Title FGC, California Fish & Game Code

(a) The department may issue a permit pursuant to Section 1002 to an appropriate public, private, or nonprofit entity, or a person, as determined by the department, in the name of a principal scientific investigator or the permitted entity or person. (b) The department may approv…

Mammals, birds and their nests and eggs, fish and their eggs, reptiles, amphibians, mollusks, crustaceans, or any other form of plant or animal life taken under the provisions of a scientific or propagation permit issued pursuant to Section 1002 may be shipped or transported anyw…

The department may capture and sell birds and mammals, at prices to be fixed by the commission, to persons engaged in the domestication and sale thereof in this State. (Enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456.)

For the purpose of exhibiting fish and game educational material at fairs or sportsmen’s shows and making other public displays, and to make conservation educational materials on fish and game available for any public use, including fairs, sportsmen’s shows, schools, and civic or…

Notwithstanding Section 11005 of the Government Code, the department may accept gifts of personal property if the donor is a county of the state and the gift is purchased with fine money derived from fish and game violations. The department shall notify the Department of Finance …

The department may inspect the following: (a) All boats, markets, stores and other buildings, except dwellings, and all receptacles, except the clothing actually worn by a person at the time of inspection, where birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, or amphibia may be stored, placed, o…

The department may import, propagate, and distribute birds, mammals, or fish. (Enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456.)

The department shall investigate all diseases of, and problems relating to, birds, mammals, or fish, and establish and maintain laboratories to assist in such investigation. (Enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456.)

The department may obtain for the State rights of way over private lands for the purpose of furnishing access for the public to lands or waters open to public hunting or fishing whenever such rights of way are determined by the commission to be necessary for such public use. Such…

The department, by and with the approval of the Department of General Services, may sell grazing permits or otherwise dispose of excess vegetation or other products, produced on lands acquired by the department. (Amended by Stats. 1965, Ch. 371.)

(a) The department may procure insurance for any of the following purposes: (1) For itself and landowners who agree to permit the department to use their land as cooperative hunting, fishing, conservation or recreational areas, against any liability resulting from the operation o…

The department may procure insurance for its employees for injury or death against the liability of the owner or operator of any vessel boarded by an employee as an observer. (Added by Stats. 1980, Ch. 886, Sec. 1. Effective September 14, 1980.)

In any lease, easement, or right-of-way entered into whereby the department leases real property or obtains a grant of easement or right-of-way in real property for the purpose of constructing, operating, or maintaining a fish screen, fish ladder, fishweir, or fishtrap, the depar…

If the Department of Parks and Recreation contracts with the federal government pursuant to Public Law 89-161 for the administration of recreation development or fish and wildlife enhancement facilities, as authorized by Section 5006.6 of the Public Resources Code, the Department…

Whenever the department is required, or provided an opportunity, to assess the adequacy of a project or to provide a detailed environmental impact statement or similar document pursuant to Public Law 91-190 or Section 21100, 21101, or 21102 of the Public Resources Code, or any ot…

(a) Whenever the department determines that an oil sump, as defined by Section 3780 of the Public Resources Code, is hazardous to wildlife, but does not constitute an immediate and grave danger to wildlife, the department shall forthwith notify the State Oil and Gas Supervisor of…

(a) It is the policy of the state to anticipate and resolve potential conflicts between the management, conservation, and protection of fish and wildlife resources and their habitat and private and public activities that may affect them. (b) Accordingly, the department may use su…

The director shall use the department’s resources, to the fullest extent feasible, to coordinate with the federal government to promote the preservation of species, including species listed as endangered species or threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act of 19…

(a) Subject to an appropriation of funds by the Legislature for that purpose, for parcels wholly within its jurisdiction acquired on or after January 1, 2002, the department shall prepare draft management plans for public review within 18 months of the recordation date. (b) (1) O…

(a) The department and the commission shall develop a strategic plan to implement proposals arising from any of the following: (1) The strategic vision developed and submitted to the Governor and the Legislature pursuant to Section 12805.3 of the Government Code. (2) Any legislat…

(a) The department may take feasible actions to conserve monarch butterflies and the unique habitats they depend upon for successful migration. These actions may include, but are not limited to, habitat restoration on department lands, education programs, and voluntary agreements…

(a) The commission may authorize, for research, educational, limited testing, data collection, compensation fishing, conservation engineering, or exploratory fishing, or any combination of these purposes, an EFP to be issued by the department that authorizes commercial or recreat…

(a) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the department may develop a pilot program to collect and compile information and data on wildlife-vehicle collisions to support wildlife conservation efforts conducted through regional conservation investment strategies approved pursuan…

(a) The department shall conduct a study to create a framework for cannabis site restoration projects with the goal of providing guidance for the cleanup, remediation, and restoration of environmental damage caused by cannabis cultivation, and shall complete the study by January …

(a) (1) (A) The department shall submit a report to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2027, and each year thereafter, on illicit cannabis cultivation, including reconnaissance, eradication, reclamation, and restoration operations involving the department, and on the status …

Except as otherwise provided, it is unlawful for any common carrier to transport any live protected nongame bird or any live resident or migratory game bird for which there is no open season. (Amended by Stats. 1957, Ch. 1972.)

The commission may adopt regulations that it deems necessary for the disposition of birds or mammals that are killed accidentally. (Amended by Stats. 2015, Ch. 154, Sec. 13. (AB 1527) Effective January 1, 2016.)

When adopting regulations pursuant to any authority otherwise vested in the commission by this code, the commission shall annually determine whether to continue, repeal, or amend regulations establishing hunting seasons for black bears. The determination shall include a review of…

Prior to adopting a regulation authorizing a special hunting season for black bears for the purpose of curtailing property damage in any specified area, the commission shall comply with Article 2 (commencing with Section 325) of Chapter 3 of Division 1. (Added by Stats. 1990, Ch.…

Whenever, because of extreme fire hazard, any area is closed to entry by the public by any order or proclamation issued or concurred in by the Governor the commission may establish a season for hunting or fishing within the area. The season shall commence upon or after the expira…

(a) Whenever after due investigation the commission finds that game fish, resident or migratory birds, game or fur-bearing mammals, amphibians, or reptiles have decreased in numbers in an area, district, or portion of an area or district to the extent that a scarcity exists, the …

Notwithstanding any other provisions of this code, in District 22 the taking of birds, mammals, fish, amphibians, or reptiles shall be subject to regulations adopted, from time to time, by the commission, except that it is unlawful in District 22 to take birds or mammals within o…

For the preservation, protection and restoration of mountain sheep and other birds and mammals in arid regions of the state, the commission, in cooperation with the agency authorized to manage the land, may prohibit any activity, including but not limited to camping, in the vicin…

(a) The commission or any person appointed by it to conduct a hearing may, in any investigation or hearing, cause the deposition of witnesses, residing within or without the state, to be taken in the manner prescribed by law for deposition in civil actions in the superior courts …

The commission may designate salmon spawning areas. It is unlawful to take salmon in any such spawning area, or within 250 feet of any salmon spawning station. (Enacted by Stats. 1957, Ch. 456.)

(a) The commission may issue a permit authorizing any member of the armed forces of the United States or any student or faculty member of an elementary or secondary school in the public school system actually assigned to, and participating in, an organized survival training cours…

The commission may prohibit the taking or possessing of tuna in the same manner as taking or possessing tuna is prohibited by federal law or by rules or regulations adopted pursuant to the Tuna Conventions Act of 1950, as amended by Public Law 87-814 of the 87th Congress, notwith…

The commission at any time may close to the taking of any species or subspecies of bird or mammal any area newly stocked by the department with resident or migratory game birds or game or fur-bearing mammals, or any area where, in the judgment of the commission, added protection …

The commission may at any time close any stream, lake, or other inland waters, or portions thereof, to the taking of any species or subspecies of fish to protect and properly conserve the fish, except for the taking of fish otherwise permitted by this code under a commercial fish…

The commission may open any stream, lake, or other inland waters, or any part of any stream, lake, or other inland waters, to the taking of any species or subspecies of fish for the proper utilization of the fish, for an amount of time specified by the commission, or until new le…

The commission may prohibit the taking or possessing of Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus) in the same manner as the taking or possessing of Pacific halibut is prohibited by federal law or by rules or regulations adopted by the International Pacific Halibut Commission, notwithstandin…

The commission may prohibit the taking or possessing of salmon in the same manner as the taking or possessing of salmon is prohibited by federal law or by rules or regulations adopted by the United States Secretary of Commerce, notwithstanding any other provision of this code. (A…

Any organization conducting a special hunt for servicemen or veterans residing in or assigned to a United States veterans or armed services medical facility may apply to the commission for, and the commission may issue, under such terms and conditions as it may impose, a permit t…

(a) A mammal occurring naturally in California that is not a game mammal, exotic game mammal, fully protected mammal, or fur-bearing mammal is a nongame mammal. A nongame mammal may not be taken or possessed except as provided in this code or in accordance with regulations adopte…

Any house cat (Felis domesticus) found within the limits of any fish and game refuge is a nongame mammal, unless it is in the residence of its owner or upon the grounds of the owner adjacent to such residence. (Amended by Stats. 1971, Ch. 1470.)

(a) Except as provided in Section 4005, nongame mammals and black-tailed jackrabbits, muskrats, subspecies of red fox that are not the native Sierra Nevada red fox (Vulpes vulpes necator), and red fox squirrels that are found to be injuring growing crops or other property may be …