2005 California Public Resources Code Sections 12210-12211 Article 2. Findings and Declarations

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, and watersheds.  It is in the
interest of the state to provide 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 though a sale or donation, or a combination of both a
sale or donation, or 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 forestland 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.
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.