H. B. 4056
(By Delegate Spencer)
[Introduced January 17, 2000; referred to the
Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources then
Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section forty-six-b, article two,
chapter twenty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to providing that a
person may only be assessed a fee for a Class N antlerless
deer hunting license once in a calender year, regardless of
the number of counties in which that person is permitted to
hunt antlerless deer.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section forty-six-b, article two, chapter twenty of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. WILDLIFE RESOURCES.
§20-2-46b. Class N special deer hunting license.
A Class N license is a special deer hunting license for
antlerless deer of either sex and entitles the licensee to hunt for
and kill antlerless deer of either sex during the Class N license
season. The fee for a Class N license is eight dollars.
The Class N license may be issued only for the purpose of
removing antlerless deer when the director deems determines it
essential for proper management of wildlife resources. The
director shall establish such rules governing the issuance of such
Class N licenses as he or she deems determines necessary to limit,
on a fair and equitable basis, the number of persons who may hunt
for antlerless deer in any county, or any part of a county.
However, a person may only be assessed a Class N license fee once
in a calender year, regardless of the number of counties in which
that person is permitted to hunt antlerless deer.
When the director deems determines it essential that Class N
license season be held in a particular county or part of a county,
that season shall be set by the natural resources commission as
provided for in section seventeen, article one of this chapter.
Bona fide resident landowners or their resident children, bona
fide resident tenants of such land, and any bona fide resident stockholder of resident corporations which are formed for the
primary purpose of hunting or fishing and which are the fee simple
owners of no less than one thousand acres of land upon which such
the antlerless deer may be hunted are not required to have a Class
N license in their possession while hunting antlerless deer on
their own land during the Class N license season.
A Class N license may be issued only to a resident of this
state who holds a valid Class A, Class A-L, Class AB, Class AB-L,
Class X or Class XJ license issued for the current calendar year or
a resident of West Virginia who is not required to obtain a license
or permit to hunt as provided in section twenty-eight, article two
of this chapter, except that this requirement shall may not apply
to persons under the age of fifteen. The director shall require
proof of age before issuing a Class N license, and such the license
shall contain a space for recording the number of the valid Class
A, Class A-L, Class AB, Class AB-L, Class X or Class XJ license.
If at any time prior to the Class N deer hunting season the
director determines that there is a surplus of Class N licenses
after the demand for such the licenses by residents of this state
has been met, such the surplus licenses may be issued to
nonresidents who hold a valid Class E hunting license. The fee for a Class N license issued to a nonresident shall be twenty-five
dollars.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that a person may
only be assessed a fee for a Class N antlerless deer hunting
license once in a calender year, regardless of the number of
counties in which that person is permitted to hunt antlerless deer.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.