Birds and mammals: nongame birds: mute swans.

California Assembly Member Jeff Gonzalez advances a measure that would, for a defined period, treat mute swans like other listed nongame birds by allowing their take or possession without a hunting license on land owned or leased by the landowner or lessee, while directing the Department of Fish and Wildlife to collect enforcement-data and inviting voluntary reporting from the public.

The core mechanisms establish a temporary framework: on land owned or leased by the landowner or lessee, mute swans may be taken or possessed without a hunting license or depredation permit, in parallel with the existing nongame-bird framework. For other takers, licensing remains governed by the standard nongame-bird rules requiring a license. In addition, the measure encourages individuals who take or possess mute swans to report to the department, and it obligates the department to gather information about enforcement actions related to mute swans. These mute swan-specific provisions are set to become inoperative after January 1, 2031.

The bill preserves the broader licensing regime for nongame birds and keeps the landowner/lessee exemption limited to land they own or lease, with other takers continuing to be subject to existing licensing requirements. It does not remove mute swans from the nongame birds list but adds a temporary, data-collection and voluntary-reporting layer focused on mute swan enforcement actions, without creating new penalties or an appropriation for implementation. The sunset provision signals a built-in review window tied to the temporary policy change.

Taken together, the proposal introduces a targeted, time-limited adjustment to mute-swan management aimed at data gathering and transparency, while maintaining the current framework for other nongame birds and for landowners on their own property. It places the department in a role of compiling enforcement information during the interim period and relies on voluntary public reporting to supplement official records, before any potential legislative action beyond the sunset.