By: Sarah Johnson
Ever been driving the wilderness or on a major road at night and accidentally hit an animal? Well, thanks to a new California Program instead of being sad about the loss of the animal’s life and the state of your car, you can bring it home and eat it (once they have all the logistics setup, of course)! This week we’ll be taking a Closer Look at a newly enacted California bill, SB395.
Existing California law delegates the power to regulate the taking or possession of birds, mammals, fish, amphibians, and reptiles to the Fish and Game Commission. The existing law also stipulates that the accidental taking of a bird, mammal, reptile, or amphibian by collision with a motor vehicle while the vehicle is being operated on a road or highway is not a violation of law. However, the existing law makes taking an animal after it has been in a collision with a motor vehicle on purpose a violation of state law. Finally, the existing law authorizes the state or local agency having jurisdiction of the road or highway where the collision occurred to remove an accidental take from the road or highway.
SB395 states that the California Legislature found and declares the following:
- It is the intent of this act to make available to Californians tens of thousands of pounds of a healthy, wild, big game food source that currently is wasted each year following wildlife-vehicle collisions.
- Each year it is estimated that over 20,000 deer alone are hit by motor vehicles on California’s roadways. This potentially translates into hundreds of thousands of pounds of healthy meat that could be used to feed those in need.
- State law prohibits its citizens from wasting big game meat. Among other things, Section 4304 of the Fish and Game Code prohibits any person at any time from leaving through carelessness or neglect any game mammal or game bird that is in that person’s possession, or any portion of the flesh thereof that is usually eaten by humans, to go needlessly to waste.
- Salvageable wild game meat programs are not new in America. However, because of technology, recent legislation in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska has codified programs that simplify the reporting and permitting process, minimizes direct agency oversight, and creates a seamless stream of pertinent data for state agency managers. This act seeks to provide for a similar regulatory framework in California.
- Wildlife in the state of California belong to the people of the State of California.
- This act seeks to promote citizen science through public participation in order to guide public safety improvements to help minimize wildlife-vehicle collisions.
This bill, as of its enactment on January 1, 2020, authorized the commission to establish a pilot program for the issuance of wildlife salvage permits through a “user-friendly and cell-phone-friendly web-based portal” to be developed by the Department of Fish and Wildlife no later than January 1, 2022. This portal should be made available to people desiring to recover, possess, use, or transport, for purposes of salvaging wild game meat for human consumption any deer, elk, pronghorn antelope, or wild pig that has been accidentally killed as a result of a vehicle collision on a roadway within California. The permits will essentially allow drivers to retroactively apply for a wildlife salvage permit within 24 hours of the collision at no cost if they accidentally kill an animal on the road. The bill also will allow people who did not get in the collision with the animal, but came across a dead animal on the road to apply for a permit to salvage the animal. If an animal is severely injured but not outright killed by the vehicle, this bill also would allow the salvager to kill it “in a safe, legal, and humane manner.”
The bill authorizes the commission to restrict the roadways where wildlife salvage may be conducted and the species which subject to salvage. The commission will need to identify the three still to be announced geographic locations the law will apply to before the law goes into effect on January 1, 2022. The bill specifically applies to deer, elk, antelope and wild pigs. All animals protected by the California Endangered Species Act are not covered by this Act. It also requires the program make data that includes the number of wildlife salvage permits issued, locations of impacts (collisions), and species of wildlife involved available on the website.
It is not legal to salvage your roadkill yet in California, but those elk stakes to lessen the pain of a totaled car are within view!
Cover Photo by Chris Greenhow on Unsplash
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