Article 2 - State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection

California Public Resources Code — §§ 730-745

Sections (14)

Amended by Stats. 1998, Ch. 972, Sec. 14. Effective January 1, 1999.

(a)There is in the department a State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection consisting of nine members appointed by the Governor, subject to confirmation by the Senate.

(b)(1) On and after January 1, 1998, wherever any reference is made in any law to the State Board of Forestry in the department, the reference shall be deemed to be a reference to, and to mean, the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection.

(2)No existing supplies, forms, signs, or logos shall be destroyed or changed to reflect the name change, and they shall continue to be used until exhausted or unserviceable.

§ 731

Added by Stats. 1976, Ch. 1300.

All members of the board shall be appointed and shall be selected and approved for appointment on the basis of their educational and professional qualifications and their general knowledge of, interest in, and experience with, problems relating to watershed management (including hydrology and soil science), forest management practices, fish and wildlife, range management, forest economics, or land use planning. Five members shall be selected from the general public, three members shall be selected from the forest products industry, and one member shall be selected from the range livestock industry. At no time shall a majority of the members, nor any of the members selected from the general public, be persons with a direct personal financial interest, within the meaning of Section 1120 of the Government Code, in timberlands. All members of the board shall represent the general public interest.

§ 731.1

Amended by Stats. 1998, Ch. 972, Sec. 15. Effective January 1, 1999.

The Legislature declares that some individuals appointed as members of the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection are required to be chosen from backgrounds in the forest products and range livestock industries in order to represent and further the interests of those industries and that this representation and furtherance serves the general public interest, as specified in Section 731. Accordingly, the Legislature finds that, for purposes of persons who hold that office, the forest products and the range livestock industries are tantamount to and constitute the public generally within the meaning of Section 87103 of the Government Code in those decisions affecting the forest products or range livestock industries, unless the results of their actions taken as board members have a material financial effect on them distinguishable from their effect on other members of their respective industries generally.

§ 732

Amended by Stats. 1988, Ch. 257, Sec. 5.

Each member of the board shall hold office for four years from the expiration of the term of his or her predecessor. Vacancies shall be immediately filled by the Governor.

§ 735

Amended by Stats. 1987, Ch. 796, Sec. 2. Effective September 18, 1987.

Each member of the board shall receive compensation for each day during which the member engaged in the performance of official duties, except that the total number of days for which a member, other than the chairperson, may be compensated shall not exceed 80 days in any one fiscal year. The chairperson of the board may receive compensation for not more than 100 days in any one fiscal year. In addition to the compensation, each member shall be reimbursed for necessary traveling and other expenses incurred in the performance of official duties.

§ 736

Added by Stats. 1976, Ch. 1300.

The board shall maintain its headquarters in Sacramento and shall hold meetings at such times and at such places as shall be determined by it. Five members of the board shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of transacting any business of the board. A majority affirmative vote of the total authorized membership of the board shall be necessary to adopt, amend, or repeal rules and regulations of the board adopted pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 4551) of Chapter 8 of Part 2 of Division 4. All meetings of the board shall be open to the public.

§ 737

Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 133, Sec. 39. (SB 272) Effective July 23, 2021.

(a)A member of the board shall not participate in a board action pursuant to Article 8 (commencing with Section 4601) or Article 9 (commencing with Section 4621) of Chapter 8 of Part 2 of Division 4 that involves the board member or a person with whom the board member is connected as a director, officer, or employee, or in which the board member has a direct personal financial interest within the meaning of Section 1120 of the Government Code.

(b)Upon request of a person or on the Attorney General’s own initiative, the Attorney General may file a complaint in the superior court for the county in which the board has its principal office

alleging that a board member has knowingly violated this section and the facts upon which the allegation is based and asking that the member be removed from office. Further proceedings shall be in accordance as near as may be with rules governing civil actions. If after trial the court finds that the board member has knowingly violated this section it shall pronounce judgment that the board member be removed from office.

§ 738

Amended by Stats. 2010, Ch. 213, Sec. 5. (AB 2768) Effective January 1, 2011.

The Governor shall designate the chair of the board from among the members of the board. The person designated as the chair shall hold the office at the pleasure of the Governor. The board shall annually elect a vice chair from among its members.

§ 739

Amended by Stats. 1986, Ch. 248, Sec. 204.

The board may appoint an executive officer who shall be exempt from civil service pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 4 of Article VII of the California Constitution.

§ 740

Added by Stats. 1976, Ch. 1300.

The board shall represent the state’s interest in the acquisition and management of state forests as provided by law and in federal land matters pertaining to forestry, and the protection of the state’s interests in forest resources on private lands, and shall determine, establish, and maintain an adequate forest policy. General policies for guidance of the department shall be determined by the board.

§ 741

Amended by Stats. 2015, Ch. 683, Sec. 36. (SB 798) Effective January 1, 2016.

(a)The board shall appoint a Range Management Advisory Committee and shall consult with the advisory committee on rangeland resource issues under consideration by the board.

(b)The advisory committee shall consist of 11 members, who shall be selected as follows:

(1)Three members of the general public, who have an interest and background in the conservation of range resources or special knowledge in the protection of range and brushland soils and watersheds.

(2)One member nominated by the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts.

(3)Seven members nominated by organizations representing owners of range and brushlands.

(c)Members of the advisory committee shall serve without compensation.

(d)The Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, the Secretary for Environmental Protection, and the Secretary of Food and Agriculture shall notify the advisory committee of, and are encouraged to consult with the advisory committee on, rangeland resource issues that are under consideration by the Natural Resources Agency, the California Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Food and Agriculture, respectively.

§ 741.5

Added by Stats. 2024, Ch. 772, Sec. 1. (SB 675) Effective January 1, 2025.

(a)On or before July 1, 2025, the Range Management Advisory Committee, established pursuant to Section 741, in consultation with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, fire ecologists with expertise in the full range of California’s vegetation communities, and the University of California Cooperative Extension Livestock and Natural Resources Advisors and Specialists, shall develop guidance for local or regional prescribed grazing plans. The guidance shall include all of the following:

(1)Best practices for identifying and selecting priority areas for prescribed grazing.

(2)Best practices for developing project plans and metrics for applying, monitoring, and evaluating the

effectiveness and impacts of prescribed grazing.

(3)Best practices for using prescribed grazing to increase the diversity and abundance of native species and decrease the abundance of invasive species, including through adaptive management, exclusion areas, wildlife-friendly fencing, and monitoring.

(4)Recommendations for securing sufficient land and resources, including forage, needed to pasture livestock when not engaged in a prescribed grazing project.

(5)Best practices for building community support and engaging with public and private landowners to improve the implementation and outcomes of a prescribed grazing plan.

(6)Methods to identify opportunities to house and maintain shared grazing infrastructure.

(7)Best practices to use prescribed grazing to support and enhance prescribed burns and other vegetation management projects.

(8)Best practices for use of prescribed grazing for reducing wildfire risk in and near fire-threatened communities, as that term is defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 4124.5.

(9)Other recommendations to increase the pace and scale of prescribed grazing at the local or regional levels, where appropriate.

(b)The department shall consider and incorporate, at its discretion, the guidance developed pursuant to subdivision (a) in the grant program established pursuant to Section 4124.5.

(c)The Department of Conservation shall consider and

incorporate, where appropriate, the guidance developed pursuant to subdivision (a) in the grant program established pursuant to Section 4208.1.

§ 743

Added by Stats. 1976, Ch. 1300.

State agencies shall submit to the board plans for, and the results of, all investigations that relate to, or have an effect upon, forest resource utilization for review and comment. The board may, at its expense, contract with any state or local agency to investigate and report on any technical factors involved in forest management; provided, that the burden, including costs, of such reports shall bear a reasonable relationship to the needs for the reports and the benefits to be obtained from such reports.

§ 745

Added by Stats. 1976, Ch. 1300.

The board shall implement a public information program on matters involving forest management and shall maintain an information file on forest management research and other pertinent matters.