California Fish and Game Code 710.7 – (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the …
(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) The department continues to face serious funding instability due to revenue declines from traditional user fees and taxes and the addition of new and expanded program responsibilities.
Terms Used In California Fish and Game Code 710.7
- Department: means the Department of Fish and Wildlife. See California Fish and Game Code 37
- Fish: means a wild fish, mollusk, crustacean, invertebrate, amphibian, or part, spawn, or ovum of any of those animals. See California Fish and Game Code 45
- State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Fish and Game Code 83
- User fees: Fees charged to users of goods or services provided by the government. In levying or authorizing these fees, the legislature determines whether the revenue should go into the treasury or should be available to the agency providing the goods or services.
- Wildlife: means and includes all wild animals, birds, plants, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and related ecological communities, including the habitat upon which the wildlife depends for its continued viability. See California Fish and Game Code 89.5
(2) Historically, the recreational and commercial fishing industry has funded much of the department’s marine fisheries activities.
(3) As the state‘s population grows and development changes historic land uses, fish and wildlife continue to be depleted, necessitating a significant portion of the department’s activities to be directed toward protecting fish and wildlife for the benefit of the people of the state.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to extend the current user-based funding system by allocating a portion of the marine resource protection costs to those who use and benefit from recreational and commercial use of the marine resources.
(c) It is the Legislature’s intent that, notwithstanding Section 711, the department shall cooperate with the Legislature, recreational users, conservation organizations, the commercial fishing industry, and other interested parties to identify and propose new alternative sources of revenue to fund the department’s necessary marine conservation, restoration, and resources management, and protection responsibilities.
(d) It is further the intent of the Legislature to identify new funding sources and to secure those sources to adequately fund the department’s activities directed at protecting and managing wildlife for the people of the state.
(Amended by Stats. 2006, Ch. 667, Sec. 11. Effective January 1, 2007.)