Section 2780 Of Article 1. General Provisions From California Fish And Game Code >> Division 3. >> Chapter 9. >> Article 1.
2780
. The people of California find and declare all of the
following:
(a) Protection, enhancement, and restoration of wildlife habitat
and fisheries are vital to maintaining the quality of life in
California. As the state's human population increases, there is an
urgent need to protect the rapidly disappearing wildlife habitats
that support California's unique and varied wildlife resources.
(b) Much of the state's most important deer winter ranges have
been destroyed in the last 20 years.
(c) Critical winter ranges of migratory deer in the Sierra Nevada
and Cascade mountain ranges are increasingly subject to incompatible
land uses. In some counties, over 80 percent of the critical winter
ranges fall on these lands. The potential for incompatible land uses
on these lands is a major threat to the survival of many migratory
deer herds.
(d) Deer, mountain lion, and other wildlife habitat within the
Sierra Nevada, Cascade, Coast Range (including the Santa Lucia
Mountains in Monterey County along the Central Coast), Siskiyou and
Klamath Mountains; and the Santa Susana, Simi Hills, Santa Monica,
San Gabriel, San Bernardino, San Jacinto, Santa Ana and other
mountains and foothill areas within southern California, is
disappearing rapidly. Small and often isolated wildlife populations
are forced to depend upon these shrinking habitat areas within the
heavily urbanizing areas of this state. Corridors of natural habitat
must be preserved to maintain the genetic integrity of California's
wildlife.
(e) This chapter shall be implemented in the most expeditious
manner. All state officials shall implement this chapter to the
fullest extent of their authority in order to preserve, maintain, and
enhance California's diverse wildlife heritage and the habitats upon
which it depends.