Wildlife: poaching.

(1) Existing law prohibits a person, including the owner in lawful possession of the land and a person obtaining permission from the owner or person in lawful possession of the land, from taking any protected mammal or bird or discharging any firearm upon any land where signs with specified wording and size requirements are displayed at specified intervals along all exterior boundaries and at all roads and trails entering the land. Other existing law makes it unlawful to enter any lands under cultivation or enclosed by a fence belonging to, or occupied by, another, or to enter any uncultivated or unenclosed lands where signs forbidding trespass are displayed at intervals not less than 3 to the mile along all exterior boundaries and at all roads and trails entering those lands, for the purpose of discharging any firearm or taking or destroying any mammal or bird, including any waterfowl, on those lands without having first obtained written permission from the owner of those lands, or his or her agent, or the person in lawful possession of those lands. This bill would repeal the provision relating to signage and the taking of protected mammals and birds. The bill would expand the trespass sign provision to encompass signs forbidding trespass or hunting, or both. (2) Existing law provides that any person who illegally takes, possesses, imports, exports, sells, purchases, barters, trades, or exchanges any amphibian, bird, fish, mammal, or reptile, or part thereof, for profit or personal gain, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than $5,000, nor more than $40,000, or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment. Existing law authorizes the Department of Fish and Game, upon a conviction of certain violations, to suspend or permanently revoke a person's hunting or sport fishing license or permit privileges and authorizes the seizure or forfeiture of any device or apparatus used in the commission of specified offenses. The bill authorizes the person whose privileges are suspended or revoked to appeal the suspension or revocation to the Fish and Game Commission, and authorizes the commission to restore those privileges. This bill would subject any person who knowingly violated and was convicted of violating certain provisions relating to a trophy deer, elk, antelope, wild turkey, or bighorn sheep in specified ways to a fine of not less than $5,000, nor more than $40,000, for deer, elk, antelope, and bighorn sheep violations, and a fine of not less than $2,000, nor more than $5,000, for wild turkey violations, or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment. The bill would require the commission to adopt regulations to implement this provision. The bill would subject any person convicted of certain violations while using a signal-emitting device, as defined, in conjunction with the take of bear for the purpose of selling or trafficking in bear parts, to a fine of $10,000 per bear part. The bill would require all revenue from fines imposed pursuant to these provisions to be deposited in the Big Game Management Account or the Upland Game Bird Account, based on the violation. The bill would include those offenses in those suspension, revocation, and forfeiture provisions. The bill would require the commission, upon the appeal of a suspended or revoked license, to consider specified factors. By creating new crimes, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.