Bill Text: CA SCR68 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: California Invasive Species Action Week.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 51-24-1)

Status: (Passed) 2015-08-26 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Res. Chapter 144, Statutes of 2015. [SCR68 Detail]

Download: California-2015-SCR68-Introduced.html

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BILL NUMBER: SCR 68	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Galgiani
   (Principal coauthors: Senators Cannella and McGuire)
   (Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Cooper, Dodd, and Perea)
   (Coauthors: Senators Berryhill, Pan, Vidak, and Wolk)

                        MAY 26, 2015

   Relative to 2015 California Invasive Species Action Week.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SCR 68, as introduced, Galgiani. California Invasive Species
Action Week.
   This measure would declare June 6, 2015, to June 14, 2015,
inclusive, as the 2015 California Invasive Species Action Week and
would urge all Californians to participate in activities that raise
awareness of invasive species issues and to take action to prevent
their spread.
   Fiscal committee: no.



   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 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 the costs to prevent, monitor, and
control invasive species combined with the costs of damages to crops,
fisheries, forests, and other natural resources cost the United
States $137 billion annually; and
   WHEREAS, In California quagga and zebra mussels have altered
ecosystems, water quality, and food webs, fouled shorelines and
watercraft, clogged water intakes and conveyances, and 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, Asian
citrus psyllid, and glassy-winged sharpshooter can cause major damage
to California's agricultural crops, invasive plants damage rangeland
productivity, and other invasive pests like the gold-spotted oak
borer and 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 shown 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 the
weed has been 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, 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, The State Wildlife Action Plan 2015 Update has identified
invasive species as the most prevalent and widely identified threat
to the state's diverse fish, wildlife, and plant resources, and the
habitats upon which they depend; 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 National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation
Strategy, the President's Council on Climate Preparedness' Priority
Agenda: Enhancing the Climate Resilience of America's Natural
Resources, and the President's State, Local and Tribal Leaders Task
Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience, and Safeguarding
California, our state's climate adaptation plan, recommend action to
control invasive species as a means to improve climate resiliency;
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 6,
2015, to June 14, 2015, inclusive, as the 2015 California Invasive
Species Action Week; and be it further
   Resolved, That on the occasion of California Invasive Species
Action Week, the Legislature encourages all Californians to
participate in activities that raise awareness of invasive species
issues and take action to prevent their spread; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.