Senate Bill No. 394

Introduced By jabs, ream, bishop, doherty



A Bill for an Act entitled: "An Act authorizing the fish, wildlife, and parks commission to separate nonresident deer licenses from the nonresident big game combination licenses for the purpose of deer management; allowing the commission to set fees for the licenses THE FEE FOR THE NONRESIDENT ELK COMBINATION LICENSE WITHOUT A DEER TAG AND FOR THE SEPARATED NONRESIDENT DEER COMBINATION LICENSE, to determine the number of licenses within established limits, and to set conditions on the use of the licenses; amending sections 87-1-301 and 87-2-504, MCA; and providing an immediate effective date and a termination date."



STATEMENT OF INTENT

This bill establishes the authority of the fish, wildlife, and parks commission to modify, by rule, the structure of nonresident elk and deer licenses within the general framework established by law as needed for the effective management of big game animals. It is the intent of the legislature that in its initial rulemaking process, the commission utilize an advisory committee, including representatives of hunting and fishing organizations, outfitters, and landowners, to make recommendations regarding the structure of nonresident hunting licenses as authorized by this bill. It is also the intent of the legislature that commission rules not authorize more nonresident elk and deer hunters than are prescribed by current law.



Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Montana:



Section 1.  Section 87-1-301, MCA, is amended to read:

"87-1-301.   Powers of commission. (1) The commission shall:

(a)  set the policies for the protection, preservation, and propagation of the wildlife, fish, game, furbearers, waterfowl, nongame species, and endangered species of the state and for the fulfillment of all other responsibilities of the department as provided by law;

(b)  establish the hunting, fishing, and trapping rules of the department;

(c)  establish the rules of the department governing the use of lands owned or controlled by the department and waters under the jurisdiction of the department;

(d)  have the power within the department to establish wildlife refuges and bird and game preserves;

(e)  approve all acquisitions or transfers by the department of interests in land or water;

(f)  review and approve the budget of the department prior to its transmittal to the budget office; and

(g)  review and approve construction projects whose estimated cost is more than $1,000 but less than $5,000.

(2)  The commission may adopt rules regarding the use and type of archery equipment that may be employed for hunting and fishing purposes, taking into account applicable standards as technical innovations in archery equipment change.

(3)  The commission may adopt rules regarding the establishment of special licenses or permits, seasons, conditions, programs, or other provisions that the commission considers appropriate to promote or enhance hunting by Montana's youth.

(4) (a) The commission may adopt rules regarding nonresident big game combination licenses to:

(i) separate deer licenses from nonresident elk combination licenses;

(ii) set the fees for the separated deer COMBINATION licenses and the combination elk COMBINATION licenses without the deer tag;

(iii) condition the use of the deer licenses; and

(iv) limit the number of licenses sold.

(b) The commission may exercise the rulemaking authority in subsection (4)(a) when it is necessary and appropriate to regulate the harvest by nonresident big game combination license holders for the biologically sound management of big game populations of deer and elk and to control the impacts of those deer and elk populations on uses of private property."



Section 2.  Section 87-2-504, MCA, is amended to read:

"87-2-504.   (Temporary) Class B-7 and B-8--nonresident deer licenses. (1) (a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, a person who is not a resident, as defined in 87-2-102, but who will be 12 years of age or older prior to September 15 of the season for which the license is issued and is a holder of a nonresident conservation license may, upon payment of the proper fee or fees and subject to the limitations prescribed by law and department regulation, be entitled to apply to the fish and game office, Helena, Montana, to purchase one each of the following licenses:

(i) Class B-7, deer A tag, $150 at a fee set by the commission $175;

(ii) Class B-8, deer B tag, $50; and will entitle at a fee set by the commission $75.

(b) The license entitles the holder to hunt the game animal or animals authorized by the license held and to possess the carcasses of those animals as authorized by department commission rules.

(2) Unless purchased as part of a Class B-10 or Class B-11 license, a Class B-7 license must may be assigned for use in a specific administrative region or regions or a portion of a specific administrative region or regions or in a specific hunting district or districts or a portion of a specific hunting district or districts. If purchased as part of a Class B-10 or Class B-11 license, the Class B-7 license is valid throughout the state, except as provided in [section 3(1)(d)]. Not more than 5,000 Class B-7 licenses may be sold in any license year. Money received from the sale of Class B-7 licenses in excess of 1,700 must be used as provided in 87-1-242(1).

(3) The commission may prescribe the use of and set quotas for the sale of Class B-8 licenses by hunting districts, portions of a hunting district, groups of districts, or administrative regions. (Terminates March 1, 2006--secs. 1, 2, Ch. 241, L. 1993.)

87-2-504.   (Effective March 1, 2006) Class B-7 and B-8--nonresident deer licenses. (1) (a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, a person who is not a resident, as defined in 87-2-102, but who will be 12 years of age or older prior to September 15 of the season for which the license is issued and is a holder of a nonresident conservation license may, upon payment of the proper fee or fees and subject to the limitations prescribed by law and department regulation, be entitled to apply to the fish and game office, Helena, Montana, to purchase one each of the following licenses:

(i) Class B-7, deer A tag, $100 at a fee set by the commission $175;

(ii) Class B-8, deer B tag, $50; and will entitle at a fee set by the commission $75.

(b) The license entitles the holder to hunt the game animal or animals authorized by the license held and to possess the carcasses of those animals as authorized by department commission rules.

(2) Unless purchased as part of a Class B-10 or Class B-11 license, a Class B-7 license must may be assigned for use in a specific administrative region or regions or a portion of a specific administrative region or regions or in a specific hunting district or districts or a portion of a specific hunting district or districts. If purchased as part of a Class B-10 or Class B-11 license, the Class B-7 license is valid throughout the state, except as provided in [section 3(1)(d)].

(3) The commission may condition the use of and set quotas for the sale of Class B-8 licenses by hunting districts, portion of a hunting district, groups of districts, or administrative regions."



NEW SECTION. Section 3. Separation of Class B-7 license from Class B-10 license for deer management purposes -- disposition of license revenue. (1) The commission may by rule separate the Class B-7 license from the Class B-10 license and sell the separated Class B-7 license, giving a preference to any Class B-10 license holder to purchase one of the separated Class B-7 licenses. In the case of separated Class B-7 licenses that are not purchased by Class B-10 license holders, the commission, for purposes of sound deer management:

(a) may authorize the sale of not more than 5,000 Class B-7 licenses that have been separated from the Class B-10 licenses, as limited by 87-2-504;

(b) may authorize all or a portion of the separated Class B-7 licenses to be sold as Class B-11 combination licenses;

(c) shall set the fees for the separated licenses as follows:

(i) the fee for a Class B-10 license without the deer tag may not be more than the fee set in 87-2-505 for licenses in the general category and may not be more than the fee set by the commission for licenses in the outfitter-sponsored category as specified in 87-1-268; and

(ii) the fee for the separated Class B-7 or Class B-11 licenses may not be more than the fees specified in 87-2-510 for licenses in the general and landowner-sponsored categories and may not be more than the fee set by the commission for licenses in the outfitter-sponsored category as specified in 87-1-268;

(d) may assign the separated Class B-7 or Class B-11 licenses for use in specific administrative regions, portions of administrative regions, hunting districts, or portions of hunting districts;

(e) may allocate a portion of the separated Class B-7 or Class B-11 licenses among the general and landowner-sponsored categories established in 87-2-510 and 87-2-511 but not count those licenses as part of the statutory quotas, with the Class B-7 licenses then subject to the requirements and procedures of 87-2-511;

(f) may allocate a portion of the separated Class B-7 or Class B-11 licenses to the outfitter-sponsored category subject to the requirements and procedures of 87-2-511, except that licenses in the outfitter-sponsored category may not comprise more than one-third of the licenses issued pursuant to this section and the number issued, when added to the number of Class B-11 licenses issued under 87-1-268, may not exceed 2,300 in any license year; and

(g) may condition the separated Class B-7 and Class B-11 licenses as appropriate and necessary to manage the harvest of deer, INCLUDING RESTRICTING THE USE OF A LICENSE TO EITHER MULE DEER OR WHITETAIL DEER.

(2) The revenue from any Class B-11 licenses that have been separated from Class B-10 licenses must be deposited in the state special revenue account to the credit of the department and not allocated pursuant to other statutory requirements generally applicable to Class B-11 licenses. The revenue from Class B-10 licenses sold without a deer tag must be allocated in the same manner as revenue from Class B-10 licenses sold with a deer tag.



NEW SECTION. Section 4.  Codification instruction. [Section 3] is intended to be codified as an integral part of Title 87, chapter 2, part 5, and the provisions of Title 87, chapter 2, part 5, apply to [section 3].



NEW SECTION. Section 5.  Effective date. [This act] is effective on passage and approval.



NEW SECTION. Section 6.  Termination. [This act] terminates October 1, 2001.

-END-