Welcome to the Green Rush! 1 3/6/2018 CDFW Watershed - - PDF document

3/6/2018 1

Cannabis Cultivation in California: Threats to Fish and Wildlife Cannabis Cultivation in California: Threats to Fish and Wildlife

Welcome to the Green Rush!

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CDFW Watershed Enforcement/Cannabis Permitting Teams

• Protect Public Trust Resources
• Enforce Fish & Game Code (1602, 5650, 5652), CESA, etc.
• Use F&GC Section 12025 to fine people through civil

process.

• Enforce all applicable state laws (HSC, etc.)
• Work in cooperation with other state and local agencies
• Permit Cannabis Cultivation Sites in compliance with Fish &

Game Code

• Teams all over the state: Redding, Eureka, Napa and

Expanding

CDFW’s Authority

CDFW has jurisdiction over the conservation, protection, and management of fish, wildlife, native plants, and habitat necessary for biologically sustainable populations of those species (FGC § 1802)

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CDFW’s Authority

• Responsible Agency

– California Endangered Species Act (CESA: FGC § 2081) – Fish and Game Code (FGC) that conserve the State’s fish and wildlife public trust resources

CDFW’s Authority

• Responsible Agency

– Lake and Streambed Alteration Agreement Program (LSAA: FGC § 1600 et seq.)

Photo: JoAnn Dunn Stream Crossings/Culverts Water drafting/diversion Stream Crossings/Bridges Photo: JoAnn Dunn

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CDFW Fish and Game Code Violations

• Section 1602:

(a) An entity shall not substantially divert or obstruct the natural flow of, or substantially change or use any material from the bed, channel, or bank of, any river, stream, or lake, or deposit or dispose of debris, waste,

• r other material containing crumbled, flaked, or

ground pavement where it may pass into any river, stream, or lake…

CDFW’s Jurisdiction

• Includes all streams with a bed, bank and

channel that transport sediment Stream types include: Class I – Fish bearing Class II – Typically flow year round and support aquatic life (ex. spring) Class III – Intermittent flow, dries up in the summer and may not flow without recent rain

• Includes lakes, ponds and wet areas

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Example: Class III Streams = Small Watershed, Small Channel CDFW Fish and Game Code Violations

• Section 5650:

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), it is unlawful to deposit in, permit to pass into, or place where it can pass into the waters of this state any of the following: (1) Any petroleum, acid, coal or oil tar, lampblack, aniline, asphalt, bitumen, or residuary product of petroleum. (2) Any refuse, liquid or solid, from any refinery, gas house, tannery, distillery, chemical works, mill, or factory of any kind. (3) Any sawdust, shavings, slabs, or edgings. (6) Any substance or material deleterious to fish, plant life, mammals, or bird life.

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Example: Sediment discharge to a stream from failing pond CDFW Fish and Game Code Violations

• Section 5652:

(a) It is unlawful to deposit, permit to pass into, or place where it can pass into the waters of the state, or to abandon, dispose of, or throw away, within 150 feet

• f the high water mark of the waters of the state, any

cans, bottles, garbage, motor vehicle or parts thereof, rubbish, litter, refuse, waste, debris, or the viscera or carcass of any dead mammal, or the carcass of any dead bird.

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Example: cultivation camp and trash placed in the stream channel CDFW Fish and Game Code Violations

• Section 5901:

Except as otherwise provided in this code, it is unlawful to construct or maintain in any stream…any device or contrivance that prevents, impedes, or tends to prevent

• r impede, the passing of fish up and down stream.

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Example: culvert placed in a stream for a road crossing CDFW Fish and Game Code Violations

• Section 2080:

No person shall… take, possess, purchase, or sell within this state, any species, or any part or product thereof, that the commission determines to be an endangered species or a threatened species...

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Example: San Joaquin Kit Fox rodenticide poisoning CDFW Fish and Game Code Violations

• Section 12025:

(b)(1) In addition to any penalties imposed by any

• ther law, a person found to have violated the code

sections described in this subdivision in connection with the production or cultivation of a controlled substance on land that the person owns, leases, or

• therwise uses or occupies with the consent of the

landowner shall be liable for a civil penalty as follows:

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CDFW Fish and Game Code Violations

• Section 12025 continued:

(A) A person who violates Section 1602 in connection with the production or cultivation of a controlled substance is subject to a civil penalty of not more than eight thousand dollars ($8,000) for each violation. (B) A person who violates Section 5650 in connection with the production or cultivation of a controlled substance is subject to a civil penalty of not more than twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) for each violation. (C) A person who violates Section 5652 in connection with the production or cultivation of a controlled substance is subject to a civil penalty of not more than twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) for each violation.

Sensitive Fish and Wildlife Species

Coho salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch Steelhead trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss Chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha

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Sensitive fish and wildlife species

Southern torrent salamander, Rhyacotriton variegatus Coastal Cutthroat Trout, Oncorhynchus clarki clarki Coastal tailed frog, Ascaphus truei Coastal cutthroat trout, Oncorhynchus clarki clarki

Sensitive fish and wildlife species

Townsend’s big-eared bat, Corynorhinus townsendii Northern Spotted Owl, Strix occidentalis c. Pacific fisher, Martes pennanti

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Sensitive fish and wildlife species

California Tiger Salamander, Ambystoma californiense California Red Legged Frog, Rana draytonii Pacific fisher, Martes pennanti San Joaquin Kit Fox, Vulpes macrotis

 More aerials from

Michael/Scott

I NSPECTI ONS/ DOCUMENTATI ON

• FGC 1602 Violations
• FGC 5650 Violations FGC 12025 Civil Penalties
• FGC 5652 Violations
• FGC 5901 Violations FGC 12025.1 Civil Penalties
• Species Present
• Other Environmental Impacts/Concerns
• Other FGC Violations

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First things first…

 Contact CDFW

Stream Diversions I mpoundments Grading/ Land Clearing Stream Crossings

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Resource I mpacts



New photo sediment Photograph, GPS, and measure all potential violations

Water Diversion: measure rate of diversion, how much is being taken from stream, is it screened, size of facility, and whether fish and wildlife present (1602 violations)

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Measure pond and document pollution discharge

1602 and 5650 Violations

Document all Pollutants: sediment, petroleum products, fertilizers, killing agents (5650 Violations and others)

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Buried Stream Channel

Photograph and measure all areas of impact including vegetation removal

Find, photograph, and collect dead wildlife

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DOCUMENT GENERATORS (NOISE AND PETROLEUM POLLUTION)

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Resource I mpacts



New photo sediment

Document land conversion (area)

Ecosystem Impacts

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2009 2012

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2016

Mad River Watershed 2014

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Mad River Watershed 2016

Carrizo Plain

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Stream channel Grading Anything else?

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Why do we care about cultivation out here?

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Giant Kangaroo Rat (Endangered) Blunt-nosed Leopard Lizard (Endangered)

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San Joaquin Kit Fox (Endangered)

How else does Cannabis cultivation impact ecosystems?

 Wildfire

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 Public and

Employee Safety

How else does Cannabis cultivation impact ecosystems?

Humboldt County Cannabis Permit Applications: Ecosytem impacted?

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Four Years of Cannabis Cultivation Expansion in China Creek

• 106% Increase in

Greenhouse footprint

• 61% Total increase in

Cultivation area

Thank you!

Questions? Lieutenant DeWayne Little Dewayne.Little@wildlife.ca.gov Scott Bauer, Senior Environmental Scientist Scott.bauer@wildlife.ca.gov