Bill Text: CA SCR148 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: California Invasive Species Awareness Week.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-3)
Status: (Passed) 2018-09-11 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Res. Chapter 229, Statutes of 2018. [SCR148 Detail]
Download: California-2017-SCR148-Chaptered.html
| Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 148 |
| CHAPTER 229 |
Relative to California Invasive Species Awareness Week.
[
Filed with
Secretary of State
September 11, 2018.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SCR 148, Galgiani.
California Invasive Species Awareness Week.
This measure would declare June 2, 2018, to June 9, 2018, inclusive, as the California Invasive Species Awareness Week and would encourage all Californians to participate in activities that raise awareness of invasive species issues.
Digest Key
Fiscal Committee: NOBill Text
WHEREAS, Invasive species threaten California’s environment, economy, water, natural resources, agriculture, and climate adaptation; and
WHEREAS, The Department of Food and Agriculture, the Natural Resources Agency, and four other state agencies have endorsed a Strategic Framework for Protecting California from Invasive Species; and
WHEREAS, Invasive species include plants, animals, insects, diseases, and other biological organisms that are nonnative to California; and
WHEREAS, Invasive species spread more rapidly with increasing global travel and commerce, at great cost to human and animal health as well as economic security; and
WHEREAS, The destructive impact of invasive species is profound, affecting California’s cropland, rangeland, forests, parks, wildlands, and waterways, and causing enormous losses of private, state, and federal resources through decreased land productivity, degradation of wildlife habitat, and outright destruction of crops, livestock, wetlands, watersheds, and recreational areas; and
WHEREAS, Invasive species are a factor in damaging habitat for nearly one-half of the species federally listed as threatened or endangered, and, in California, 415 special status species are threatened by invasive plants alone; and
WHEREAS, Scientists estimate that the costs to prevent, monitor, and control invasive species, combined with the costs of damages to crops, fisheries, forests, and other natural resources, add up to a total cost to the United States of $137 billion annually; and
WHEREAS, In California, quagga and zebra mussels have altered ecosystems, water quality, and food webs, have fouled shorelines and watercraft, have clogged water intakes and conveyances, and have cost the state, water agencies and municipalities, and watercraft owners hundreds of millions of dollars since their introduction in 2007; and
WHEREAS, Invasive pests like the European grapevine moth, the Asian citrus psyllid, the glassy-winged sharpshooter, and the nutria, a large, destructive rodent with a rapid reproduction rate, can cause major damage to California’s agricultural crops, and invasive pests like the gold-spotted oak borer and the polyphagous shothole borer threaten our forests; and
WHEREAS, Incurable invasive plant diseases, such as huanglongbing, transmitted by the Asian citrus psyllid, and Pierce’s disease, transmitted by the glassy-winged sharpshooter, are serious threats to California’s citrus and grape-growing industries, respectively, and have already caused severe and widespread damage to these agricultural crops both nationally and internationally; and
WHEREAS, Invasive plants damage rangeland productivity, and noxious and invasive weeds have destroyed large portions of riparian habitat along creeks, streams, rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and other bodies of freshwater in California, damaging the integrity of the riparian system by altering erosion, sedimentation, flooding, and fire; and
WHEREAS, Invasive aquatic plants, such as water hyacinth, Egeria densa, and spongeplant, have significantly degraded ecosystems in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta by severely choking waterways, altering water quality, destroying aquatic habitat, obstructing recreation and navigation, and clogging infrastructure and equipment, vastly increasing commercial operating costs and costing the state millions of dollars annually; and
WHEREAS, The invasive weed Arundo donax (giant reed) has established large colonies across the state, most notably in southern California, where in one 10,000-acre area of riparian habitat, before recent removal efforts, the weed was estimated to consume more than 30,000 acre-feet of water each year, or enough water to meet the yearly freshwater needs of 150,000 persons; and
WHEREAS, The invasive weed yellow star thistle has infested more than 14.3 million acres, making it the most common invasive plant in California, choking out native plants and killing horses who eat its poisonous early season growth; and
WHEREAS, Pathways for the spread of harmful nonnative weeds are many and varied, involving both accidental and intentional introductions, and could be reduced by increased awareness of the dangers posed by even seemingly innocuous plants that are transplanted to a different ecosystem; and
WHEREAS, The federal government, through the United States Department of Agriculture, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and several other agencies, maintains programs to prevent, control, and manage invasive species; and
WHEREAS, The State of California, through the Department of Food and Agriculture, the Natural Resources Agency, and several other agencies, maintains several invasive species management programs and public awareness campaigns for the purpose of preventing invasive species entry, reporting and mapping new detections, and controlling and eradicating existing populations; and
WHEREAS, These programs to prevent, control, manage, and eradicate invasive species have emphasized information sharing, education, and public awareness as crucial to the success of prevention, control, and eradication efforts; and
WHEREAS, The Climate Adaptation Strategy published by the National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation Partnership in 2012, the Priority Agenda published by the Council on Climate Preparedness and Resilience in October 2014, the Recommendations to the President published by the State, Local, and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience in November 2014, and Safeguarding California, our state’s climate adaptation plan, all recommend action to control invasive species as a means of improving climate resiliency; and
WHEREAS, The California State Wildlife Action Plan 2015 Update prepared by the Department of Fish and Wildlife identifies invasive species as the most pervasive and commonly identified threat to the state’s diverse fish, wildlife, and plant resources, and the habitats upon which they depend; and
WHEREAS, The 24-member California Invasive Species Advisory Committee emphasizes the importance of public awareness and engagement on the issue of invasive species; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby declares June 2, 2018, to June 9, 2018, inclusive, as the California Invasive Species Awareness Week; and be it further
Resolved, That on the occasion of California Invasive Species Awareness Week, the Legislature encourages all Californians to participate in activities that raise awareness of invasive species issues; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
