Senate Bill No. 399
(By Senators Bowman, Stollings, Chafin, Jenkins and White)
____________
[Introduced February 27, 2009; referred to the Committee on
Natural Resources; and then to the Committee on Finance .]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact §20-2-27 and §20-2-28 of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend said code by
adding thereto a new section, designated §20-2-42x, all
relating to senior resident lifetime hunting, fishing and
trapping license and fee of $15; and allowing persons who are
sixty-five years of age before January 1, 2010, to remain
exempt from the purchase of the license.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §20-2-27 and §20-2-28 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 §20-2-42x, all to read
as follows:
ARTICLE 2. WILDLIFE RESOURCES.
§20-2-27. Necessity for license.
Except as otherwise provided by law, no resident who has reached his
or her fifteenth birthday and who has not reached his
or her sixty-fifth birthday
before January 1, 2010, and no
nonresident shall at any time take, hunt, pursue, trap for, kill or
chase any wild animals, wild birds, or fish for, take, kill or
catch any fish, amphibians or aquatic life of any kind whatsoever
in this state without first having secured a license or permit and
then only during the respective open seasons, except that a
nonresident who has not reached his
or her fifteenth birthday may
fish for, take, kill or catch any fish, amphibians or aquatic life
of any kind whatsoever in this state without first having secured
a license or permit.
No A person under the age of fifteen years
shall
not hunt or chase any wild animals or wild birds upon lands
of another unless accompanied by a licensed adult.
A resident or nonresident member of any club, organization or
association or persons owning or leasing a game preserve or fish
preserve, plant or pond in this state shall not hunt or fish
therein without first securing a license or permit as required by
law:
Provided, however, That resident landowners or their resident
children, or bona fide resident tenants of
such land, may, without
a permit or license, hunt and fish on their own land during open
seasons in accordance with laws and
regulations rules applying to
such hunting and fishing unless
such the lands have been designated
as a wildlife refuge or preserve.
Licenses and permits shall be of the kinds and classes set
forth in this article and shall be conditioned upon the payment of the fees established
therefor for
the licenses and permits.
§20-2-28. When licenses or permits not required.
Persons in the following categories
shall are not
be required
to obtain licenses or permits as indicated:
(a) Bona fide resident landowners or their resident children,
or resident parents, or bona fide resident tenants of
such the land
may hunt, trap or fish on their own land during open season in
accordance with the laws and
regulations rules applying to
such the
hunting, trapping and fishing without obtaining a license,
to do so
unless
such the lands have been designated as a wildlife refuge or
preserve.
(b) Any bona fide resident of this state who is totally blind
may fish in this state without obtaining a fishing license.
to do
so A written statement or certificate from a duly licensed
physician of this state showing the resident to be totally blind
shall serve in lieu of a fishing license and shall be carried on
the person of the resident at all times while he or she is fishing
in this state.
(c) All residents of West Virginia on active duty in the armed
forces of the United States of America, while on leave or furlough,
shall have the right and privilege to may hunt, trap or fish in
season in West Virginia without obtaining a license.
to do so
Leave or furlough papers shall serve in lieu of any
such license
and shall be carried on the person at all times while trapping,
hunting or fishing.
(d) In accordance with the provisions of section twenty-seven
of this article, any resident sixty-five years of age or older
before January 1, 2010, is not required to have a license to hunt,
trap or fish during the legal seasons in West Virginia, but in lieu
of
such the license
any such the person shall at all times while
hunting, trapping or fishing carry on his or her person a valid
West Virginia driver's license or nondriver identification card
issued by the Division of Motor Vehicles.
(e) Residents of the state of Maryland who carry hunting or
fishing licenses valid in that state may hunt or fish from the West
Virginia banks of the Potomac River without obtaining licenses,
to
do so but the hunting or fishing shall be confined to the fish and
waterfowl of the river proper and not on its tributaries:
Provided, That the state of Maryland shall first enter into a
reciprocal agreement with the director extending a like privilege
of hunting and fishing on the Potomac River from the Maryland banks
of
said the river to licensed residents of West Virginia without
requiring
said the residents to obtain Maryland hunting and fishing
licenses.
(f) Residents of the state of Ohio who carry hunting or
fishing licenses valid in that state may hunt or fish on the Ohio
River or from the West Virginia banks of the river without
obtaining licenses,
to do so but the hunting or fishing shall be
confined to fish and waterfowl of the river proper and to points on
West Virginia tributaries and embayments identified by the director:
Provided, That the state of Ohio shall first enter into
a reciprocal agreement with the director extending a like privilege
of hunting and fishing from the Ohio banks of the river to licensed
residents of West Virginia without requiring the residents to
obtain Ohio hunting and fishing licenses.
(g) Any resident of West Virginia who was honorably discharged
from the armed forces of the United States of America and who
receives a veteran's pension based on total permanent
service-connected disability as certified to by the Veterans
Administration
shall be permitted to may hunt, trap or fish in this
state without obtaining a license.
therefor The director shall
propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the
provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code
setting forth the procedure for the certification of the veteran,
manner of applying for and receiving the certification and
requirements as to identification while
said the veteran is
hunting, trapping or fishing.
(h) Any disabled veteran who is a resident of West Virginia
and who, as certified to by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, is
eligible to be exempt from the payment of any fee on account of
registration of any motor vehicle owned by
such the disabled
veteran as provided in section eight, article ten, chapter
seventeen-a of this code shall be permitted to hunt, trap or fish
in this state without obtaining a license.
therefor The director
shall propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code
setting forth the procedure for the certification of the disabled
veteran, manner of applying for and receiving the certification and
requirements as to identification while the disabled veteran is
hunting, trapping or fishing.
(i) Any resident or inpatient in any state mental health,
health or benevolent institution or facility may fish in this
state, under proper supervision of the institution involved,
without obtaining a fishing license.
to do so A written statement
or certificate signed by the superintendent of the mental health,
health or benevolent institution or facility in which the resident
or inpatient, as the case may be, is institutionalized shall serve
in lieu of a fishing license and shall be carried on the person of
the resident or inpatient at all times while he or she is fishing
in this state.
(j) Any resident who is developmentally disabled, as certified
by a physician and the Director of the Division of Health, may fish
in this state without obtaining a fishing license.
to do so As
used in this section, "developmentally disabled" means a person
with a severe, chronic disability which:
(1) Is attributable to a mental or physical impairment or a
combination of mental and physical impairments;
(2) Is manifested before the person attains age twenty-two;
(3) Results in substantial functional limitations in three or
more of the following areas of major life activity: (A) Self-care; (B) receptive and expressive language; (C) learning; (D) mobility;
(E) self-direction; (F) capacity for independent living; and (G)
economic self-sufficiency; and
(4) Reflects the person's need for a combination and sequence
of care, treatment or supportive services which are of lifelong or
extended duration and are individually planned and coordinated.
(k) A student eighteen years of age or younger receiving
instruction in fly fishing in a public, private, parochial or
Christian school in this state may fly fish in the state for catch
and release only without obtaining a fishing license
to do so while
under the supervision of an instructor authorized by the school.
§20-2-42x. Class XS resident senior hunting, fishing and trapping
license.
A Class XS license is a resident senior hunting, fishing and
trapping license and entitles the licensee to hunt and trap for all
legal species of wild animals and wild birds, to fish for all legal
species of fish and to take frogs in all counties of the state,
except as prohibited by the rules of the director or Natural
Resources Commission and when additional licenses, stamps or
permits are required. No additional fees shall be required of
Class XS licensees for a Class CS stamp or a Class O stamp. The
Class XS license shall be issued only to residents or aliens
lawfully residing in the United States who have been domiciled
residents of West Virginia for a period of thirty consecutive days
or more immediately prior to the date of their application for a license and who reach sixty-five years of age on or after January
1, 2010. The fee for the Class XS license shall be $15. Once
issued, the Class XS license shall remain valid for the lifetime of
the purchaser without payment of additional fees for the privileges
associated with the Class X license, Class CS stamp and the Class
O stamp. This is a base license and does not require the purchase
of a prerequisite license to participate in the activities
specified in this section, except as noted.
_______
(NOTE:
The purpose of this bill is to create a
senior
resident lifetime hunting, fishing and trapping license that will
cost $15. Persons who are sixty-five years of age
before January 1,
2010, are grandfathered in.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
§20-1-42x is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring
have been omitted.)