California Department of Fish and Wildlife

Fish and Game Code Division 2, Chapter 1, Article 1 deals with the organization and general functions of the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Section 700 established in the Natural Resources Agency a Department of Fish and Wildlife administered through the director.

Section 701 requires the director to be appointed by the Governor, and receive the annual salary as specified.

Section 701.3 requires there to be one deputy director of the department who is a civil executive officer and be appointed by the Governor and serve at the pleasure of the Governor.

Section 701.5 provides that the director or one or more of his designees may accept the office of director or alternate director of an entity established by a joint powers agreement providing for the establishment and conduct of an areawide waste management planning process.

Section 702 requires this code to be administered and enforced through regulations adopted only by the department, except as otherwise specifically provided by this code or where this code requires the commission to adopt regulations.

Section 702.1 required the department to prepare and submit to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature a feasibility study report on an electronic system to manage citations issued by fish and game wardens, exchange information on citations with the courts, and transfer data on court dispositions to the Automated License Data System.

Section 703 requires that general policies for the conduct of the department are to be formulated by the commission. The director must be guided by those policies and be responsible to the commission for the administration of the department in accordance with those policies.

Section 703.3 contains a statement of policy of the state.

Section 703.5 provides that there are two policies of the state.

Section 704 provides that the director is the appointing power of all employees within the department, and all employees in the department are responsible to the director for the proper carrying out of the duties and responsibilities of their respective positions.

Section 705 defines the term “eligible renewable energy resources.” The department is required to establish an internal division with the primary purpose of performing comprehensive planning and environmental compliance services with priority given to projects involving the building of eligible renewable energy resources.

Section 706 specifies that provisions of the Government Code govern and apply to the conduct of the department in every respect.

Section 707 explains that it is the duty of the attorney for the department to act as counsel in defense of any officer or deputy of the department in any suit for damages brought against the officer or deputy on account of injuries to persons or property alleged to have been received as a result of the negligence or misconduct of the officer or deputy occurring while the officer or deputy was performing his official duties.

Section 709 states that a nonprofit organization designated by the department to assist in the sale of deer, elk, antelope, or bighorn sheep fundraising tags that are sold on behalf of the department for the purpose of raising funds for specified programs and projects is authorized to retain 5% of the amount of the sale price of the tag as a reasonable vendor fee.

Section 710 contains legislative findings and declarations.

Section 710.5 contains three legislative findings and declarations.

Section 710.7 includes three legislative findings and declarations, as well as two statements of legislative intent.

Section 711 includes a statement of legislative intent, as well as six legislative findings and declarations. The director and the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, with the department’s annual budget submittal to the Legislature, are required to submit a report on the fund condition, including the expenditures and revenue, for all accounts and subaccounts within the Fish and Game Preservation Fund. The department updates its cost allocation plan to reflect the costs of program activities.

Section 711.1 requires the expenditure of all federal grant moneys made available to the state pursuant to the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act to be consistent with that act. In applying for federal grant moneys available pursuant to the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act, the department is required to give priority to projects that fulfill one or more of the three specified purposes.

Section 711.2 defines the terms “project” and “person.”

Section 711.4 requires the department to impose and collect a filing fee in the amount prescribed in order to defray the costs of managing and protecting fish and wildlife trust resources, including consulting with other public agencies, reviewing environmental documents, recommending mitigation measures, developing monitoring requirements for purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act, and other activities protecting those trust resources identified in the review pursuant to CEQA.

The filing fees are required to be proportional to the cost incurred by the department and be annually reviewed and adjustments recommended to the Legislature in an amount necessary to pay the full costs of department programs as specified. The department must annually adjust the fees.

Section 711.7 states that fish and wildlife resources are held in trust for the people of the state by and through the department.

Section 712 contains a statement of legislative intent.

Section 712.1 states that the department’s mission is to manage California’s diverse fish, wildlife, and plant resources, and the habitats upon which they depend, for their ecological values and for their use and enjoyment of the public. The department’s core programs are the six specified ones.

The department, as a part of a service-based budget review, is required to identify strategic goals that reflect the core programs identified and support the department’s mission and statutory requirements. The department is required to contract with an independent entity to conduct a comprehensive service-based budget review and to consult on the development of a service-based budget tracking system. The selected contractor must have experience conducting similar reviews and consulting on similar systems for a comparably sized state agency or department. The service-based budget review must study and report on all of the specified topics.

Section 713 explains that the changes in the Implicit Price Deflator for State and Local Government Purchases of Goods and Services is to be used as the index to determine an annual rate of increase or decrease in the fees for licenses, stamps, permits, tags, or other entitlements issued by the department.

Section 715 requires the director to establish, in consultation with the Natural Resources Agency, a formal program, which may be called the Science Institute, to assist the department and commission in obtaining independent scientific review, and recommendations to help inform the scientific work of the department and the commission. The objectives of the program are to include at least five specified items.