For Immediate Use Contact: Garrison Frost, (510) 601-1866, Ext. 225
July 6, 2009

Emeryville, CA – The California State Senate Public Safety Committee tomorrow will consider important legislation to stem the alarming rise in poaching violations that is posing a great danger to the state’s birds and wildlife. Assembly Bill 708, authored by Assembly Member Jared Huffman, passed the State Assembly in May.

“With the state budget preventing new allocations for wardens, the only real tool we have to fight poaching are the steep mandatory fines in this bill,” said Dan Taylor, Audubon California’s director of public policy. “It is time for us to take seriously this tremendous threat to California’s natural resources.”

Poaching violations rose from 6,538 in 2003 to 17,840 in 2007, and has hit waterfowl particularly hard, with sensitive species of geese and ducks the most at risk. The California Department of Fish & Game declared 2008 “the year of extreme poaching” because of the rise of egregious poaching cases, such as that of a Gilroy hunter who had in his possession more than 300 bird carcasses – way over the legal limit – including protected species such as Sandhill Crane and Tundra Swan.

Despite its terrible toll on native wildlife, poaching currently carries surprisingly light sentences. Regardless of the scale of the carnage, it is almost never treated as a felony under state law, and only rarely under federal law. Moreover, California only has about 250 active-duty fish and game wardens actively patrolling the state’s 100 million acres.

AB 708 calls for tougher penalties for violations such as hunting protected birds, hunting over limit, hunting without a license, and hunting out of season, including mandatory minimum penalties of $5,000 and increased minimum fines for repeat offenders. Moreover, it gives the state Fish and Game Commission authority to permanently revoke licenses in the worst cases.

About Audubon California 
Audubon California is building a better future for California by bringing people together to appreciate, enjoy and protect our spectacular outdoor treasures. With more than 50,000 members in California and an affiliated 49 local Audubon chapters, Audubon California is a field program of the National Audubon Society.