Wild game mammals: accidental taking and possession of wildlife: collision with a vehicle: wildlife salvage permits.

(1) Existing law delegates to the Fish and Game Commission the power to regulate the taking or possession of birds, mammals, fish, amphibians, and reptiles, except as provided. Existing law provides that the accidental taking of a bird, mammal, reptile, or amphibian by collision with a motor vehicle while the vehicle is being operated on a road or highway is not a violation of law. Existing law authorizes the state or local agency having jurisdiction of a road or highway to remove an accidental take from the road or highway. A violation of the Fish and Game Code is a crime. This bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, authorize the commission to establish, in consultation with specified public agencies and stakeholders, a pilot program no later than January 1, 2022, for the issuance of wildlife salvage permits through a user-friendly and cell-phone-friendly web-based portal developed by the Department of Fish and Wildlife to persons desiring to recover, possess, use, or transport, for purposes of salvaging wild game meat for human consumption of, any deer, elk, pronghorn antelope, or wild pig that has been accidentally killed as a result of a vehicle collision on a roadway within California. The bill would require the commission to prescribe the requirements for applying for and receiving a wildlife salvage permit. The bill would authorize the commission to restrict the roadways where wildlife salvage may be conducted and the species subject to salvage, and to regulate any other aspect of the pilot program, as specified. The bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, require the department to implement the pilot program no later than 6 months after the commission establishes the pilot program. The bill would require the commission to require a person seeking to obtain a wildlife salvage permit to report certain information relating to the salvage through the department's web-based portal. The bill would require the department, beginning on the first March 1 after the department implements the pilot program, and each March 1 thereafter, to make available on its internet website data that includes the number of wildlife salvage permits issued, locations of impacts, and species of wildlife. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2029. The bill would define "roadway" and "vehicle" for these purposes and make conforming changes. By creating criteria for the accidental taking and possession of specified wild game animals, the violation of which would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law vests the Department of Fish and Wildlife with jurisdiction over the conservation, protection, and management of fish, wildlife, native plants, and habitat necessary for biologically sustainable populations of those species. This bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, authorize the department to develop a pilot program to collect and compile information and data on wildlife-vehicle collisions to support certain wildlife conservation efforts. The bill would require the pilot program to be at a maximum of 3 geographically dispersed sites identified by the department to be areas of high wildlife-vehicle collisions. The bill would authorize the department, in developing the pilot program, to coordinate with other state agencies that remove dead wildlife from roadways to determine the scope of data collected on wildlife-vehicle collisions and would require the department, at the conclusion of the pilot program, to report to the Fish and Game Commission on the number of wildlife-vehicle collisions identified during the study period, barriers to additional data collection, and the feasibility of creating a statewide wildlife-vehicle collision reporting system. The bill would require the report to include an estimate of the costs of implementing the statewide wildlife-vehicle collision reporting system. (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.