CCLME.ORG - Division 7 (commencing with § 10500)

State
California
FGC Sec 10500-10741 REFUGES AND OTHER PROTECTED AREAS (Div. 7 REFUGES)

FISH AND GAME CODE
SECTION 10500-10741

10500. Except under a permit or specific authorization, it is
unlawful:
(a) To take or possess any bird or mammal, or part thereof, in any
game refuge.
(b) To use or have in possession in a game refuge, any firearm,
bow and arrow, or any trap or other contrivance designed to be, or
capable of being, used to take birds or mammals, or to discharge any
firearm or to release any arrow into any game refuge.
(c) To take or possess any species of fish or amphibia, or part
thereof, in any fish refuge, or to use or have in possession in such
refuge any contrivance designed to be used for catching fish.
(d) To take or possess any bird in, or to discharge any firearm or
to release any arrow within or into, any fowl refuge.
(e) To take or possess any quail in a quail refuge.
(f) To take or possess any invertebrate or specimen of marine
plant life in a marine life refuge.
(g) To take or possess any clam in a clam refuge or to possess in
such a refuge any instrument or apparatus capable of being used to
dig clams.

10501. Before the commission opens any game refuge for the taking
of deer, a public hearing shall be held at which at least one member
of the commission shall be in attendance and such officers and
employees of the department as are deemed necessary or are requested
by interested parties, notice of which has been published at least
once and at least 30 days prior to the hearing in a newspaper of
general circulation which is printed and published in the county, or
one of the counties, in which the area lies. If there is no
newspaper of general circulation in any such county, the notice shall
be published in such newspaper of general circulation as the
commission determines will be most likely to give notice to the
inhabitants of the area and such determination by the commission
shall be final and conclusive.

10501.5. (a) It is unlawful to fly any aircraft, including any
airplane or helicopter, less than 3,000 feet above water or land over
the Sespe Condor Sanctuary, and less than 1,000 feet above water or
land over the A: o Nuevo State Reserve, the Farallon Islands Game
Refuge, the Point Lobos State Reserve, the California Sea Otter Game
Refuge, and Anacapa, San Miguel, Santa Barbara, and San Nicolas
Islands, except for rescue operations, in case of any emergency, or
for scientific or filmmaking purposes under a permit issued by the
department after a review of potential biological impacts.
(b) This section does not apply to the landing of any aircraft,
including any airplane or helicopter, on Anacapa, San Miguel, Santa
Barbara, San Nicolas, and Farallon Islands for administrative or
operational purposes of the National Park Service, the United States
Navy, or the United States Coast Guard.

10502. The commission may:
(a) Exercise control over all mammals and birds in any game
refuge, and exercise control over all fish in any fish refuge.
(b) Authorize the department to issue, under such restrictions as
it may deem best, permits which authorize the person named therein to
carry, use, and possess within any refuge, firearms, traps or other
contrivances for taking birds, mammals, fish, or amphibia.
(c) Except as provided in Sections 10502.5, 10502.8, 10655, and
10657, authorize the department to issue permits which shall
authorize the person named therein to take birds, mammals, fish, and
amphibia within any refuge.
(d) Make additional regulations not in conflict with any law for
the protection of birds, mammals, fish, amphibia, and marine life
within any refuge.

10502.5. The director may appoint the Director of the Hopkins
Marine Life Refuge. The Director of the Hopkins Marine Life Refuge
may issue a permit to any person under which the person may enter the
Hopkins Marine Life Refuge for the purpose of taking fish or marine
plants under the conditions that the department determines necessary
for the protection and propagation of fish and wildlife and related
scientific purposes in that refuge.

10502.6. (a) The director may appoint a Director of the Dana Point
Marine Life Refuge.
(b) Except as otherwise provided in this section, no state funds,
including, but not limited to, the Fish and Game Preservation Fund,
shall be used to pay the compensation or expenses of the Director of
the Dana Point Marine Life Refuge. A city, county, or special
district may use any funds, including state funds appropriated to the
city, county, or special district, to pay the compensation and
expenses of the director and a public postsecondary educational
institution may use private or state funds to pay the compensation
and expenses of the director.
(c) The Director of the Dana Point Marine Life Refuge may issue a
permit authorizing any person to enter the Dana Point Marine Life
Refuge for the purpose of taking fish or marine plants under the
conditions that the department determines to be necessary for the
protection and propagation of fish and wildlife and related
scientific purposes in that refuge.
(d) The Director of the Dana Point Marine Life Refuge shall erect
and maintain signs identifying the boundaries of the Dana Point
Marine Life Refuge. The signs shall contain notification regarding
the permit requirements of the refuge. The signs shall specify that
an access permit shall be obtained from the Director of the Dana
Point Marine Life Refuge and a scientific collector's permit from the
department in order to take any fish or specimen of marine plant
life.

10502.7. (a) The director may appoint the Director of the Bodega
Marine Life Refuge.
(b) The Director of the Bodega Marine Life Refuge may authorize
any person to enter the Bodega Marine Life Refuge for the purpose of
taking fish, invertebrates, or marine plants for scientific study and
to take or possess fish, invertebrates, or marine plants for
scientific study.
(c) The Director of the Bodega Marine Life Refuge may authorize
any person to anchor a vessel in the Bodega Marine Life Refuge for
the purpose of scientific study.

10502.8. (a) The director may appoint the Director of the Catalina
Marine Science Center Marine Life Refuge.
(b) The Director of the Catalina Marine Science Center Marine Life
Refuge may authorize any person to enter the Catalina Marine Science
Center Marine Life Refuge for the purpose of taking fish or marine
plants under the conditions that the department determines necessary
for the protection and propagation of fish and wildlife and related
scientific purposes in that refuge.
(c) The Director of the Catalina Marine Science Center Marine Life
Refuge, upon recommendation of the Director of the Catalina Marine
Science Center, may authorize any person involved in oceanographic
and scientific research in and around Santa Catalina Island to anchor
or moor a vessel in the Catalina Marine Science Center Marine Life
Refuge.

10503. For the purposes of propagating, feeding, and protecting
birds, mammals, fish, and amphibia the commission may do all of the
following:
(a) Accept, on behalf of the state, donations of any interest in
lands within any refuge.
(b) Accept, on behalf of the state, from any person owning and in
possession of patented lands, except lands that are covered and
uncovered by the ordinary daily tide of the Pacific Ocean, the right
to preserve and protect all birds, mammals, fish, and amphibia on
the patented lands.
(c) Accept, on behalf of the state, donations of birds, mammals,
fish, and amphibia, and of money given or appropriated. Those
donations shall be used for the purposes for which they are accepted,
and, as nearly as may be, for any purpose indicated by the donor.
(d) Acquire, by purchase, lease, rental, or otherwise, and occupy,
develop, maintain, use, and administer land, or land and nonmarine
water, or land and nonmarine water rights, suitable for state game
farms or game refuges.

10504. Any property acquired for game refuges shall be acquired in
the name of the State, and shall, at all times, be subject to such
regulations as may be prescribed from time to time by the commission
for the occupation, use, operation, protection, and administration of
such property as game refuges.

10505. The department shall do all things necessary to secure a
valid title in the State to the property acquired for game refuges,
but no payment shall be made therefor until the title is satisfactory
to the Attorney General and is vested in the State. The acquisition
of the property by the State is not prohibited by reason of rights
of way, easements, or reservations, which, from their nature, in the
opinion of the department, will in no manner interfere with the use
of the property for the purpose for which it is acquired.

10506. Nothing in this code prohibits the possession of firearms or
bows and arrows by persons when traveling through any game refuges
when the firearms are taken apart or encased and unloaded and the
bows are unstrung. When the traveling is done on a route other than
a public highway or other public thoroughfare or right of way, notice
shall be given to the department at least twenty-four (24) hours
before such traveling. The notice shall give the name and address of
the person intending to travel through the refuge, the name of the
refuge, the approximate route, and the approximate time when such
person intends to travel through the refuge.

10507. It is lawful for any person who has given the notice
provided for in Section 10506 to transport any bird or mammal, or
part thereof, through a game refuge, if lawfully taken outside the
refuge, and if the bird or mammal or part thereof is carried openly
and during the time between one hour before sunrise and one hour
after sunset.

10508. The department and the district attorney, sheriff, and all
peace officers of the county in which any refuge or part thereof is
situated, shall enforce all of the provisions of this code relating
to such refuge, and institute and assist in prosecutions for
violations thereof.

10509. Any refuge designated as a "fish and game refuge" shall be
considered, for the purposes of this division, as both a game refuge
and a fish refuge.

10510. No specification of an open season in any area authorizes
the taking of any bird, mammal, fish or amphibia from any refuge
within that area from which the taking is elsewhere in this code
prohibited.

10511. Except as they may conflict with refuge provisions, the
provisions of this code relating to a particular fish and game
district shall apply to each refuge lying wholly, or in major part,
within the boundaries of the district.

10512. The department shall cause to be prepared suitable notices
to be posted under its direction on each state game refuge,
containing a warning to all persons to refrain for the period named
therein from violations of the provisions of this chapter relating to
state game refuges.

10513. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as prohibiting or
preventing any person from taking birds, mammals, fish, or amphibia
from or on navigable water in any state game refuge.

10514. All state game refuges shall, for all purposes of protecting
birds, mammals, fish, or amphibia thereon, be under the control and
management of the department, and the officers and employees of the
department and all game wardens may at all times enter in and upon
such refuges in the performance of their duties.

10650. In Mt. Tamalpais Game Refuge, the lawful occupant of
privately owned land, or the employees of such occupant, may take on
such lands, predatory, or destructive birds and mammals which are not
protected or fostered by any of the laws of this State, and are not
required to obtain permits for such taking.

10651. In the Mt. Tamalpais Game Refuge firearms may be possessed
and used by members of any high school militia while on the grounds
of the high school at which time they may be enrolled.

10652. In the Mt. Tamalpais Game Refuge, no threatened, endangered,
or fully-protected birds or mammals may be taken under any permit
issued by the department.
Except for wild pigs, it is unlawful to take any bird or mammal
under a permit issued by the department unless the person possessing
the permit is accompanied by a member of the commission, a deputy of
the department, or a sheriff or deputy sheriff of Marin County.

10653. In the San Francisco Game Refuge, birds, mammals, fish, and
amphibia legally possessed may be carried openly by persons traveling
through the refuge on public roads, between one-half hour before
sunrise and one-half hour after sunset.

10654. Nothing in this division prevents the full use of the land
included in the San Francisco Game Refuge for water supply purposes,
nor prohibits any authorized employee of the San Francisco water
department from carrying out such reasonable measures as may be
necessary for the protection of the water supply or the prevention of
pollution of the streams or reservoirs.

10655. (a) A person involved in oceanographic and scientific
research in and around Santa Catalina Island may be authorized by the
Director of the Catalina Marine Science Center Marine Life Refuge to
enter the Catalina Marine Science Center Marine Life Refuge and to
anchor or moor a vessel therein.
(b) The Director of the Catalina Marine Science Center Marine Life
Refuge, or any person that the Director of the Catalina Marine
Science Center Marine Life Refuge has authorized under Section
10502.8, may take, for scientific purposes, any fish or specimen of
marine plant life under the conditions prescribed by the department
under Section 10502.8.

10655.5. (a) Except as expressly provided in this division, it is
unlawful to enter the Catalina Marine Science Center Marine Life
Refuge for the purpose of taking or possessing any fish or marine
plants or to take or possess any fish or marine plants in the
Catalina Marine Science Center Marine Life Refuge.
(b) Except as permitted by federal law or emergency caused by
hazardous weather, it is unlawful to anchor or moor a vessel in the
Catalina Marine Science Center Marine Life Refuge without
authorization by the Director of the Catalina Marine Science Center
Marine Life Refuge pursuant to Section 10502.8.
(c) Section 10655 and this section do not prohibit or restrict
navigation in the Catalina Marine Science Center Marine Life Refuge
pursuant to federal law.

10656. (a) Except as expressly provided in this division, it is
unlawful to enter the Bodega Marine Life Refuge for the purpose of
taking or possessing any fish, marine invertebrate, or marine plant,
or to take or possess any fish, marine invertebrate, or marine plant
in the Bodega Marine Life Refuge.
(b) Except as permitted by federal law or emergency caused by
hazardous weather, it is unlawful to anchor or moor a vessel in the
Bodega Marine Life Refuge without authorization by the Director of
the Bodega Marine Life Refuge pursuant to Section 10502.7.
(c) This section does not prohibit or restrict navigation in the
Bodega Marine Life Refuge pursuant to federal law.

10657. (a) A person may be permitted by the Director of the Hopkins
Marine Life Refuge to enter the Hopkins Marine Life Refuge under a
permit.
(b) The Director of the Hopkins Marine Life Refuge, or any person
to whom the Director of the Hopkins Marine Life Refuge has issued a
permit under Section 10502.5, may take, for scientific purposes, any
fish or specimen of marine plant life under the conditions prescribed
by the department under Section 10502.5.

10657.5. Except as expressly provided in this division, it is
unlawful to enter the Hopkins Marine Life Refuge for the purpose of
taking or possessing any fish or marine plants or to take or possess
any fish or marine plants in the Hopkins Marine Life Refuge.
Section 10657 and this section do not prohibit or restrict
navigation in the Hopkins Marine Life Refuge pursuant to federal law.

10658. In the San Diego Marine Life Refuge, licensees of the
Regents of the University of California and all officers, employees,
and students of such university may take, for scientific purposes,
any invertebrate or specimen of marine plant life without a permit
from the department.

10659. In the California Sea Otter Game Refuge, the lawful occupant
of privately owned land, or the employees of such occupant, may
possess firearms and traps and may take on such lands any
nonprotected bird or mammal, and no permit is required for such
taking.

10660. (a) In the Pacific Grove Marine Gardens Fish Refuge, fish,
other than mollusks and crustaceans, may be taken under the authority
of a sport fishing license as authorized by this code.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, holders
of scientific collectors' permits issued by the commission, or
students working under their direction, may take marine life for
scientific purposes in this refuge.
(c) In this refuge, sardines, mackerel, anchovies, squid and
herring may be taken by ring net, lampara net or bait net as
authorized by this code.

10661. In the Bodega Marine Life Refuge, licensees of the Regents
of the University of California and all officers, employees, and
students of such university may take, for scientific purposes, any
invertebrate or specimen of marine plant life without a permit from
the department.

10662. Notwithstanding any other provision in this code, it shall
be unlawful for any person to fire a firearm, but it shall not be
unlawful to possess a firearm in the following areas:
All of T. 5 S., R. 5 E., except Sections 1, 2, 11, 12, and 13, of
Fish and Game District 4D.

10663. In Fish and Game Refuge 4-D the lawful occupant of privately
owned lands or the employees of such occupants may possess firearms
without a permit.

10664. In the Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, Point Fermin, South
Laguna Beach, Niguel, Irvine Coast, and Doheny Beach Marine Life
Refuges, the following fish, mollusks, and crustaceans may be taken
under the authority of a sportfishing license as authorized by this
code: abalone, lobster, rockfish (Scorpaenidae), greenling, ling
cod, cabezon, yellowtail, mackerel, bluefin tuna, kelp bass, spotted
sand bass, barred sand bass, sargo, croaker, queenfish, corbina,
white seabass, opaleye, halfmoon, surfperch (Embiotocidae),
blacksmith, barracuda, sheephead, bonito, California halibut, sole,
turbot, and sanddab. Fin fish shall be taken only by hook and line
or by spearfishing gear. All other fish and forms of aquatic life
are protected and may not be taken without a written permit from the
department.

10665. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, in the
Johnsville Game Refuge it shall be unlawful for any person to
discharge a firearm or other device capable of killing or injuring
any animal. However, it shall not be unlawful for the lawful
occupants of privately owned lands or the employees of such occupants
to possess firearms or other devices capable of killing or injuring
an animal without a permit.
Birds and animals lawfully taken and possessed outside of the
boundaries of the Johnsville Game Refuge may be possessed within the
refuge.

10666. In the James V. Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, the following
fish and mollusks may be taken under the authority of a sport fishing
license as authorized by this code: abalone, rockfish (Sebastes),
lingcod, surfperch (Embiotocidae), monkeyface eel, rock eel, white
croaker, halibut, cabezon (Scorpaenichthys marmoratus), kelp
greenling (Hexagrammos decagrammus), and smelt (Osmeridae and
Antherinidae). No such fish having fins may be taken except by hook
and line or by spearfishing. All other fish and forms of aquatic
life are protected and may not be taken without a written permit from
the department.

10667. (a) In the Dana Point Marine Life Refuge below the
intertidal zone, the following fish, mollusks, and crustaceans may be
taken under the authority of a sportfishing license as authorized by
this code: abalone (subject to the moratorium imposed under Section
5521), lobster, rockfish (Scorpaenidae), greenling, ling cod,
cabezon, yellowtail, mackerel, bluefin tuna, kelp bass, spotted sand
bass, barred sand bass, sargo, croaker, queenfish, corbina, white
seabass, opaleye, halfmoon, surfperch (Embiotocidae), blacksmith,
barracuda, sheephead, bonito, California halibut, sole, turbot, and
sanddab. Fin fish shall be taken only by hook and line or by
spearfishing gear. All other fish and forms of aquatic life are
protected and may not be taken without a written permit from the
department.
(b) Except as expressly provided in this section, it is unlawful
to enter the intertidal zone in the Dana Point Marine Life Refuge for
the purpose of taking or possessing, or to take or possess, any
species of fish, plant, or invertebrate, or part thereof, to use or
have in possession any contrivance designed to be used for catching
fish, to disturb any native plant, fish, wildlife, aquatic organism,
or to take or disturb any natural geological feature. This
subdivision does not prohibit persons from entering the intertidal
zone for the purpose of entertainment, recreation, and education
while having a minimum impact on the intertidal environment and the
living organisms therein. For this purpose, minimum impact includes
foot traffic, general observation of organisms in their environment
with immediate replacement of any unattached organisms to their
natural location after temporary lifting for examination, and
photography. Minimum impact does not include removal of attached
organisms from their environment, gathering of fishing bait,
littering, collecting rocks and shells, or turning rocks or other
acts destructive to the environment.
(c) For the purposes of this section, "intertidal zone" means the
area of the refuge between the mean lower low-water mark and the mean
high-tide line described in Section 10907.
(d) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) or (b), the Director of the
Dana Point Marine Life Refuge, or any person, who has a scientific
collector's permit from the department, to whom the Director of the
Dana Point Marine Life Refuge has issued a permit pursuant to Section
10502.6, may take, for scientific purposes, any fish or specimen of
marine plant life under the conditions prescribed by the department
pursuant to Section 10502.6.
(e) This section does not prohibit the entry of state and local
law enforcement officers, fire suppression agencies, and employees of
the department in the performance of their official duties. This
section does not prohibit or restrict navigation in the Dana Point
Marine Life Refuge pursuant to federal law.

10680. The people of the State, through their legislative
authority, accept the provisions and benefits of the act of Congress
known as the "Migratory Bird Conservation Act," approved February 18,
1929. Upon approval by the commission, they consent to the
acquisition by the United States, by purchase, lease, gift, or
devise, of such areas of land, water, or land and water, within the
State, as the United States or its properly constituted officers or
agents may deem necessary for migratory bird reservations in carrying
out the provisions of such act of Congress; saving and reserving,
however, to the State such full and complete jurisdiction and
authority over all such areas as are not incompatible with the
administration, maintenance, protection, and control thereof by the
United States under the terms of such act of Congress, and saving and
reserving to all persons within such areas all rights, privileges,
and immunities under the laws of the State, insofar as they are
compatible with the administration, maintenance, protection, and
control of such areas by the United States under the terms of such
act of Congress.

10681. Prior to such approval by the commission, the legislative
body of the county concerned shall have given its written consent to
the commission for the proposed acquisition.

10682. If in any year, on lands hereafter acquired, the in lieu
payments from the United States to the county, pursuant to the
provisions of law, do not equal the taxes assessed on a given
project, the department shall pay from income derived from hunting
privileges on the project an amount equal to the balance of the taxes
on the entire project.
For the purposes of this section, the taxes on a given project are
the assessed taxes on the project at the time of acquisition, plus
any subsequent increases that may accrue from general county
increases in the tax rates, but not subject to re-evaluation of such
project properties after the time of acquisition.

10683. The consent of the State to the acquisition by the United
States of land, water, or land and water for migratory bird
reservations in accordance with this article, is subject to the
condition that the United States conform to the laws of the State
relating to the acquisition, control, use, and distribution of water
with respect to the land acquired.

10684. The consent contained in Section 10680 continues only so
long as the property continues to belong to the United States and is
held by it in accordance and in compliance with each and all of the
conditions and reservations as prescribed in this article, and is
used for the purposes for which it was acquired.

10685. With the approval of the commission, the people of the
State, through their legislative authority, also consent to the
declaration, withdrawal, or determination of any part of any national
forest or power site, and do further consent to the condemnation of
any lands lying and being below an elevation known and described as
minus 230-foot elevation below sea level, as a migratory bird
reservation under the provisions of the act of Congress cited in
Section 10680.

10711. The commission may close for the taking of clams not less
than eight land miles of pismo clam bearing beaches within San Luis
Obispo County as a clam refuge, but not more than 50 percent of any
individual pismo clam bearing beach or beaches may be so closed at
any time. The commission may from time to time vary the location of
the closed and open portions of those beaches.
Before the commission closes, opens, or varies the location of the
closed and open portions of pismo clam bearing beaches, one or more
members of the commission shall hold in the county to be affected a
public hearing, notice of which has been published at least once in a
newspaper of general circulation, printed, and published in that
county. The commission may determine which newspaper will be most
likely to give notice to the inhabitants of the county, and its
determination shall be final and conclusive. The commission may
authorize any employee of the department in its place to hold the
hearings, in which event a copy of a transcript of all proceedings
taken or had at the hearing shall be furnished to each commissioner
at least five days before any regulation is made by the commission.

10740. It is unlawful for any person other than a legally
constituted peace officer or officer or employee of the Forest
Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, the
department, or of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or
county fish and game wardens or their duly authorized
representatives, to travel by motor boat, automobile, motorcycle, or
other type of motorized vehicle, or, except for emergencies and for
rescue and aerial search for rescue purposes, to land an airplane,
helicopter, or similar equipment, within the boundaries of a
primitive, wilderness, or wild area closed to the above modes of
travel as established by a duly authorized officer of the Forest
Service of the United States Department of Agriculture and recorded
in the office of the Regional Headquarters of the Pacific-Southwest
Region of the Forest Service of the United States Department of
Agriculture and with the department.

10741. Nothing in this article shall be construed as prohibiting
access over any road or trail in any such area to any land to which
any person is entitled to possession by such person or any person
authorized by him to use such road or trail as a means of access to
the land; provided, that none of the motorized vehicles or aircraft
mentioned in Section 10740 shall be used by any person as a means of
gaining access to the wilderness areas for the purpose of hunting or
fishing. Nor shall anyone having a lawful right to enter a
wilderness area with a motorized vehicle or aircraft fish or hunt
while within the area after having entered the area with a motorized
vehicle or aircraft.