On Wednesday, a state bill that would allow licensed hunters and landowners to take invasive mute swans passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee after it was placed on the Consent Calendar. 

AB 764 (Gonzalez), which is sponsored by California Waterfowl, would help to better control exotic mute swans, whose populations have increased in California by over 71% since 2023 and are 535% above their long-term average. Mute swans occur in large numbers in tidal habitats in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, Suisun Marsh and greater San Francisco Bay, but are threatening to establish new breeding populations elsewhere in the state.

Mute swans are also highly territorial, driving away native waterfowl, and can actually degrade wetland habitats by destroying wetland vegetation.

The bill will next be considered on the Assembly Floor. To see CWA’s coalition support letter for AB 764, click here.

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With the assistance of many other outdoor organizations, CWA is fighting to pass AB 1169 (Gonzalez), which would expand the number of hunting and fishing opportunities under DFW’s Shared Habitat Alliance for Recreational Enhancement (SHARE) Program. The SHARE Program aims to improve public access to private or landlocked public land through collaborative partnerships with landowners.

Despite being authorized since 2004, the SHARE Program currently only offers hunting opportunities in a limited number of California counties. Part of the problem stems from statutory restrictions on the amount DFW may pay participating landowners (i.e. maximum payments per acre or per public participant), which have not changed or been adjusted for inflation since the Program’s inception.

AB 1169 would remove the landowner payment limitations and instead allow DFW to determine the appropriate amount to pay each participating landowner, subject to an existing requirement that the payment is commensurate with the quality of the outdoor opportunity provided.

AB 1169 will next be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. To view our coalition support letter, click here.