Wicks cited gray wolf reintroduction and cattle losses
The California Assembly Appropriations Committee on Thursday killed Senate Bill 1305, a measure that would have tasked the California Department of Fish and Wildlife with creating a “roadmap that evaluates whether, and under what conditions, reintroduction of the grizzly bear is feasible and advisable.”
The bill was authored by Democratic Sen. Laura Richardson of Inglewood. The proposal would have directed the wildlife agency to evaluate the feasibility of returning grizzly bears to California, rather than to carry out any reintroduction directly.
As is typical with the Legislature’s appropriations committees, lawmakers did not discuss the bill or take public testimony before Democratic Assemblymember Buffy Wicks of Oakland, the committee’s chairperson, announced the decision.
Wicks later told reporters that before intentionally reintroducing grizzly bears, the state must figure out how humans can best coexist with predatory wildlife. She pointed to the controversial return of gray wolves to California and the subsequent loss of cattle.