Bill > SB360

This bill amends the California Wildlife, Coastal, and Park Land Conservation Act to provide the County of San Bernardino with expanded flexibility in managing lands purchased through grant funds within the Chino Agricultural Preserve. Specifically, the bill allows the county to preserve lands and conservation easements not just for agricultural and open-space conservation purposes, but also for park and recreational purposes. The bill explicitly adds that these purposes can include playgrounds, recreational venues, preservation of historical resources, community gardens, agricultural heritage projects, wildlife education, and wildlife habitat. The legislation modifies previous restrictions on selling or exchanging properties, removes some procedural requirements around expenditure of proceeds, and allows the county to use revenues from land sales for acquisition of replacement land, improvements, operations, and maintenance of preserve lands. The bill requires that any use of these funds cannot be granted to private entities (except for specific services), and all proposed uses must be approved by the Department of Parks and Recreation. The changes are designed to provide more operational flexibility while maintaining the core conservation goals of the original land preservation initiative, and the bill explicitly states that these modifications are consistent with the original act's purposes.

Agriculture and Natural Resources, Budget and Finance

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB360