Governor Newsom signs CNPS-sponsored AB 223 into law, providing important new protections for California’s imperiled dudleya

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
David Bryant, California Native Plant Society, 916-738-7628, dbryant@cnps.org

AB 223 is the first piece of California legislation that deals specifically with plant poaching.

September 28, 2021, Sacramento: Today, California Governor, Gavin Newsom, signed the CNPS-sponsored AB 223 into law, providing important new protections for California’s imperiled dudleya, charismatic native succulents that grow along California’s coasts and rocky habitats throughout the state. Authored by San Diego Assemblymember Chris Ward, AB 223 is part of an effort to stop rampant poaching of dudleya plants by making it illegal to remove them from state and private lands without a permit or landowner permission and by establishing penalties for those convicted of doing so. AB 223 is the first piece of California legislation that deals specifically with plant poaching. 

More than 60% of the diversity in the genus is native to California. While ten species are listed as threatened or endangered by the state or federal governments, many more are globally rare and at risk from a variety of threats. 

“California dudleya are precious succulents native to our coastlines and currently under severe threat from illegal poaching operations,” said Assemblymember Ward.  “I applaud Governor Newsom for signing AB 223 and recognizing the danger excessive poaching poses to this sensitive plant species.  This bill will assist in deterring dudleya poaching, establish clear enforcement guidelines for law enforcement, and allow this native plant species an opportunity to recover.”

In recent years, law enforcement officials have documented an alarming increase in the large-scale harvest of dudleya from California wildlands. “California’s wildlife officers have gone to great lengths and conducted complicated investigations to bring dudleya poachers to justice. Our cases filed with several county district attorney’s offices have been met with great interest and have resulted in aggressive prosecutions using whatever tools they have available,” said Captain Patrick Foy on behalf of the California Fish and Game Wardens Supervisors and Managers Association. 

While media reports have focused on a number of high profile busts that have included thousands of plants, “we fear that this is just the tip of the iceberg,” noted CNPS Conservation Program Director, Nick Jensen. “The pressure from illegal harvest could place some of our state’s rarest species on the road toward extinction. Plants are being sold internationally via social media and online marketplaces are filled with mature dudleya specimens that were likely taken from the wild.” Individual dudleya can sell for between $30 and $1000 and can often be decades-old. “Plants have lagged behind animals in terms of publicity and protection,” said Stephen McCabe, Emeritus Director of Research, UC Santa Cruz Arboretum. “This law will give land managers a powerful tool to better protect these succulents and the butterflies, hummingbirds, and other creatures that feed on them. I hope it serves as a model for protecting other threatened plants.” Dudleya serve a variety of ecosystem functions from helping to stabilize hillsides and cliffs from erosion to providing food for native animals. 

AB 223 gives law enforcement officials and district attorneys the tools they need to combat this potent threat to our state’s biodiversity. “Going forward, we need to focus on the underlying factors that drive dudleya poaching. The same pressures that precipitate the poaching of our native plants drive the killing of tigers, sharks, and elephants,” Jensen emphasized. “The commodification of wild species worldwide places biodiversity at risk.”

CNPS wholeheartedly thanks Governor Newsom for signing AB 223 into law. This bill is an important step in furthering California’s commitments under Executive Order N-82-20 to protect biodiversity, including protecting 30 percent of California by 2030.  We also commend Assemblymember Ward for his outstanding leadership in authoring the bill and championing it through the state legislature. 

“California dudleya are precious succulents native to our coastlines and currently under severe threat from illegal poaching operations,” said Assemblymember Ward.  “I applaud Governor Newsom for signing AB 223 and recognizing the danger excessive poaching poses to this sensitive plant species.  This bill will assist in deterring dudleya poaching, establish clear enforcement guidelines for law enforcement, and allow this native plant species an opportunity to recover.”

The California Native Plant Society is a nonprofit organization working to save and celebrate California’s native plants and places via plant science, advocacy, education, and horticulture. CNPS has nearly 10,000 members in 35 chapters throughout California and Baja to promote its mission at the local level.