🚀 go-pugleaf

Carl H. Starrett II (chstarr@ix.netcom.com) wrote:
>In  crisw@ix.netcom.com(Cris Waller ) writes: 
>>Statewide (and Washington DC!) Rallies Agains Proposition 197
>Why?  Give the experts back their authority over wild animals. 

According to my understanding of existing laws, the experts already
have authority over the the wild animals, and funding to deal with
maintaining habitats.  

--- |Warning: I'm not a lawyer, so my interpretation of the following  |
    |	      quotes may well be faulty.  Lawyers are welcome to point |
    |	      out where I'm wrong.                                     |

Exist DF&G section 4880 reads (in part):
|(b) Pursuant to subdivision (a), the department shall prepare,
|submit to the commission for approval, and implement a mountain lion
|management plan that promotes health and safety protection and
|protection for livestock, domestic animals, other property, and other
|wildlife species and that implements Section 1801.  ...
 -- From http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.html

This seems to indicate that DF&G should be managing the lions now, and
if DF&G are the experts, then they have the authority to manage the
lions under existing laws.

It is unclear what Prop 197 adds much of anything:

.--Proposed new section 4801--
|4801.  The department may remove or take, or authorize its designee,
|including, but not limited to, an appropriate governmental agency with
|public safety responsibility, an appropriate governmental agency with
|wildlife management responsibility, or an owner of land, to remove or
|take, one or more mountain lions that are perceived to be an imminent
|threat to public health or safety or livestock anywhere in the state
|except within the state park system.  Within the state park system, the
|department may remove or take, or authorize an appropriate governmental
|agency with public safety responsibility or an appropriate governmental
|agency with wildlife management responsibility to remove or take, one or
|more mountain lions that are perceived to be an imminent threat to
|public health or safety only with the concurrence of the Department of
|Parks and Recreation.


This section uses "authorize its designee, including, but not limited to"
and you could say that this means that DF&G could license individual
citizens to hunt and kill lions.  

I believe the current section 4801 reads
|4801.  The department may remove or take any mountain lion, or authorize
|an appropriate local agency with public safety responsibility to remove
|or take any mountain lion, that is perceived to be an imminent threat to
|public health or safety.

Furthermore, the Prop 197 doesn't really add that much to section 2786.
The Habitat Conservation fund already exists to help manage mountain
lions (though it looks like this is stopped in 2020). 

So, why vote for Prop 197?  What does it provide that is useful?

Mark Runyan