It is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting this division and the California Forest Legacy Program, to protect forest lands and aquatic resources in California by focusing on all of the following priorities:
(a) Encouraging the long-term conservation of productive forest lands by providing an incentive to owners of private forest lands to prevent future conversions of forest land and forest resources.
(b) Protection of wildlife habitat, rare plants, and biodiversity.
(c) Maintenance of habitat connectivity and related values needed to ensure the viability of wildlife populations across landscapes and regions.
(d) Protection of riparian habitats, oak woodlands, ecological old growth forests, and other key forest types and seral stages that are poorly represented across landscapes and regions, and that play a key role in supporting biodiversity.
(e) Protection of water quality, fisheries, and water supplies.
(f) Maintenance and restoration of natural ecosystem functions.
(g) Encouraging improvements to enhance long-term sustainable forest uses while providing forest areas with increased protection against other land uses that conflict with forest uses.
(Added by Stats. 2007, Ch. 657, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2008.)