FISCAL NOTE
West Virginia Legislature
2017 Regular Session
Introduced
House Bill 2066
(By Delegate Cooper)
to the Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and
reenact §20-1-2 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend
said code by adding thereto a new section, designated §20-2-45, all relating to
providing a fee discount for certain nonresident hunting, fishing and trapping
licenses for native nonresidents of the state; definitions; limitation upon the
fee amounts; providing for emergency rule and legislative rules.
Be it enacted by the
Legislature of West Virginia:
That §20-1-2 of the
Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that
said code be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §20-2-45, all
to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1. ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION.
§20-1-2.
Definitions.
As used in this chapter,
unless the context clearly requires a different meaning:
“Agency” means any branch, department or unit of the state
government, however designated or constituted.
“Alien” means any person not a citizen of the United
States.
“Bag limit” or “creel
limit” means the maximum number of wildlife which may be taken, caught, killed
or possessed by any person.
“Big game” means elk, deer,
black bears, wild boars and wild turkeys.
“Bona fide resident, tenant
or lessee” means a person who permanently resides on the land.
“Citizen” means any
native-born citizen of the United States and foreign-born persons who have
procured their final naturalization papers.
“Closed season” means the
time or period during which it shall be unlawful to take any wildlife as
specified and limited by this chapter.
“Commission” means the
Natural Resources Commission.
“Commissioner” means a
member of the advisory commission of the Natural Resources Commission.
“Director” means the
Director of the Division of Natural Resources.
“Fishing” or “to fish”
means the taking, by any means, of fish, minnows, frogs or other amphibians,
aquatic turtles and other forms of aquatic life used as fish bait.
“Fur-bearing animals”
includes: (a) The mink; (b) the weasel; (c) the muskrat; (d) the beaver; (e)
the opossum; (f) the skunk and civet cat, commonly called polecat; (g) the
otter; (h) the red fox; (i) the gray fox; (j) the wildcat, bobcat or bay lynx;
(k) the raccoon; (l) the fisher; and (m) canis latrans var., more commonly
known as the coyote.
“Game” means game animals,
game birds and game fish as herein defined.
“Game animals” includes:
(a) The elk; (b) the deer; (c) the cottontail rabbits and hares; (d) the fox
squirrels, commonly called red squirrels, and gray squirrels and all their
color phases - red, gray, black or albino; (e) the raccoon; (f) the black bear;
(g) the wild boar; and (h) the marmot monax, more commonly known as woodchuck
or groundhog. The term “game animals” does not include captive cervids
regulated pursuant to article two-h, chapter nineteen of this code.
“Game birds” includes: (a)
The anatidae, commonly known as swan, geese, brants and river and sea ducks;
(b) the rallidae, commonly known as rails, sora, coots, mudhens and gallinule;
(c) the limicolae, commonly known as shorebirds, plover, snipe, woodcock,
sandpipers, yellow legs and curlews; (d) the galliformes, commonly known as
wild turkey, grouse, pheasants, quails and partridges (both native and foreign
species); (e) the columbidae, commonly known as doves; (f) the icteridae,
commonly known as blackbirds, redwings and grackle; and (g) the corvidae,
commonly known as crows.
“Game fish” includes: (a)
Brook trout; (b) brown trout; (c) rainbow trout; (d) golden rainbow trout; (e)
largemouth bass; (f) smallmouth bass; (g) spotted bass; (h) striped bass; (i)
chain pickerel; (j) muskellunge; (k) walleye; (l) northern pike; (m) rock bass;
(n) white bass; (o) white crappie; (p) black crappie; (q) all sunfish species;
(r) channel catfish; (s) flathead catfish; (t) blue catfish; (u) sauger; and
(v) all game fish hybrids.
“Hunt” means to pursue,
chase, catch or take any wild birds or wild animals. However, the definition of
“hunt” does not include an officially sanctioned and properly licensed field
trial, water race or wild hunt as long as that field trial is not a
shoot-to-retrieve field trial.
“Lands” means land, waters
and all other appurtenances connected therewith.
“Migratory birds” means any
migratory game or nongame birds included in the terms of conventions between
the United States and Great Britain and between the United States and United
Mexican States, known as the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, for the protection of migratory birds and game
mammals concluded, respectively, August
16, 1916, and February 7, 1936.
"Native nonresident" means a nonresident who was a resident of the State
of West Virginia at the time of his or her birth.
“Nonresident” means any
person who is a citizen of the United States and who has not been a domiciled
resident of the State of West Virginia for a period of thirty consecutive days
immediately prior to the date of his or her application for a license or permit
except any full-time student of any college or university of this state, even
though he or she is paying a nonresident tuition.
“Open season” means the
time during which the various species of wildlife may be legally caught, taken,
killed or chased in a specified manner and shall include both the first and the
last day of the season or period designated by the director.
“Person”, except as
otherwise defined elsewhere in this chapter, means the plural “persons” and
shall include individuals, partnerships, corporations or other legal entities.
“Preserve” means all duly
licensed private game farmlands, or private plants, ponds or areas, where
hunting or fishing is permitted under special licenses or seasons other than
the regular public hunting or fishing seasons. The term “preserve” does not
include captive cervid farming facilities regulated pursuant to article two-h,
chapter nineteen of this code.
“Protected birds” means all
wild birds not included within the definitions of “game birds” and “unprotected
birds”.
“Resident” means any person
who is a citizen of the United States and who has been a domiciled resident of
the State of West Virginia for a period of thirty consecutive days or more
immediately prior to the date of his or her application for license or permit.
However, a member of the Armed Forces of the United States who is stationed
beyond the territorial limits of this state, but who was a resident of this
state at the time of his or her entry into such service and any full-time
student of any college or university of this state, even though he or she is
paying a nonresident tuition, shall be considered a resident under this
chapter.
“Roadside menagerie” means
any place of business, other than a commercial game farm, commercial fish
preserve, place or pond, where any wild bird, game bird, unprotected bird, game
animal or fur-bearing animal is kept in confinement for the attraction and
amusement of the people for commercial purposes.
“Small game” includes all
game animals, fur-bearing animals and game birds except elk, deer, black bears,
wild boars and wild turkeys.
“Take” means to hunt,
shoot, pursue, lure, kill, destroy, catch, capture, keep in captivity, gig,
spear, trap, ensnare, wound or injure any wildlife, or attempt to do so.
However, the definition of “take” does not include an officially sanctioned and
properly licensed field trial, water race or wild hunt as long as that field
trial is not a shoot-to-retrieve field trial.
“Unprotected birds” shall
include: (a) The English sparrow; (b) the European starling; and (c) the
cowbird.
“Wild animals” means all
mammals native to the State of West Virginia occurring either in a natural
state or in captivity, except house mice or rats, and includes coyotes and
porcupines and all species of cervids.
The term “wild animals” does not include captive cervids owned and possessed by persons
licensed pursuant to article two-h,
chapter nineteen of this code.
“Wild birds” shall include
all birds other than: (a) Domestic poultry — chickens, ducks, geese, guinea
fowl, peafowls and turkeys; (b) psittacidae, commonly called parrots and
parakeets; and (c) other foreign cage birds such as the common canary, exotic
finches and ring dove. All wild birds, either: (i) Those occurring in a natural
state in West Virginia; or (ii) those imported foreign game birds, such as
waterfowl, pheasants, partridges, quail and grouse, regardless of how long
raised or held in captivity, shall remain wild birds under the meaning of this
chapter.
“Wildlife” means wild
birds, wild animals, game and fur-bearing animals, fish (including minnows),
reptiles, amphibians, mollusks, crustaceans and all forms of aquatic life used
as fish bait, whether dead or alive. The term “wildlife” does not include
captive cervids regulated pursuant to article two-h, chapter nineteen of this
code.
“Wildlife refuge” means any
land set aside by action of the director as an inviolate refuge or sanctuary
for the protection of designated forms of wildlife.
ARTICLE 2. WILDLIFE RESOURCES.
§20-2-45. Hunting, fishing and trapping license and
stamp fees for native nonresidents.
A person that can
establish by a birth certificate that he or she is a native nonresident may
purchase a nonresident license or stamp to hunt, fish or trap at a discount of
fifty percent of the fee for any nonresident license or stamp authorized in
this chapter: Provided, That the fee
for any nonresident license or stamp may not be less than an equivalent
resident license or stamp.
The director shall
propose rules for legislative approval as well as emergency rules in accordance
with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to
administer the provisions of this section, including setting the fees for
nonresident licenses and stamps for native nonresidents established in this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide a fee
discount for certain nonresident hunting, fishing and trapping licenses for
native nonresidents of the state.
Strike-throughs indicate language
that would be stricken from a heading or the present law, and underscoring
indicates new language that would be added.