Oak Woodlands Conservation Act

Division 2, Chapter 4, Article 3.5 deals with the Oak Woodlands Conservation Act under the Wildlife Conservation Law of 1947.

Section 1360 names this article as the Oak Woodlands Conservation Act.

Section 1361 defines the terms “board,” “conservation easement,” “fund,” “land improvement,” “local government entity,” “nonprofit organization,” “oak,” “oak woodlands,” “oak woodlands management plan,” and “special oak woodlands habitat elements.”

Section 1362 contains six statements of legislative intent.

Section 1363 created the Oak Woodlands Conservation Fund in the State Treasury. The fund is administered by the board. Moneys in the fund may be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes of this article.

Section 1364 requires monies in the fund to be available to local government entities, park and open-space districts, resource conservation districts, private landowners, and nonprofit organizations.

Section 1365 requires the board to develop and adopt guidelines and criteria for awarding grants that achieve the greatest lasting conservation of oak woodlands. The board must develop these guidelines in consultation with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Department of Food and Agriculture, the University of California’s Integrated Hardwood Range Management Program, conservation groups, and farming and ranching associations.

Section 1366 provides that, in order to qualify for a grant pursuant to this article, the county or city in which the grant money would be spent is required to prepare, or demonstrate that it has already prepared, an oak woodlands management plan that includes a description of all native oak species located within the county’s or city’s jurisdiction.

Thereafter, the board must certify that any proposed easement was not, and is not, required to satisfy a condition imposed upon the landowner by any lease, permit, license, certificate, or other entitlement for use issued by one or more public agencies, including the mitigation of significant effects on the environment of a project pursuant to an approved environmental impact report or to mitigate a negative declaration required pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act.

A county or city may develop an oak woodlands management plan, which must contain specified information and follow the process set forth.

Section 1368 states that the board may not approve a grant to a local government entity, park and open-space district, resource conservation district, or nonprofit organization if the entity requesting the grant has acquired, or proposes to acquire, an oak woodlands conservation easement through the use of eminent domain, unless the owner of the affected lands requests the owner to do so.

Section 1369 provides that a city or county planning department may utilize a grant awarded for the purposes of this article to consult with a citizen advisory committee and appropriate natural resource specialists in order to report publicly to the city council or the board of supervisors on the status of the city’s or county’s oak woodlands.

Section 1370 states that no money may be expended from the fund to adopt guidelines or to administer the fund until at least $1 million is deposited in the fund.

Section 1372 says that nothing in this article grants any new authority to the board or any other agency, office, or department to affect local policy or land use decision making.