ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 139
(Senators Craigo, Dittmar, Deem, Sharpe, Scott, Schoonover,
Buckalew, Bailey, Snyder and Dugan, original sponsors)
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[Passed April 12, 1997; in effect ninety days from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact section two, article five, chapter
twenty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the powers and
duties of the director of the division of natural resources;
allowing campsites to be reserved two days in advance when
space is available; providing for credit card reservations
at state parks and recreational areas; and requiring the
director to develop a plan for a centralized computer
reservation system and to implement the plan when funding
becomes available.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, article five, 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 5. PARKS AND RECREATION.
§20-5-2. Powers of the director with respect to the section of
parks and recreation.
The director of the division of natural resources
shall be is
responsible for the execution and administration of the
provisions
herein in this article as an integral part of the parks and
recreation program of the state and shall organize and staff the
section of parks and recreation for the orderly, efficient and
economical accomplishment of these ends. The authority granted
in the year one thousand nine hundred ninety-four to the director
of the division of natural resources to employ up to six
additional unclassified personnel to carry out the parks
functions of the division of natural resources is continued.
The director of the division of natural resources shall:
further have the authority, power and duty to:
(a) Establish, manage and maintain the state's parks and
recreation system for the benefit of the people of this state and
do all things necessary and incidental to the development and
administration
thereof of the state's parks and recreation system;
(b) Acquire property for the state in the name of the
division of natural resources by purchase, lease or agreement;
retain, employ and contract with legal advisors and consultants;
or accept or reject for the state, in the name of the division,
gifts, donations, contributions, bequests or devises of money,
security or property, both real and personal, and any interest in
such the property, including lands and waters, for state park or
recreational areas for the purpose of providing public recreation:
Provided, That the provisions of section twenty,
article one of this chapter are specifically made applicable to
any acquisitions of land:
Provided, however, That any sale,
exchange or transfer of property for the purposes of completing
land acquisitions or providing improved recreational
opportunities to the citizens of the state
shall be is subject to the
procedures of article one-a of this chapter:
Provided further,
That no sale of any park or recreational area property, including
lands and waters, used for purposes of providing public
recreation on the effective date of this article and no
privatization of any park may occur without statutory authority;
(c) Approve and direct the use of all revenue derived from
the operation of the state parks and public recreation system for
the operation, maintenance and improvement of the system,
individual projects of the system or for the retirement of park
development revenue bonds;
(d) Approve the use of no less than twenty percent of the:
(i) Funds appropriated for purposes of advertising and marketing
expenses related to the promotion and development of tourism,
pursuant to subsection (j), section eighteen, article twenty-two,
chapter twenty-nine of this code; and (ii) funds authorized for
expenditure from the tourism promotion fund for purposes of
direct advertising, pursuant to section twelve, article two,
chapter five-b of this code and section ten, article twenty-two- a, chapter twenty-nine of this code, to effectively promote and market the state's parks, state forests, state recreation areas
and wildlife recreational resources;
(e) Issue park development revenue bonds as provided in this
article;
(f) Provide for the construction and operation of cabins,
lodges, resorts, restaurants and other developed recreational
service facilities, subject to the provisions of section fifteen
of this article and section twenty, article one of this chapter;
(g)
Promulgate Propose rules to control uses of the parks, subject to
the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code:
Provided,
That the director
shall may not permit public hunting, the exploitation
of minerals or the harvesting of timber for commercial purposes
in any state park;
(h) Exempt designated state parks from the requirement that
all payments must be deposited in a bank within twenty-four hours
for amounts less than two hundred fifty dollars notwithstanding
any other provision of this code to the contrary;
the director
may
(i)
The director of the division of natural resources shall Waive the use fee normally charged to an individual or
group for one day's use of a picnic shelter or one week's use of
a cabin in a state recreation area when the individual or group
donates the materials and labor for the construction of the
picnic shelter or cabin:
Provided, That the individual or group
was authorized by the director to construct the picnic shelter or
cabin and that it was constructed in accordance with the
authorization granted and the standards and requirements of the division pertaining to
such the construction. The individual or group
to whom the waiver is granted may use the picnic shelter for one
reserved day or the cabin for one reserved week during each
calendar year until the amount of the donation equals the amount
of the loss of revenue from the waiver or until the individual
dies or the group ceases to exist, whichever first occurs. The
waiver is not transferable. The director shall permit free use
of picnic shelters or cabins to individuals or groups who have
contributed materials and labor for construction of picnic
shelters or cabins prior to the effective date of this section.
The director shall
promulgate propose a legislative rule
for promulgation in
accordance with the provisions of
article three, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code governing the free use of picnic
shelters or cabins provided for in this section, the eligibility
for free use,
determining the determination of the value of the donations of
labor and materials, the appropriate definitions of a group and
the maximum time limit for
such the use;
and
(j) Provide within the parks a market for West Virginia
arts, crafts and products, which shall permit gift shops within
the parks to offer for sale items purchased on the open market
from local artists, artisans, craftsmen and suppliers and local
or regional crafts cooperatives;
(k) Provide that reservations for reservable campsites may
be made, upon two days advance notice, for any date for which
space is available within a state park or recreational area managed by the parks and recreation section;
(l) Provide that reservations for all state parks and
recreational areas managed by the parks and recreation section of
the division may be made by use of a valid credit card; and
(m) Develop a plan to establish a centralized computer
reservation system for all state parks and recreational areas
managed by the parks and recreation section and to implement the
plan as funds become available.