Article 3.5. Oak Woodlands Conservation Act of California Fish And Game Code >> Division 2. >> Chapter 4. >> Article 3.5.

This article shall be known, and may be cited, as the Oak Woodlands Conservation Act.

For purposes of this article, the following terms have the following meanings:
  (a) "Board" means the Wildlife Conservation Board established pursuant to Section 1320.
  (b) "Conservation easement" means a conservation easement, as defined in Section 815.1 of the Civil Code.
  (c) "Fund" means the Oak Woodlands Conservation Fund.
  (d) "Land improvement" means restoration or enhancement of biologically functional oak woodlands habitat.
  (e) "Local government entity" means any city, county, city and county, district, or other local government entity, if the entity is otherwise authorized to acquire and hold title to real property.
  (f) "Nonprofit organization" means a tax-exempt nonprofit organization that meets the requirements of subdivision (a) of Section 815.3 of the Civil Code.
  (g) "Oak" means any species in the genus Quercus.
  (h) "Oak woodlands" means an oak stand with a greater than 10 percent canopy cover or that may have historically supported greater than 10 percent canopy cover.
  (i) "Oak woodlands management plan" means a plan that provides protection for oak woodlands over time and compensates private landowners for conserving oak woodlands.
  (j) "Special oak woodlands habitat elements" means multi- and single-layered canopy, riparian zones, cavity trees, snags, and downed woody debris.

It is the intent of the Legislature that this article accomplish all of the following:
  (a) Support and encourage voluntary, long-term private stewardship and conservation of California's oak woodlands by offering landowners financial incentives to protect and promote biologically functional oak woodlands over time.
  (b) Provide incentives to protect and encourage farming and ranching operations that are operated in a manner that protects and promotes healthy oak woodlands.
  (c) Provide incentives for the protection of oak trees providing superior wildlife values on private lands.
  (d) Encourage local land use planning that is consistent with the preservation of oak woodlands, particularly special oak woodlands habitat elements.
  (e) Provide guidelines for spending the funds allocated for oak woodlands pursuant to the Safe Neighborhood Parks, Clean Water, Clean Air, and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2000 (the Villaraigosa-Keeley Act (Chapter 1.692 (commencing with Section 5096.300) of Division 5 of the Public Resources Code)).
  (f) Establish a fund for oak woodlands conservation, to which future appropriations for oak woodlands protection may be made, and specify grant making guidelines.

(a) The Oak Woodlands Conservation Fund is hereby created in the State Treasury. The fund shall be administered by the board. Moneys in the fund may be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes of this article.
  (b) Money may be deposited into the fund from gifts, donations, funds appropriated by the Legislature for the purposes of this article, or from federal grants or loans or other sources, and shall be used for the purpose of implementing this article, including administrative costs. Funds from the Safe Neighborhood Parks, Clean Water, Clean Air, and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2000 (the Villaraigosa-Keeley Act (Chapter 1.692 (commencing with Section 5096.300) of Division 5 of the Public Resources Code)), but not including funds dedicated as matching funds for the federal Forest Legacy Program, shall be deposited in the fund.
  (c) To the extent consistent with the Safe Neighborhood Parks, Clean Water, Clean Air, and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2000 (the Villaraigosa-Keeley Act (Chapter 1.692 (commencing with Section 5096.300) of Division 5 of the Public Resources Code)), the board may use money designated for the preservation and restoration of oak woodlands in the Oak Woodlands Conservation Fund for projects in conjunction with the California Forest Legacy Program (Div. 10.5 (commencing with Sec. 12200) of the P.R.C.)), but only for the purposes specified in this article and only if the following requirements are met:
  (1) The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection shall make an initial recommendation to the board.
  (2) The board may deny any initial recommendation to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Subsequently, if the department alters an initial proposal, in a manner that the board determines to be significant, the board may withdraw its initial approval of the recommendation at any time during the process.
  (d) The purposes for which moneys in the fund may be used include all of the following:
  (1) Grants for the purchase of oak woodlands conservation easements. Any entity authorized to hold a conservation easement under Section 815.3 of the Civil Code may hold a conservation easement pursuant to this article. The holder of the conservation easement shall ensure, on an annual basis, that the conservation easement conditions have been met for that year.
  (2) Grants for land improvement.
  (3) Cost-sharing incentive payments to private landowners who enter into long-term conservation agreements. An agreement shall include management practices that benefit oak woodlands and promote the economic sustainability of farming and ranching operations.
  (4) Public education and outreach by local government entities, park and open-space districts, resource conservation districts, and nonprofit organizations. The public education and outreach shall identify and communicate the social, economic, agricultural, and biological benefits of strategies to conserve oak woodlands habitat values, including watershed protection benefits that reduce soil erosion, increase streamflows, and increase water retention and sustainable agricultural operations.
  (5) Assistance to local government entities, park and open-space districts, resource conservation districts, and nonprofit organizations for the development and implementation of oak conservation elements in local general plans.
  (6) Technical assistance consistent with the purpose of preserving oak woodlands.
  (e) Not more than 20 percent of all grants made by the board pursuant to this article may be used for the purposes described in paragraphs (4), (5), and (6) of subdivision (d). Not less than 80 percent of funds available for grants pursuant to this article shall be expended for the purposes described in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subdivision (d).
  (f) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, this article governs the expenditure of funds for the preservation of oak woodlands pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 5096.350 of the Public Resources Code.

Moneys in the fund shall be available to local government entities, park and open-space districts, resource conservation districts, private landowners, and nonprofit organizations for the purposes set forth in subdivision (d) of Section 1363.

The board shall develop and adopt guidelines and criteria for awarding grants that achieve the greatest lasting conservation of oak woodlands. The board shall develop these guidelines in consultation with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Department of Food and Agriculture, the University of California's Integrated Hardwood Range Management Program, conservation groups, and farming and ranching associations. As it applies to the award of grants for the implementation of this article, the board criteria shall specify that easement acquisitions that are the most cost-effective in comparison to the actual resource value of the easement shall be given priority.

(a) To qualify for a grant pursuant to this article, the county or city in which the grant money would be spent shall prepare, or demonstrate that it has already prepared, an oak woodlands management plan that includes a description of all native oak species located within the county's or city's jurisdiction.
  (b) To qualify for a grant pursuant to this article, the board shall certify that any proposed easement was not, and is not, required to satisfy a condition imposed upon the landowner by any lease, permit, license, certificate, or other entitlement for use issued by one or more public agencies, including, but not limited to, the mitigation of significant effects on the environment of a project pursuant to an approved environmental impact report or to mitigate a negative declaration required pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000)) of the Public Resources Code.
  (c) To qualify for a grant under this article, the applicant shall demonstrate that its proposal provides protection of oak woodlands that is more protective than the applicable provisions of law in existence on the date of the proposal.
  (d) A county or city may develop an oak woodlands management plan. A nonprofit corporation, park and open-space district, resource conservation district, or other local government entity may apply to the board for funds to develop an oak woodlands management plan for a county or city, but the county or city shall maintain ultimate authority to approve the oak woodlands management plan.
  (e) The process for developing an initial oak woodlands management plan, and the adoption of significant amendments to a plan, as determined by the county or city, are subject to the Ralph M. Brown Act (Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 54950) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code).
  (f) A proposal by a local government entity, nonprofit corporation, park and open-space district, private landowner, or resource conservation district for a grant to be expended for the purposes of this article shall be certified by the county or city as being consistent with the oak woodlands management plan of the county or city. If the land covered by the proposal is in the jurisdiction of more than one county or city, each county or city shall certify that the proposal is consistent with the oak woodlands management plan of each county or city.
  (g) If two or more entities seek grant funding from the board pursuant to this article for the same jurisdiction, the county or city shall designate which entity shall lead the efforts to manage oak woodlands habitat in the area.

On or before April 1, 2002, the board and the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection shall develop a memorandum of understanding regarding the protection of oak woodlands that does all of the following:
  (a) If necessary, creates a specific process for working together to use money from the fund in conjunction with the California Forest Legacy Program Act of 2000 (Division 10.5 (commencing with Section 12200) of the Public Resources Code).
  (b) Lists elements a county or city shall include in its oak woodlands management plan. Items included in the plan shall assist a county or a city to specify conservation priorities and prevent oak woodlands habitat fragmentation while minimizing the cost and administrative burden associated with developing the plan. The elements may include any or all of the following:
  (1) Tree inventory mapping.
  (2) Oak canopy retention standards.
  (3) Oak habitat mitigation measures.
  (4) A procedure to monitor the effectiveness of the plan and to modify the plan as necessary.
  (c) Designates an online repository for oak woodlands management plans that will be easily accessible to the public and any other state agency involved in oak woodlands conservation efforts.
  (d) Discusses the relationship between oak woodlands conservation efforts under this article and efforts by other state agencies to protect oak woodlands, including efforts to combat sudden oak death, and outlines a plan, as necessary, for coordinating with these agencies.

The board may not approve a grant to a local government entity, park and open-space district, resource conservation district, or nonprofit organization if the entity requesting the grant has acquired, or proposes to acquire, an oak woodlands conservation easement through the use of eminent domain, unless the owner of the affected lands requests the owner to do so.

A city or county planning department may utilize a grant awarded for the purposes of this article to consult with a citizen advisory committee and appropriate natural resource specialists in order to report publicly to the city council or the board of supervisors on the status of the city's or county's oak woodlands. Each city or county planning department that receives a grant for the purposes of this article shall report to the city council or to the board of supervisors of the county, as appropriate, on the use of those grant funds within one year from the date the grant is received.

No money may be expended from the fund to adopt guidelines or to administer the fund until at least one million dollars ($1,000,000) is deposited in the fund.

Nothing in this article grants any new authority to the board or any other agency, office, or department to affect local policy or land use decisionmaking.