiversity on the subject property;
   2. Threats to the subject property, including risk of destruction, drastic modification, or significant curtailment of habitat values;
   3. The proximity of the subject property to a state wildlife area, national wildlife refuge, or land enrolled in a conservation easement or wildlife conservation program;
   4. Additional environmental benefits to natural resource values such as climate resilience, stewardship of healthy soils, wildfire resilience, protection of wetland and riparian areas, conservation of special status species, and groundwater recharge;
   5. The potential to increase the diversity and abundance of native species and decrease the abundance of invasive species;
   6. The ability of the Program grantee to ensure that the management plan and local program will be completed and managed by individuals with adequate expertise in rangeland management to meet the purposes of this division; and
   7. The project is managed by a socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher as defined in Section 512 of the Food and Agricultural Code or a beginning farmer or rancher as defined in Section 3430.602 of Title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
4. Permits WCB to authorize a Program grantee to use not more than 30% of the grant moneys for all of the following purposes:
   1. To assist WCB in the design, outreach, implementation, and monitoring of the Program;
   2. To assist landowners or lessees of private rangelands in the design and implementation of projects;
   3. To provide direct technical assistance to landowners or lessees of private rangelands to access grant moneys;
   4. To assist landowners or lessees of private rangelands in the preparation of management plans; and
   5. To contract for technical assistance providers to assist landowners or lessees to prepare, implement, and monitor management plans.
5. Requires each Program grantee, on or before a date determined by WCB in the grant agreement, to submit an annual report describing and evaluating the implementation of the project and the use of the grant moneys for the project during the previous year, as specified.
6. Defines “eligible entity” to mean a regional conservancy, resource conservation district, nonprofit organization, local governmental agency, state agency, federal agency, California Native American tribe, or other entity as identified by WCB.
7. Defines “local program” to mean a local program implemented by a Program grantee within a defined area of consistent or connected ecosystem values to meet the purposes of the program.
8. Defines “project” to mean an agreement between a Program grantee and a landowner or lessee of private rangelands to award grant moneys to the landowner or lessee to implement conservation ranching practices on the subject property that meet the purposes of the Program.
9. Defines several additional terms for the purposes of the new Program, including “certified rangeland manager” and “management plan,” among others.
10. Recasts certain provisions of the Rangeland, Grazing Land, and Grassland Protection Act and makes conforming changes.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Establishes the WCB [Fish and Game Code (FGC) § 1320].
2. Authorizes WCB to acquire property on behalf of DFW and award grants for fish and wildlife habitat conservation, restoration, and for development of compatible public access facilities (FGC § 1345).
3. Requires WCB to carry out the program to protect California’s rangeland, grazing land, and grasslands through the use of conservation easements [Public Resources Code (PRC) § 10330 et seq.].
4. Provides grants for the acquisition of conservation easements to protect, restore, or enhance rangeland, grazing land, or grassland, and sustain the character of specified property (PRC § 10337).

FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. This bill is keyed fiscal.

COMMENTS:

1. Purpose of this bill. This bill expands the existing Program to allow for grants for conservation ranching practices. According to the author, “[this bill] will support sustainable grazing in California. With 61 million acres of rangeland across California, it’s crucial that we take these important steps to protect our agricultural biodiversity while bolstering California’s ranching economy for years to come.”
2. Background. Rangelands comprise land on which vegetation is predominantly grasses, forbs (i.e., a kind of flowering plant), or shrubs and in some cases includes scattered trees (e.g., oak woodlands); rangelands include grasslands, savannah, shrublands, meadows, many deserts, and montane areas and cover nearly two-thirds of California’s land area (61 million acres). Along with economic benefits from ranching, rangelands provide a number of ecological and social benefits such as wildlife habitat, habitat connectivity, carbon sequestration, soil protection, water quality improvement, groundwater recharge, and cultural preservation.
   
   A recent study identifies California grasslands as more reliable and resilient carbon sinks than forests.^[1] However, this California land use is under threat with an average of 20,000 acres a year being lost to development or crop conversion. An analysis tracking the conversion of rangeland in the Central Valley and foothills, Central Coast range, Bay Area, and Mojave Desert found that over 480,000 acres of rangelands had been converted primarily due to urban development and agricultural intensification (i.e., conversion to orchards or vineyards) between 1984 and 2008.^[2] More recent analysis suggests that grassland habitats on rangelands continue to be threatened by land use conversion and climate change and that as much as an additional 37% of this land cover could be lost by 2100.^[3] Invasive species, aquifer depletion, and poor grazing practices also degrade large portions of rangelands.
   
   Grazing, when actively managed to promote biodiversity, can support grassland bird conservation and provide other benefits. In climates like California’s, where grasslands have suffered substantial losses to other uses and invasive species, research suggests that actively managed grazing for biodiversity can help to manage exotic and invasive species and create diversity within the vegetative structure, benefitting native grasses, grassland birds, and other species.^[4],[5] Managed grazing can also reduce overgrown invasive grasses that intensify wildfires.^[6] Grazing is spatially and temporally complex given California’s variable climate and the different types of ecosystems that constitute “rangeland.”
   
   Grazing intensity and frequency, as well as livestock selectivity, can be manipulated using the four principles of range management. These four principles are the kind and class, number, spatial distribution, and temporal distribution of livestock. Changes in these four variables can support specific management goals, such as enhancing vegetative productivity, controlling invasive species, reducing fire hazard, improving habitat, and sequestering carbon dioxide. Grazing systems are commonly used to prevent selectivity, or the tendency of livestock to repeatedly consume particular plant species or communities, which can cause soil erosion or compaction.
   
   This bill deals with a subset of rangelands, primarily annual grasslands and oak woodlands, where livestock grazing or ranching occurs. An estimated 22 million acres of this subset of rangeland is privately-owned and could be eligible to receive incentives through the expanded program proposed by this bill.
   
   Conservation Ranching Initiative. The National Audubon Society has developed the Conservation Ranching Initiative, which is a market-based conservation approach that offers incentives for good grassland stewardship through a certification label on beef products. Participating producers agree to adopt initiative standards and implement a Habitat Management Plan developed in cooperation with Audubon or an agency partner. That plan outlines steps to build better habitat for local birds while being responsive to practical farm management considerations and the economic needs of the operation. These plans include an implementation schedule and set targets for annual improvement. The initiative connects producers to agency cost share and incentive programs to help defray costs.
   
   State role in private land conservation and enhancement. The state has a number of programs administered by various state agencies to protect and enhance different types of lands and habitats on private lands; WCB itself has more than a dozen existing programs to preserve specific types of habitat and species (e.g., oak woodlands and monarch butterflies) or special resources (e.g., Lower American River). Many existing programs have relied on bond funding and focus on activities that have a longer term benefit such as land acquisition, conservation easements, or large-scale restoration.
   
   In contrast, the program proposed by this bill will fund planning and ongoing practices (i.e., conservation ranching practices) that will enhance ecological benefits on rangelands. This is not to say that this approach is unprecedented amongst state conservation programs. A number of DFW programs provide funding for one to ten year contracts with land owners or lessees to implement habitat management practices to benefit wildlife. Some examples include the California Waterfowl Habitat Program, the California Winter Rice Habitat Incentive Program, and the Nesting Bird Habitat Incentive Program. Likewise, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) administers the Healthy Soils program that offers incentives to landowners to adopt practices that provide environmental and climate benefits.
   
3. Arguments in support. Several organizations write in support, with the California Cattlemen’s Association stating that “to address the decline in grassland bird species and other wildlife, keep ranchers ranching, and meet California’s climate goals, the state must work to slow conversion of rangeland while fostering partnerships with ranchers to steward those lands for the multiple benefits they bestow upon people and wildlife.”
4. Related legislation. SB 977 (Laird) of 2022 would have established the California Conservation Ranching Incentive Program at WCB to restore and enhance the ecological health of private rangelands. SB 977 died in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
   
   SB 322 (Laird) of 2021 was substantially similar to SB 977 of 2022. SB 322 died in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
   
   AB 2550 (Eduardo Garcia) of 2020 would have created the California Conservation Ranching Incentive Program at the Department of Conservation. AB 2550 was never set for a hearing due to the COVID-19 pandemic and shortened legislative session.
   
   SB 253 (Dodd) of 2019 and SB 1028 (Dodd) of 2020 would have established the California Environmental Farming Incentive Program at CDFA. The 2019 version died in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. The 2020 version was not heard due to the COVID-19 pandemic and shortened legislative session.
   
   SB 984 (Costa), Chapter 984, Statutes of 2002, established the California Rangeland, Grazing Land, and Grassland Protection Program.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

Audubon California
California Cattlemen's Association
California Climate & Agricultural Network (CALCAN)
California Environmental Voters
Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District
The Nature Conservancy

Opposition

None on file

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

1. Dass, P., et al. (2018). Grasslands may be more reliable carbon sinks than forests in California. Environ. Res. Lett. 13 074027. Accessed April 10, 2023, at https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aacb39/meta. ↑

2. Cameron, D.R., Marty, J., Holland, R.F. (2014). Whither the Rangeland?: Protection and Conversion in California’s Rangeland Ecosystems. PLoS ONE 9(8): e103468. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0103468. Accessed April 13, 2023, at https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0103468. ↑

3. Byrd, K.B., Flint, L.E., Alvarez, P. et al. (2015). Integrated climate and land use change scenarios for California rangeland ecosystem services: wildlife habitat, soil carbon, and water supply. Landscape Ecol 30, 729–750. Accessed April 13, 2023, at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-015-0159-7. ↑

4. Allison, C.D. and Bender, L.C. (2017). Grazing and Biodiversity. Guide CR-686, College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, New Mexico State University. Accessed April 10, 2023, at https://pubs.nmsu.edu/_circulars/CR686/index.html. ↑

5. Barry, S., et al. (2015). The Benefits of Livestock Grazing California’s Annual Grasslands. UC ANR Publication 8517. Accessed April 10, 2023, at https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8517.pdf. ↑

6. Porensky, L.M., et al. (2018). Combining active restoration and targeted grazing to establish native plants and reduce fuel loads in invaded ecosystems. Ecol Evol.;8(24):12533-12546. doi: 10.1002/ece3.4642. Accessed April 10, 2023, at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6309004/. ↑