(a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountain Region constitutes a unique and important environmental, anthropological, cultural, scientific, educational, recreational, scenic, water, watershed, and wildlife resource that should be held in trust for the enjoyment of, and appreciated by, present and future generations.

(b) The secretary shall administer grants to the Sierra Nevada-Cascade Program to assist local governments, agencies, districts, and nonprofit organizations working in collaboration with those local governments, agencies, and districts to plan, create, and conserve the Sierra-Cascade natural ecosystem. The secretary shall make funds available on a competitive basis for all of the following activities:

(1) The acquisition and restoration of riparian habitat in accordance with Sections 7048 and 78682.2 of the Water Code to improve water quality, and to protect, restore, or rehabilitate watersheds, streams wetlands, or other aquatic habitat.

(2) Capital improvement projects that provide park and recreational opportunities.

(3) Access to trails and public lands, in accordance with Article 6 (commencing with Section 5070) of Chapter 1 of Division 5.

(4) Acquisition of park lands or recreational facilities.

(c) The secretary shall give priority to fund up to two million dollars ($2,000,000) for Commons Beach improvements on properties owned or administered by local agencies in the Lake Tahoe area, that will provide improved lake access, bicycle and pedestrian trail linkages, and interpretative facilities.

(d) The secretary may provide the following capital outlay grants:

(1) Five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) for capital outlay to an incorporated city all or part of the territory of which is located within five miles of the boundary line between San Joaquin County and Sacramento County.

(2) Two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) to the department for the renovation of a state historical point of interest near the intersection of Jack Tone Road and State Highway 88.

(e) For the purposes of this article, the Sierra Nevada-Cascade Mountain Region includes those portions of Fresno County, Kern County, Stanislaus County, and Tulare County, and counties with populations of less than 250,000 as of the 1990 United States Census, that are located in the mountains, the foothills, and the area adjacent to the geologic formations of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges.

(Added by Stats. 1999, Ch. 638, Sec. 7. Approved in Proposition 12 at the March 7, 2000, election. Note: Pursuant to Stats. 1999, Ch. 638, Sec. 17, this section was submitted in Prop. 12 in place of the section proposed by Stats. 1999, Ch. 461.)