Wildlife: dudleya: taking and possession.

The California Endangered Species Act requires the Fish and Game Commission to establish a list of endangered species and a list of threatened species and to add or remove species from either list if it finds, upon the receipt of sufficient scientific information, as specified, and based solely upon the best available scientific information, that the action is warranted. The commission has listed certain species of dudleya as threatened or endangered under the act. Existing law prohibits a person or public agency from importing into the state, exporting out of the state, or taking, possessing, purchasing, or selling within the state any endangered or threatened species, except as provided, and imposes specified penalties for a violation of this provision. This bill would make it unlawful to uproot, remove, harvest, or cut dudleya, as defined, from land owned by the state or a local government or from property not their own without written permission from the landowner in their immediate possession, except as provided, and would make it unlawful to sell, offer for sale, possess with intent to sell, transport for sale, export for sale, or purchase dudleya uprooted, removed, harvested, or cut in violation of that provision. The bill would require a violation of those provisions, or any rule, regulation, or order adopted pursuant to those provisions, to be a misdemeanor punishable by a specified fine, imprisonment in a county jail for not more than 6 months, or both the fine and imprisonment. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Upon conviction or other entry of judgment for a violation of these provisions, the bill would require any seized dudleya to be forfeited to the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and would authorize the court to impose, in addition to, and separate from, any criminal penalty, the cost of replanting any dudleya forfeited to the department. The bill would require the prosecution of an offense punishable under these provisions to be commenced within 3 years after commission of the offense. The bill would also set forth legislative findings and declarations relating to dudleya poaching. 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.