Senate Bill No. 124
(By Senator Hunter)
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[Introduced January 9, 2008; referred to the Committee on Natural
Resources.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §20-2-5h, relating to
prohibiting timbering operations within five hundred feet of
any stream in this state that harbors native brook trout; and
providing for criminal penalties for persons who violate the
prohibition.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §20-2-5h, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 2. WILDLIFE RESOURCES.
§20-2-5h. Prohibition against timbering activities within five
hundred feet of any stream harboring a native brook
trout population.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, no timbering operation or activity in this state may be
permitted or conducted within five hundred feet of any stream in
which a population of native brook trout exist. The director shall
propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the
provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code
designed to designate locations of streams with native brook trout
populations which are subject to the provisions of this section.
(b) Any person who violates the provisions of this section is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not more than two thousand five hundred dollars. Upon
conviction for a second or subsequent violation of this section, a
violator shall be fined not more than five thousand dollars or
confined in jail not more than ninety days, or both fined and
confined.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prohibit timbering
operations within five hundred feet of any stream in this state
that harbors native brook trout. Towards this goal the bill
creates criminal penalties.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.