ENGROSSED
Senate Bill No. 697
(By Senator Schoonover)
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[Introduced February 23, 1998; referred to
the Committee on Natural Resources.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section forty-four-b, article two,
chapter twenty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to wildlife
resources; and requiring the bear damage stamp to be
purchased before the beginning of bear hunting season.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section forty-four-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.
§20-2-44b. Bear damage stamp; proceeds to be paid into bear
damage fund; purposes, etc.
Any hunter licensed to hunt bear in this state shall in addition to a hunting license of either Class A, or AB, in the
case of a resident, or C, E, EE, L, LL or M, in the case of a
nonresident, have a bear damage stamp which shall be issued by
the department of natural resources and which shall be sold at
places where hunting and fishing licenses are sold:
Provided,
That the bear damage stamp shall be purchased prior to the first
day of the relevant hunting season any where in the state. The
fee for a bear damage stamp shall be four dollars and all
proceeds from the sale of such stamps shall be paid into the bear
damage fund which shall be maintained by the department of
natural resources for the purposes of paying claims of property
owners for damages to real and personal property caused by acts
of bear and to cover the expense of hunting, capturing and
removing offending bear to remote areas.