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

3/6/2018 Cannabis Cultivation in California: Cannabis Cultivation in California: Threats to Fish and Wildlife Threats to Fish and Wildlife Welcome to the Green Rush! 1

3/6/2018 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) 2

3/6/2018 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 .) Water drafting/diversion Stream Crossings/Bridges Stream Crossings/Culverts Photo: JoAnn Dunn Photo: JoAnn Dunn 3

3/6/2018 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, or 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 4

3/6/2018 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. 5

3/6/2018 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 of 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. 6

3/6/2018 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 or impede, the passing of fish up and down stream. 7

3/6/2018 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... 8

3/6/2018 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 other 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 otherwise uses or occupies with the consent of the landowner shall be liable for a civil penalty as follows: 9

3/6/2018 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 Steelhead trout, Coho salmon, Oncorhynchus mykiss Oncorhynchus kisutch Chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha 10

3/6/2018 Sensitive fish and wildlife species Southern torrent salamander, Rhyacotriton variegatus Coastal tailed frog, Ascaphus truei Coastal Cutthroat Trout, Oncorhynchus clarki clarki Coastal cutthroat trout, Oncorhynchus clarki clarki Sensitive fish and wildlife species Pacific fisher, Martes pennanti Northern Spotted Owl, Strix occidentalis c. Townsend’s big-eared bat, Corynorhinus townsendii 11

3/6/2018 Sensitive fish and wildlife species San Joaquin Kit Fox, Vulpes macrotis Pacific fisher, Martes pennanti California Red Legged Frog, Rana draytonii California Tiger Salamander, Ambystoma californiense I NSPECTI ONS/ DOCUMENTATI ON • FGC 1602 Violations • FGC 5650 Violations FGC 12025 Civil Penalties • FGC 5652 Violations  More aerials from • FGC 5901 Violations FGC 12025.1 Civil Penalties Michael/Scott • Species Present • Other Environmental Impacts/Concerns • Other FGC Violations 12

3/6/2018 First things first…  Contact CDFW Stream Diversions Grading/ Land Clearing I mpoundments Stream Crossings 13

3/6/2018 Resource I mpacts Photograph, GPS, and measure all potential violations New photo sediment  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) 14

3/6/2018 Measure pond and document pollution discharge 1602 and 5650 Violations Document all Pollutants: sediment, petroleum products, fertilizers, killing agents (5650 Violations and others) 15

3/6/2018 Photograph and measure all areas of impact including vegetation removal Buried Stream Channel Find, photograph, and collect dead wildlife 16

3/6/2018 DOCUMENT GENERATORS (NOISE AND PETROLEUM POLLUTION) 17

3/6/2018 Resource I mpacts Document land conversion (area) New photo sediment  Ecosystem Impacts 18

3/6/2018 2009 2012 19

3/6/2018 2016 Mad River Watershed 2014 20

3/6/2018 Mad River Watershed 2016 Carrizo Plain 21

3/6/2018 Anything else? Stream channel Grading 22

3/6/2018 Why do we care about cultivation out here? 23

3/6/2018 Giant Kangaroo Rat (Endangered) Blunt-nosed Leopard Lizard (Endangered) 24

3/6/2018 San Joaquin Kit Fox (Endangered) How else does Cannabis cultivation impact ecosystems?  Wildfire 25

3/6/2018 How else does Cannabis cultivation impact ecosystems?  Public and Employee Safety Humboldt County Cannabis Permit Applications: Ecosytem impacted? 26

3/6/2018 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 27