H. B. 3062
(By Delegates Ellem, Hamilton, D. Poling,
Anderson, Varner, Talbott and Argento)
[Introduced March 11, 2009; referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §20-2-54 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to license for privately owned
commercial shooting preserves; and providing that the amount
of required acreage for bird hunting preserves may be one
hundred acres.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §20-2-54 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. WILDLIFE RESOURCES.
§20-2-54. License for privately-owned commercial shooting
preserves.
(1) The director may issue a license for privately-owned
commercial shooting preserves to any person who meets the following
requirements:
(a) Each commercial shooting preserve shall contain a minimum of three hundred acres in one tract of leased or owned land
(including water area, if any) and shall be restricted to no more
than three thousand contiguous acres (including water area, if
any), except that preserves confined to the releasing of ducks only
shall be authorized to operate with a minimum of fifty contiguous
acres (including water area)
: Provided, That each commercial
shooting preserve for bird hunting may contain a minimum of one
hundred acres in one tract of leased or owned land (including water
area, if any); and
(b) The exterior boundaries of each commercial shooting
preserve shall be clearly defined and posted with signs erected
around the extremity at intervals of one hundred fifty yards or
less.
(2) The director shall designate the game which may be hunted
under this section on which a more liberal season may be allowed.
(3) The operating licenses or permits issued by the director
shall entitle holders thereof, and their guests or customers, to
recover not more than eighty percent of the total number of each
species of game bird released on the premises each year, except
mallard, black duck, ringnecked pheasant, chukar partridge and
other nonnative game species upon which a one hundred percent
recovery may be allowed.
(4) Except for the required compliance with the restriction on
the maximum number of released birds that may be recovered from each preserve each year, as provided in subsections (3) and (8) of
this section, shooting preserve operators may establish their own
shooting limitations and restrictions on the age, sex and number of
birds that may be taken by each person.
(5) In order to give a reasonable opportunity for a fair
return on a sizeable investment, a liberal season shall be
designated by the director during the nine-month period, beginning
August 1, and ending April 30.
(6) All harvested game shall be tagged with a numbered tag
prior to being either consumed on the premises or removed
therefrom, such tags to remain affixed until the game actually is
delivered to the point of consumption.
(7) Each shooting preserve operator shall maintain a
registration book listing all names, addresses and hunting license
numbers of all shooters; the date on which they hunted; the amount
of game and the species taken; and the tag numbers affixed to each
carcass. An accurate record likewise must be maintained of the
total number, by species, of game birds and ducks raised and/or
purchased, and the date and number of all species released. These
records shall be open to inspection by a delegated representative
of the director at any reasonable time, and shall be the basis upon
which the game recovery limits in subsection (3) of this section
shall be determined.
(8) Any wild game found on commercial shooting preserves may be harvested in accordance with applicable game and hunting laws
pertaining to open seasons, bag and possession limits, and so
forth, as are established regularly by the director and the United
States fish and wildlife service.
(9) State hunting licenses shall be required of all persons
hunting or shooting on shooting preserves.
(10) The fee for such commercial shooting preserve license
shall be $50 per fiscal year for the first three hundred acres of
the shooting preserve area, plus $25 per fiscal year for each
additional three hundred acres or part thereof.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that the amount
of required acreage for bird hunting preserves may be one hundred
acres for privately owned commercial shooting preserves.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.