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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR McSorley

DATE TYPED 03/04/05 HB

SHORT TITLE Butterflies in Wildlife Conservation Act

SB 850

ANALYST Ford

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

Minimal –

See Narrative

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Game and Fish Department

State Land Office

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 850 adds butterflies to the definition of “wildlife” for purposes of the Wildlife Con-

servation Act (WCA). This has the effect of allowing butterflies to be listed under the Act if

their prospects for survival or recruitment in the state were in jeopardy.

Significant Issues

According to the Department of Game and Fish, butterflies and other insects receive no current

protection under the WCA. The department has biologists on staff whose primary duties are to

implement the WCA for each major taxonomic group but does not have the expertise on staff

relative to butterflies. The department would likely require additional staff to effectively imple-

ment the proposed change.

Senate Bill 850 -- Page 2

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

The Department of Game and Fish has performance measures related to the number of species

listed as threatened or endangered that are monitored, studied and involved in the recovery plan

process. Adding butterflies to the Act could increase the number of species listed. The depart-

ment indicates that without additional staff, the resources of existing staff would have to be di-

verted to become familiar with the biological and ecological matters specific to butterflies. This

could detract from meeting performance measures related to other species.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The bill may result in cost increases to the Department of Fish and Game, which currently lacks

the expertise to effectively monitor butterflies. The department indicates that it would most

likely require one additional FTE and thus, the cost increase would likely be minimal (under

$100 thousand).

EF/lg