Not necessarily, per CA law, and for that matter the law of most other states.
What exactly is outrageous about the law requiring someone who finds obviously lost/abandoned property to make some prescribed attempt to find the true owner?
If I find a lost wallet with $10,000 in it in the bushes in my front yard, I know it doesn't belong to me. Is it honest for me to just keep it? Make no attempt to find the real owner?
Lost versus abandoned *should* make a BIG difference.