Senate Bill No. 346
(By Senators Brackenrich, Dittmar, Anderson and Felton)
____________
[Introduced March 10, 1993; referred to the Committee
on Natural Resources; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact section forty-three, article two,
chapter twenty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to permitting
nonresident persons disabled in the lower extremities to
hunt in West Virginia.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section forty-three, 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.
§20-2-43. Class E, Class EE, Class F, Class G and Class H
licenses for nonresidents.
(a) A Class E license shall be a nonresident hunting license
and shall entitle the licensee to hunt all legal species of wild
animals and wild birds in all counties of the state, except when
other licenses or permits are required. It shall be issued only
to citizens of the United States or Canada and to unnaturalizedpersons who possess the permit referred to in section twenty-nine
of this article who are not residents of this state. The fee
therefor shall be seventy dollars except that the fee for
residents of Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia
shall be seventy dollars or an amount equal to the fee which the
applicant's state of residence charges residents of West Virginia
for a similar license to hunt in that state, whichever is
greater.
(b) A Class EE license shall be a nonresident bear hunting
license and shall entitle the licensee to hunt bear in all
counties of the state, except when additional licenses or permits
are required, on and after the first day of July, one thousand
nine hundred eighty-nine. It shall be issued only to citizens of
the United States or Canada and to unnaturalized persons who
possess the permit referred to in section twenty-nine of this
article who are not residents of this state. The fee therefor
shall be one hundred twenty dollars.
(c) A Class F license shall be a nonresident fishing license
and shall entitle the licensee to fish for all fish in all
counties of the state except when additional licenses or permits
are required. It shall be issued only to citizens of the United
States or Canada and to unnaturalized persons who possess the
permit referred to in section twenty-nine of this article who are
not residents of this state. The fee therefor shall be twenty-
five dollars.
Trout fishing is not permitted with a Class F license unlessthe license has affixed thereto an appropriate trout stamp as
prescribed by the department of natural resources.
(d) A Class G license shall be a family fishing license and
shall entitle the licensee and members of his family to fish
within the territorial limits of state parks and state forests
and in the waters of streams bounding same, for a distance of not
to exceed one hundred yards from the exterior boundary of any
state park or state forest, except when additional licenses or
permits are required, for a period not to exceed one week. It
may be issued to any adult resident or nonresident who is
temporarily residing in any state park or forest as tenant or
lessee of the state. The fee therefor shall be ten dollars for
the head of the family, plus two dollars additional for each
member of his family to whom the privileges of such license are
extended. Class G licenses may be issued in such manner and
under such regulations as the director may see fit to prescribe.
Trout fishing is not permitted with a Class G license unless
such license has affixed thereto an appropriate trout stamp as
prescribed by the department of natural resources. The trout
stamp must be affixed to the license of the head of the family
only.
(e) A Class H license shall be a nonresident small game
hunting license and shall entitle the licensee to hunt small game
in all counties of the state, except when additional licenses or
permits are required, for a period of six days beginning with the
date it is issued. It shall be issued only to citizens of theUnited States or Canada who are not residents of this state. The
fee therefor shall be twenty dollars. As used in this section,
"small game" means all game except bear, deer, wild turkey and
wild boar.
(f) A Class EQ license shall be a special nonresident
statewide hunting permit and shall entitle the permittee to hunt
all legal species of game during the designated hunting seasons.
(1) A form for this permit shall be furnished by the
director to any applicant who meets the following requirements:
(A) He or she is a nonresident of this state;
(B) He or she is permanently disabled in the lower
extremities.
The director shall establish rules as he considers necessary
to administer the qualifications and permitting of applicants.
(2) A Class EQ permit shall entitle the holder thereof to
hunt from a motor vehicle and, notwithstanding the provisions of
subdivision (10), section five of this article, to possess a
loaded firearm in a motor vehicle, but only under the following
circumstances:
(A) The motor vehicle is stationary;
(B) The engine of the motor vehicle is not operating;
(C) The permittee is the only occupant of the vehicle;
(D) The vehicle is not parked on the right-of-way of any
public road or highway; and
(E) The permittee observes all of the pertinent laws and
regulations.
(3) The fee for a Class EQ license shall be the same as a
nonresident hunting license.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize out-of-state
persons disabled in the lower extremities to hunt in West
Virginia.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.