H. B. 2113
(By Delegate Love)
[Introduced February 15, 1993; referred to the
Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources
then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section twenty-two-a, article two,
chapter twenty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to removing
the prohibition against organizing or outfitting bear hunts
for pay.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty-two-a, 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.
§20-2-22a. Hunting, tagging and reporting bear; procedures
applicable to property destruction by bear;
penalties.
(a) No person in any county of this state shall hunt,
capture, or kill any bear, or have in his possession any bear, or
any part thereof, including fresh pelt, except during the huntingseason for bear designated by rules and regulations to be
promulgated by the department of natural resources and at no
other time nor in any other way than as herein and therein
provided. A person on killing a bear shall, within twenty-four
hours after killing, deliver the bear or fresh skin to a
conservation officer or checking station for tagging. The bear
shall have affixed thereto an appropriate tag provided by the
department before any part of the bear may be transported more
than seventy-five miles from the point of kill. The checking tag
shall remain on the skin until it is tanned or mounted. Any bear
not properly tagged, or any part of such bear, shall be forfeited
to the state for disposal to a charitable institution, or school,
or as otherwise designated by the department of natural
resources.
It shall be unlawful:
(1) To hunt bear without a bear damage stamp as prescribed
in section forty-four-b of this article, in addition to a hunting
license as prescribed in this article;
(2) To hunt a bear with (a) a shotgun using ammunition
loaded with more than one solid ball, or (b) a rifle of less than
twenty-five caliber using rimfire ammunition or (c) a crossbow;
(3) To kill or attempt to kill any bear through the use of
poison, or explosives, or through the use of snares, steel traps
or deadfalls other than as authorized herein;
(4) To shoot at or kill a cub bear weighing less than one
hundred pounds or to kill any bear accompanied by such cub;
(5) To have in possession any part of a bear not tagged in
accordance with the provisions of this section;
(6) To enter a state game refuge with firearms for the
purpose of pursuing or killing a bear except under the direct
supervision of department personnel;
(7) To hunt bear with dogs during seasons other than those
designated for such purpose by the department of natural
resources; after a bear is spotted and the chase has begun, to
pursue the bear with other than the pack of dogs in use at the
beginning of the hunt;
(8) To train bear hunting dogs on bear or to cause dogs to
chase bear at times other than those designated by the department
of natural resources for the hunting of bear;
(9) Notwithstanding the provisions of sections twenty-three
and twenty-four of this article, for any person to organize for
commercial purposes, or to professionally outfit a bear hunt or
to give or receive any consideration whatsoever or any donation
in money, goods or services in connection with a bear hunt;
(10) (9) For any person, who is not a resident of this
state, to hunt bear with dogs or to use dogs in any fashion for
the purpose of hunting bear in this state, except in legally
authorized hunts.
(b) The following shall apply to bear destroying property:
(1) Any property owner including a lessee, who has suffered
damage to real or personal property including loss occasioned by
the death of livestock or the injury thereto or the unborn issuethereof, caused by an act of a bear may complain to any
conservation officer of the department of natural resources, for
the protection against such bear. Upon receipt of the complaint,
such officer shall immediately proceed to investigate the
circumstances giving rise to such complaint, and if such officer
is unable to personally investigate the complaint, he shall
designate a wildlife biologist to investigate on his behalf and
if the complaint is found to be justified, such officer or
designated person, may, together with the owner and other
residents, proceed to hunt and destroy or capture the bear which
is determined to have caused the property damage:
Provided,
That
only the conservation officer or the wildlife biologist shall
determine whether the bear shall be destroyed or captured.
Notwithstanding any provision of this article, if it is
determined that the complaint is justified, the officer or
designated person may summon or use dogs from within or without
this state to effectuate the hunting and destruction or capture
of such bear:
Provided, however,
That in the event dogs from
without this state are used in such hunt, the owners thereof
shall be the only nonresidents permitted to participate in
hunting such bear.
(2) When a property owner has suffered damage as the result
of an act by a bear, such owner shall file a report with the
director of the department of natural resources, stating whether
or not such bear was hunted and destroyed and if so, the sex,
weight and estimated age of subject bear, and also submit to thedepartment an appraisal of the property damage occasioned by
subject bear duly signed by three competent appraisers, fixing
the value of the property lost. Such report shall be ruled upon
and the alleged damages examined by a commission to which it
shall be referred by the department. The commission shall be
composed of the complaining property owner, an officer of the
department and a person to be selected by the officer of the
department and the complaining property owner. The department
shall by rules and regulations to be promulgated, establish the
procedures to be followed in presenting and deciding claims under
this section and all such claims shall be paid in the first
instance from the bear damage fund provided in section forty-
four-b of this article, and in the event such fund is
insufficient to pay all claims determined by the commission to be
just and proper the remainder due to owners of lost or destroyed
property shall be paid from the special revenue account of the
department of natural resources.
(3) In all cases where the act of the bear complained of by
the property owner is the killing of livestock, the value to be
established is the fair market value of the livestock at the date
of death, and in cases where livestock killed is pregnant, the
total value shall be the sum of the values of the mother and the
unborn issue, with the value of the unborn issue to be determined
on the basis of the fair market value of the issue, had it been
born. In no event shall the fair market value of the livestock
exceed twice the assessed value of the livestock for personalproperty taxes.
(c) Any person who kills a bear in violation of the
provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than five
hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars, or imprisoned
in the county jail not less than thirty nor more than one hundred
days, or both fined and imprisoned; and the suspension of the
person's hunting and fishing licenses for one year.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to remove the prohibition
against commercially organized or outfitted bear hunts for pay.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.