Florida Senate - 2006 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1804
Barcode 655136
CHAMBER ACTION
Senate House
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11 The Committee on Environmental Preservation (Baker)
12 recommended the following amendment:
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14 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
15 Delete everything after the enacting clause
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17 and insert:
18 Section 1. Bobwhite quail habitat protection.--
19 (1) As used in this section, the term:
20 (a) "Bobwhite quail habitat" means land suitable for
21 or having the potential for sustaining a wild bobwhite quail
22 population in this state, including lands identified as
23 eligible for habitat assistance programs identified under the
24 Bobwhite Quail Initiative.
25 (b) "Bobwhite Quail Initiative" means the Northern
26 Bobwhite Conservation Initiative and may include voluntary
27 habitat assistance programs such as the Conservation Reserve
28 Program of the Farm Service Agency of the United States
29 Department of Agriculture by which eligible landowners may
30 receive financial and technical assistance in managing
31 bobwhite quail habitat.
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Florida Senate - 2006 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1804
Barcode 655136
1 (c) "Commission" means the Fish and Wildlife
2 Conservation Commission.
3 (d) "Division" means the Division of Forestry of the
4 Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
5 (2) In order to preserve and restore bobwhite quail
6 habitat in this state, the commission and the division shall
7 undertake activities to enhance the voluntary participation of
8 landowners in this state in the Bobwhite Quail Initiative. The
9 commission and the division shall prioritize such efforts
10 based on the importance of a parcel of property as bobwhite
11 quail habitat and the willingness of the landowner to make his
12 or her lands part of the Bobwhite Quail Initiative. In
13 undertaking such activities, the commission and the division
14 may:
15 (a) Encourage eligible persons to participate in the
16 Bobwhite Quail Initiative through education, marketing, and
17 other promotional efforts.
18 (b) Work with potentially eligible landowners as to
19 the terms for participating in the Bobwhite Quail Initiative.
20 (c) Provide incentives for landowners who participate
21 in the Bobwhite Quail Initiative, subject to the appropriation
22 of funds for such incentives.
23 (d) Provide advice to landowners who participate in
24 the Bobwhite Quail Initiative regarding the management of
25 bobwhite quail habitat, including the provision of bobwhite
26 quail management or related services.
27 (e) Acquire by gift the fee simple title or any lesser
28 interest in bobwhite quail habitat, including easements,
29 deeded to the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement
30 Trust Fund, to the extent such acquisition is consistent with
31 the Quail Initiative.
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Florida Senate - 2006 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1804
Barcode 655136
1 (f) Adopt rules as necessary to administer this
2 section.
3 (g) Enter into agreements with any federal, state, or
4 local governmental agency, or any other entity as necessary to
5 administer this section.
6 (h) Receive or accept grants from any legal source for
7 the purpose of providing or improving bobwhite quail habitat
8 or maximizing participation in the Bobwhite Quail Initiative
9 in this state.
10 (3) The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences at
11 the University of Florida shall, in consultation with the
12 commission, conduct research and submit annually, no later
13 than January 1, to the chair of the Senate Committee on
14 Environmental Preservation and the chair of the House of
15 Representatives Committee on Water and Natural Resources a
16 report on the best ways to increase the population of bobwhite
17 quail in this state and shall conduct extension activities to
18 provide landowners with practical scientific information
19 regarding the most appropriate and effective practices for
20 restoring habitat for bobwhite quail.
21 Section 2. The sum of $20,000 is appropriated from the
22 General Revenue Fund to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation
23 Commission's State Game Trust Fund for the purpose of
24 implementing section 1 of this act during the 2006-2007 fiscal
25 year. The sum of $20,000 is appropriated from the General
26 Revenue Fund to the Institute of Food and Agricultural
27 Sciences at the University of Florida for the purpose of
28 conducting research and extension activities as specified in
29 section 1 of this act during the 2006-2007 fiscal year. The
30 sum of $20,000 is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund
31 to the Division of Forestry of the Department of Agriculture
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Florida Senate - 2006 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1804
Barcode 655136
1 and Consumer Services for the purpose of implementing section
2 1 of this act during the 2006-2007 fiscal year.
3 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.
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6 ================ T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ===============
7 And the title is amended as follows:
8 Delete everything before the enacting clause
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10 and insert:
11 A bill to be entitled
12 An act relating to the restoration and
13 conservation of bobwhite quail habitat;
14 providing definitions; directing the Fish and
15 Wildlife Conservation Commission and the
16 Division of Forestry of the Department of
17 Agriculture and Consumer Services to encourage
18 landowners to participate in voluntary habitat
19 assistance programs for restoring and
20 conserving bobwhite quail habitat offered by
21 the United States Department of Agriculture and
22 other federal and state agencies; providing
23 powers of the commission; authorizing the
24 commission to acquire, by gift, title to lands,
25 including easements, on behalf of the Board of
26 Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust
27 Fund; authorizing rulemaking by the commission;
28 directing the Institute of Food and
29 Agricultural Sciences at the University of
30 Florida to conduct research and extension
31 activities and report to the Legislature;
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Florida Senate - 2006 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1804
Barcode 655136
1 providing appropriations; providing an
2 effective date.
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4 WHEREAS, the national population of the northern
5 bobwhite quail has declined significantly from approximately
6 20 million in 1980 to fewer than 6 million currently, and
7 WHEREAS, Florida had a bobwhite quail population of
8 approximately 2.5 million in 1980 and currently has a
9 population of fewer than one-half million, and
10 WHEREAS, urbanization, changing land-management
11 practices, and land development have contributed to the loss
12 of suitable habitat for bobwhite quail and other declining
13 wildlife species dependent upon upland habitats, and
14 WHEREAS, the Institute of Food and Agricultural
15 Sciences at the University of Florida, the Fish and Wildlife
16 Conservation Commission, the Division of Forestry of the
17 Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the United
18 States Geological Survey, and Tall Timbers Research Station
19 have been working together in researching ways in which to
20 restore bobwhite quail habitat and implement effective
21 restoration practices, and
22 WHEREAS, the Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative
23 is aimed at recovering bobwhite quail habitats and populations
24 across the southeastern United States, and several Florida
25 agencies and organizations, including the Institute of Food
26 and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Florida, the
27 Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Division of
28 Forestry of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer
29 Services, the United States Geological Survey, and Tall
30 Timbers, are working together to develop a statewide plan to
31 implement this initiative in Florida, and
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Florida Senate - 2006 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1804
Barcode 655136
1 WHEREAS, the United States Department of Agriculture
2 has established certain landowner-assistance programs that
3 recognize the importance of restoring lands to help achieve
4 the goals of the Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative by
5 working to restore land across the southeastern United States
6 for the purpose of increasing bobwhite quail populations, and
7 WHEREAS, the education of private landowners concerning
8 the creation and maintenance of suitable habitat is essential
9 to increasing the bobwhite quail population, NOW, THEREFORE,
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