The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:

(a) The remaining wetlands of this state are of increasingly critical economic, aesthetic, and scientific value to the people of California, and that the need exists for an affirmative and sustained public policy and program directed at their preservation, restoration, and enhancement, in order that wetlands shall continue in perpetuity to meet the needs of the people.

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(b) Although the state established a specific plan in 1979 for the protection, acquisition, restoration, preservation, and management of wetlands to be implemented through the year 2000, a need to update this plan now exists, and the process should include the identification of priorities for wetland conservation through the year 2020.

(c) California has established a successful program of regional, cooperative efforts to protect, acquire, restore, preserve, and manage wetlands. These programs include, but are not limited to, the Central Valley Habitat Joint Venture, the San Francisco Bay Joint Venture, the Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project, and the Inter-Mountain West Joint Venture. These public-private partnerships, wherever practicable, shall be the primary means of achieving the objectives of this chapter.

(d) Active and voluntary involvement by private landowners in wetlands conservation, restoration, and enhancement contributes significantly to the long-term availability and productivity of wetlands in the state.

(e) With the passage of Propositions 12 and 13 in March 2000, the people of California have provided the state with unprecedented financial resources to acquire, restore, preserve, and manage wetlands. There is a pressing need for state agencies that are responsible for wetlands conservation to develop and disseminate a wetlands conservation strategy for review by the general public, for use by the Legislature in the annual budget process, for use by local public agencies in pursuing local and regional wetlands conservation programs, and for use by state agencies updating existing programs for acquiring, restoring, preserving, and managing wetlands resources.

(Amended by Stats. 2000, Ch. 964, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2001.)