SECTIONS 12210-12211 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 12210-12211

12210. The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Privately owned forest lands comprise nearly half of
California's 32.6 million acres of forest land, and include some of
the state's most important and productive forest resources, including
timber, fish and wildlife habitat, watersheds, and climate benefits.
It is in the interest of the state to provide and maintain a
favorable climate for long-term investment in forest resources.
(b) The importance of private forest lands to California's economy
and environment has been recognized for many years, and more
recently for almost three decades by the Z'berg-Nejedly Forest
Practice Act of 1973 (Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 4511) of
Part 2 of Division 4), the California Timber Productivity Act of 1982
(Chapter 6.7 (commencing with Section 51100) of Part 1 of Division 1
of Title 5 of the Government Code), and other statutes and policies.
(c) California's private forest lands and woodlands are threatened
by continued population growth and changes in land use patterns,
including parcel size reductions, residential and commercial
development, and by changes in forest cover.
(d) Heirs of forest landowners frequently find it necessary to
harvest their timber prematurely and excessively, in order to pay
estate taxes that can account for up to 55 percent of an estate's
value.
(e) Continuing statewide population growth, existing land use and
tax policies, regulations, and other factors create significant
pressure for an increase in development conversions in forest lands
of environmental and economic significance.
(f) Conservation easements have been successfully used around the
United States to achieve voluntary protection of open space,
historical sites, and natural and aquatic resources.
(g) Conservation easements enable landowners to receive financial
benefits for voluntarily restricting specific development rights and
land that, in turn, contributes to the conservation of natural
resources for future generations. Financial benefits to landowners
can be realized through a sale or donation, or a combination of both
a sale or donation of a conservation easement.
(h) A program to encourage and make possible the long-term
conservation of forest lands and all associated natural resources is
a necessary part of the state's land protection policies and
programs, and it is in the public interest to expend money for that
purpose.
(i) Funding is a necessary component of this program.
(j) The federal Forest Legacy Program (16 U.S.C. Sec. 2103c)
conserves forest land threatened with conversion and development by
providing federal matching funds for the acquisition of conservation
easements or other interests in land from willing landowners, subject
to state guidelines.
(k) The state completed the "California Forest Legacy Program
Assessment of Need" in 1995 following an extensive analysis and
widespread public input. That assessment was submitted to and
accepted by the United States Department of Agriculture.
(l) California's forests can play an important role in addressing
global climate change and helping the state meet its emission
reduction targets by removing and storing carbon dioxide, a key
greenhouse gas.
(m) The California Forest Legacy Program Act of 2000, established
pursuant to Senate Bill 1832 of the 1999-2000 Regular Session of the
Legislature, which expired on January 1, 2007, was successful in
helping to protect approximately 12,000 acres of California forests
by facilitating the expenditure of almost four million dollars
($4,000,000) in federal funds.

12211. It is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting this
division and the California Forest Legacy Program, to protect forest
lands and aquatic resources in California by focusing on all of the
following priorities:
(a) Encouraging the long-term conservation of productive forest
lands by providing an incentive to owners of private forest lands to
prevent future conversions of forest land and forest resources.
(b) Protection of wildlife habitat, rare plants, and biodiversity.
(c) Maintenance of habitat connectivity and related values needed
to ensure the viability of wildlife populations across landscapes and
regions.
(d) Protection of riparian habitats, oak woodlands, ecological old
growth forests, and other key forest types and seral stages that are
poorly represented across landscapes and regions, and that play a
key role in supporting biodiversity.
(e) Protection of water quality, fisheries, and water supplies.
(f) Maintenance and restoration of natural ecosystem functions.
(g) Encouraging improvements to enhance long-term sustainable
forest uses while providing forest areas with increased protection
against other land uses that conflict with forest uses.