FINDINGS AND POLICY REGARDING LAND STEWARDSHIP

(a) The legislature finds that voluntary land stewardship enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of this state's watersheds by helping to increase surface water and groundwater supplies, resulting in a benefit to the natural resources of this state and to the general public. It is therefore the policy of this state to encourage voluntary land stewardship as a significant water management tool. (b) "Land stewardship," as used in this code, is the voluntary practice of managing land to conserve or enhance suitable landscapes and the ecosystem values of the land. Land stewardship includes land and habitat management, wildlife conservation, and watershed protection. Land stewardship practices include runoff reduction, prescribed burning, managed grazing, brush management, erosion management, reseeding with native plant species, riparian management and restoration, and spring and creek-bank protection, all of which benefit the water resources of this state.