Wildlife habitat: birds.

(1) Existing law makes it unlawful to take upland game birds without first procuring a hunting license and an upland game bird hunting validation. Under existing law, moneys derived from upland game bird hunting validations are required to be deposited in the Upland Game Bird Account in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund. Existing law provides that moneys in the account are to be available, upon appropriation, to the Department of Fish and Wildlife to be used solely for the purpose of acquiring land, completing projects and implementing programs to benefit upland game bird species, and expanding public hunting opportunities and related public outreach. Existing law requires an advisory committee, as determined by the department, to review and provide comments to the department on all proposed projects funded by the Upland Game Bird Account to help ensure that specified requirements pertaining to the Upland Game Bird Account have been met. Existing law requires the department to post on its internet website budget information and a brief description for all projects funded from the Upland Game Bird Account. Existing law requires a person to procure a hunting license and a state duck hunting validation to take migratory birds, as specified. Under existing law, moneys derived from state duck hunting validations are required to be deposited in the State Duck Stamp Account in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund. Existing law authorizes moneys in the account to be used for, among other things, projects or endowments approved by the Fish and Game Commission for the purpose of protecting, preserving, restoring, enhancing, and developing migratory waterfowl breeding and wintering habitat, evaluating habitat projects, and conducting waterfowl resource assessments and other waterfowl-related research. This bill would raise by $10 the upland game bird hunting validation and the state duck hunting validation fees, as specified, with that $10 to be deposited, and available upon appropriation to the department for the Nesting Bird Habitat Incentive Program, in the Nesting Bird Habitat Incentive Program Account, which the bill would create in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund. This bill instead would require the Upland Game Bird Account advisory committee to annually review and provide comments to the department on all proposed projects and other expenditures funded from the Upland Game Bird Account to help ensure that specified requirements pertaining to the Upland Game Bird Account have been met and require the department to post budget information and a brief description on its internet website for all projects and other expenditures funded from the Upland Game Bird Account. (2) Existing law establishes the Nesting Bird Habitat Incentive Program, which authorizes the department to include direct payments or other incentives to encourage landowners to voluntarily cultivate or retain upland cover crops or other upland vegetation on idled lands to provide waterfowl, upland game bird, and other wildlife habitat cover for certain purposes, including encouraging the use of idled agricultural lands for wildlife habitat, as specified. Existing law authorizes state or federal grants, state bond moneys, and private grants and donations to be allocated by the department for the purposes of the program. This bill would revise and recast the program to authorize the inclusion of direct payments or other incentives to encourage landowners, as defined, to voluntarily cultivate or retain upland cover crops, cereal grains, grasses, forbs, pollinator plants, or a combination thereof to provide waterfowl and other game bird nesting habitat cover for certain purposes, including encouraging the use of agricultural lands for wildlife habitat, as specified. The bill would additionally authorize moneys in the Nesting Bird Habitat Incentive Program Account to be used by the department for reasonable administrative and monitoring costs associated with the implementation of the program. The bill would authorize the department to enter into grants or contracts directly with landowners, and would authorize the department to enter into grants or contracts with public and private entities, including nonprofit organizations, and California Native American tribes to help the department implement the program. The bill would require the program provisions to be implemented only if a sufficient amount of game bird stamp funds, federal grants, or other moneys are secured, as determined by the department. (3) Existing law establishes the California Winter Rice Habitat Incentive Program that authorizes the Director of Fish and Wildlife to enter into contracts for an initial term of 3 years with nonpublic entities that are owners of record or with lessees of productive agricultural rice lands that are winter flooded and that are determined by the director to be important for the conservation of waterfowl. Existing law provides that, under these contracts, the use of the land is restricted for waterfowl conservation and habitat purposes in a manner that allows for the use of the land for rice farming. This bill would authorize the department to enter into grants or contracts directly with landowners or lessees, and agreements with public and private entities and California Native American tribes, to help the department implement the program. The bill would authorize the public and private entities and California Native American tribes that are party to the above agreements to enter into grants or contracts with landowners or lessees to carry out the purposes of the program. The bill would make other related changes.