AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 16, 2026

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 9, 2026

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

97

Introduced by Assembly Member Schultz

(Coauthor: Assembly Member Caloza)

February 19, 2026

An act to add Article 1.9 (commencing with Section 5019.96) to Chapter 1 of Division 5 of the Public Resources Code, relating to state parks.

Vote: majority   Appropriation: no   Fiscal committee: yes   Local program: no

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

Existing law designates all parks, public campgrounds, monument sites, landmark sites, and sites of historical interest established or acquired by the state, or that are under its control, as the state park system, except as specified. Under existing law, the Department of Parks and Recreation controls the state park system, which is made up of units.

This bill would establish the California State Park Stewardship Act of 2026. The bill would require the department to identify and administer best practices for conducting conduct projects and programs addressing and mitigating climate change impacts in the state park system through the stewardship and management of state park lands and promoting climate resilience, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and protecting biodiversity by integrating climate considerations into all aspects of park planning, development, and operations. stewardship, as provided. The bill would establish the Wildfire Safety and Climate Stewardship Fund, to be administered by the department, to, among other things, support stewardship of state park lands and ensure improved carbon uptake and storage in units of to support climate stewardship activities in the state park system, and would authorize the department to enter into an agreement with specified entities to accept funding for these purposes, as provided.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) The Department of Parks and Recreation (department) plays a crucial role in preserving, managing, and stewarding the diverse natural lands and historic and cultural resources within the expansive state park system, ensuring they remain accessible to all and resilient to the impacts of current and future climate change.

(b) California is home to 280 units of the state park system, which encompass a diverse range of natural, historic, cultural and recreational sites, featuring a variety of environmentally significant and beneficial habitats and ecosystems. The system covers more than 1,600,000 acres of land, protecting over 150,000 acres of coastal redwoods, one quarter of California’s coastline, hundreds of miles of lake and river frontage, and an extensive network of trails.

(c) The California state park system covers a broad geography and encompasses most of the state’s ecologically valuable and significant ecoregions, including deserts, oak woodlands, grasslands, coastal and riparian zones, wetlands, and redwood forests.

(d) California is recognized as one of the world’s centers of biologically diverse ecosystems that support a remarkable variety of species, many of which exist nowhere else on earth.

(e) Climate change poses an escalating threat to all of California. Extreme heat events, dangerous wildfires, decline of biodiversity, and increasing numbers of endangered plant and animal species and habitats are all chain effects of the accelerating climate crisis experienced on state park lands.

(f) Sea level rise along California’s coast has increased in recent decades and is projected to accelerate. Without proactive stewardship and climate-informed management, significant portions of California’s state beaches and coastal state parklands may be lost to factors like rising tides, shoreline retreat, and coastal erosion.

(g) As regional weather patterns continue to evolve due to the effects of climate change, the department must take a proactive approach to advance effective and science-based strategies that reflect the current and projected climate conditions in California, ensuring state parks strategies are not just reactive to climate change, but adaptive and forward thinking.

(h) By prioritizing climate-informed, low-cost, nature-based solutions to enhance ecosystem health, state parks can increase carbon sequestration and stability, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and foster landscapes that are more resilient to extreme heat, wildfires, drought, and biodiversity loss while protecting neighboring communities from catastrophic climate-induced natural disasters.

(i) Strengthening the department’s capacity to assess, plan, and implement climate adaptation projects supports California’s broader climate goals, including achieving carbon neutrality and building resilience across the state’s natural and working lands.

(j) Current and future units of the state park system can play a vital role in addressing climate issues by enhancing the resilience of natural landscapes.

SEC. 2.

Article 1.9 (commencing with Section 5019.96) is added to Chapter 1 of Division 5 of the Public Resources Code, to read:

Article 1.9. The California State Park Stewardship Act of 2026

5019.96.

(a) For the purposes of this section, article, the following definitions apply:

(1) (A)“Climate stewardship activities” means projects and programs that use nature-based solutions to intentionally contribute to climate resilience, measurably increase durable carbon sequestration, carbon stability, or both, and reduce unintended greenhouse gas emissions in state parks.

(B)and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the state park system. “Climate stewardship activities” include, but are not limited to, preservation, protection, restoration, development, planning, acquisition, and restoration workforce development, such as climate-informed reforestation, prescribed burns, fuel reduction, and road decommissioning, decommissioning and habitat restoration and management of riparian zones, grasslands, rangelands, forests, and wetlands projects and programs. management across all land types.

(2) “Unit of the state park system” “State park system” means an area the areas specified in Section 5002.

(b) It is the policy of the state to address climate change-based issues through proactive stewardship and informed management of state park lands. The department shall promote climate resilience, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and protect biodiversity by integrating climate considerations into all aspects of park planning, development, and operations. and mitigate climate change impacts in the state park system through stewardship, as defined in Section 71453.

(c) To implement the policy described in subdivision (b), the department shall identify and administer best practices for conducting conduct climate stewardship activities through existing and future natural resource management tools and practices. practices, and promote climate resilience, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and protect biodiversity by integrating climate considerations into relevant aspects of park planning, development, and operations.

5019.97.

(a) (1) The Wildfire Safety and Climate Stewardship Fund is hereby established, to be administered by the department, to support the stewardship of current and future state park lands for minimizing fire risk and other extreme weather impacts, and to ensure improved carbon uptake and storage and address the ongoing support and maintenance of critical and natural infrastructure needed to lower greenhouse gas emissions, in units of climate stewardship activities in the state park system.

(2) The department shall develop guidelines for the expenditure of moneys in the funds to prioritize multi-benefit projects and programs that will enhance carbon sequestration while supporting durable support programming consistent with the department's mission.

(3) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the department shall use moneys in the fund to provide grants to eligible projects and programs consistent with this section. Eligible projects and programs for this grant shall include, but not be limited to, those that implement park stewardship, preservation, protection, restoration, development, planning, acquisition, workforce development, and climate stewardship activities consistent with this section. article.

(b) The department may enter into an agreement to accept funding from any local, state, or federal government, person, private entity, educational institution, tribal government, corporation, business or other organization for purposes of implementing this section. article. Under the department’s direction, these funds shall supplement, but not replace, existing resources for the purpose of enhancing climate resilience or stewardship in units of the state park system. Funding received by the department pursuant to this subdivision shall be deposited in the fund established in subdivision (a).