Article 2. Wildlife Management Areas And Game Farms of California Fish And Game Code >> Division 2. >> Chapter 5. >> Article 2.

For the purposes of propagating, feeding and protecting birds, mammals, and fish, and establishing wildlife management areas or public shooting grounds the department, with the approval of the commission, may do all of the following:
  (a) Accept, on behalf of the state, donations of birds, mammals, and fish, and of money given or appropriated. Those donations shall be used for the purposes for which they are accepted, and, as nearly as may be, for any purpose indicated by the donor.
  (b) Acquire, by purchase, lease, rental or otherwise, and occupy, develop, maintain, use and administer, land, or land and nonmarine water, or land and nonmarine water rights, suitable for state game farms, wildlife management areas, or public shooting grounds.

Any property acquired for wildlife management areas or public shooting grounds shall be acquired in the name of the State, and shall, at all times, be subject to such rules and regulations as may be prescribed from time to time by the commission for the occupation, use, operation, protection, and administration of such property as wildlife management areas or public shooting grounds.

(a) The department, upon request of the leaseholder, shall extend any existing lease for a recreational homesite on Lower Sherman Island to the holder of any lease of lands under the control of the department, under the following conditions:
  (1) The existing lease is between the department and an individual person, partnership, or any affiliated group of two or more persons.
  (2) Subject to subdivision (e), the lease may be extended for the natural life of the person who is the leaseholder on January 1, 1991. With respect to any lease to an affiliated group or an association of persons, the lease shall expire upon the death of the last individual who is a leaseholder on January 1, 1991.
  (3) The lease, or any interest therein, may not be transferred, bequeathed, hypothecated, encumbered, sublet, assigned, sold, alienated, exchanged, or otherwise changed to the benefit of another party. The leaseholder shall annually certify to the department that he or she has not transferred, bequested, hypothecated, encumbered, sublet, assigned, sold, alienated, or exchanged the lease for consideration or by gift, or otherwise.
  (4) If a lease is violated or breached by the leaseholder at any time during the life of the leaseholder, the lease may be terminated by the department within 30 days of the receipt by the department of actual or constructive notice of the breach.
  (b) All leases entered into pursuant to this section shall include the following:
  (1) A requirement for public access to navigable waters adjacent to the lease properties.
  (2) A provision prohibiting the introduction and cultivation of exotic plant species and requiring existing exotic plant species to be removed according to a plan developed by the department.
  (3) A provision establishing the right of the department and county employees to inspect the property for the purposes of monitoring and enforcing the conditions of the lease.
  (4) A provision requiring the lessee, within 60 days after the lease is extended, and annually thereafter, to provide the department with proof that (A) the lessee will remove the buildings and all ancillary structures and facilities necessary to return the area to a natural condition, or (B) the lessee has made arrangements for the removal of the buildings and all ancillary structures and facilities necessary to return the area to a natural condition, upon termination of the lease.
  (c) The department shall develop a plan for the removal of nonnative plants from the island. The plan shall include, at a minimum, the following:
  (1) The type and location of nonnative plants.
  (2) The relative threat that these plants pose to the natural environment of the island.
  (3) A time schedule for the leaseholders to remove the nonnative plants within 200 yards of the leaseholders' structures.
  (d) Proceeds from the leases of lands under the control of the department on Lower Sherman Island shall be deposited in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund and used for the purpose of enforcing and monitoring those lease terms and managing the Lower Sherman Island Wildlife area.
  (e) The department shall, on or before July 31, 1991, and annually thereafter, review all leases of land subject to subdivision (a) under the control of the department and, as soon as possible, charge the fair market rate on those leases of land.

The department shall do all things necessary to secure a valid title in the State to the property acquired for wildlife management areas or public shooting grounds but no payment shall be made therefor until the title is satisfactory to the Attorney General, and is vested in the State. The acquisition of the property by the State is not prohibited by reason of rights of way, easements, or reservations which, from their nature, in the opinion of the department, will in no manner interfere with the use of the property for the purpose for which it is acquired.

Lands, or lands and water, acquired for public shooting grounds, state marine (estuarine) recreational management areas, or wildlife management areas shall be operated on a nonprofit basis by the department. Multiple recreational use of wildlife management areas is desirable and that use shall be encouraged by the commission. Except for hunting and fishing purposes, only minimum facilities to permit other forms of multiple recreational use, such as camping, picnicking, boating, or swimming, shall be provided. Except as provided in Section 1765, and to defray the costs associated with multiple use, the commission may determine and fix the amount of, and the department shall collect, fees for any use privileges. However, tours by organized youth and school groups are exempt from the payment of those fees. Only persons holding valid hunting licenses may apply for or obtain shooting permits for public shooting grounds, state marine (estuarine) recreational management areas, or wildlife management areas.

The output of any state game farm shall be distributed on public lands or where the department determines that the output will receive adequate protection and be most likely to thrive and multiply.

Except in accordance with the regulations of the commission, it is unlawful to enter upon any wildlife management areas or public shooting grounds established under the provisions of this article, or to take therein any bird or the nest or eggs thereof, or any mammal. The taking of birds and mammals on public shooting grounds shall be regulated by the commission by regulation as provided in this section. Prior to making any such regulation, the commission shall, at an open meeting of the commission, publicly announce the contents of the regulation it proposes to make and at the same time specify a subsequent open meeting to be held not less than 30 days thereafter at which it will take final action on the proposed regulation.