(a) Management Practices. “Management practices” are practical, achievable agricultural practices that, to the maximum extent practicable, avoid and minimize the take of candidate, threatened or endangered species while encouraging enhancement of wildlife habitat without compromising the economics of agricultural operations when undertaken by a farmer or rancher. Examples of management practices include, but are not limited to, establishing brood ponds, installing artificial nesting structures, reducing harvester speed, integrated pest management techniques, planting fallow fields, delaying fall tillage, flooding harvested fields, and establishing wildlife refugia at margins of fields.

(b) Routine and Ongoing Agricultural Activities. “Routine and ongoing agricultural activities” shall include the cultivation and tillage of the soil; crop rotation; fallowing; dairying; the production, cultivation, growing, replanting and harvesting of any agricultural commodity including viticulture, vermiculture, apiculture, or horticulture; the raising of livestock, fur bearing animals, fish, or poultry; any practices performed by a farmer on a farm as incident to or in conjunction with those farming operations, including the preparation for market, delivery to storage or to market, or delivery to carriers for transportation to market, including any such activities recognized as compatible uses pursuant to the Williamson Act (Government Code sections 51200 et seq.) provided such activities are consistent with the economics of agricultural operations; and other similar agricultural activities as determined by the Department during its review and approval of a particular voluntary local program. Routine and ongoing agricultural activities do not include conversion of agricultural land to nonagricultural use, timber harvesting activities governed by the State Board of Forestry or activities that intentionally reduce habitat and wildlife to facilitate conversion to non-agricultural use. For the purposes of this article and Division 3, Chapter 1.5, Article 3.5 of the Fish and Game Code, the conversion of rangeland to more intensive agricultural uses such as permanent crops is not considered a routine and ongoing agricultural activity. Ordinary pasture maintenance and renovation and dry land farming operations consistent with rangeland management are considered routine and ongoing agricultural activities.

(c) Local Program. A “local program” or a “voluntary local program” is a locally designed voluntary program to encourage the enhancement and maintenance of habitat for candidate, threatened and endangered species and other wildlife in ways compatible with routine and ongoing agricultural activities on farms or ranches, proposed in accordance with section 786.2(a) of this article.

(d) Department. For purposes of this article, “Department” means the Director of the Department or any Regional Manager or other Department representative to whom the Director has delegated duties under this article.