COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 40
(By Senators
Love, Hunter, Mitchell and Burnette)
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[Originating in the Committee on Natural Resources;
reported March 22, 2001.]
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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 increased fines
and penalties for unlawfully hunting or killing bear.
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 or her possession any bear, or any
part thereof bear parts, including fresh pelt except during the
hunting season for bear and in the manner designated by rules and
regulations to be promulgated by the department division of natural
resources and at no other time nor in any other way than as herein
and therein provided as provided for in this section. For the
purposes of this section, bear parts include, but are not limited
to, the pelt, gall bladder, skull, and claws of bear.
(b) A person on killing who kills a bear shall, within
twenty-four hours after the killing, deliver the bear or its parts
or fresh skin to a conservation officer or checking station for
tagging. The bear shall have affixed thereto an appropriate A
division of natural resources tag provided by the department shall
be affixed to it before any part of the bear may be transported
more than seventy-five miles from the point of kill. The checking
division of natural resources tag shall remain on the skin until it
is tanned or mounted. Any bear or bear parts 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 division of natural resources.
(c) It shall be is 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) A shotgun using ammunition
loaded with more than one solid ball; or (b) (B) a rifle of less
than twenty-five caliber using rimfire ammunition; or (c) (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 in this section;
(4) To shoot at or kill a cub bear cub weighing less than one
hundred pounds, or to kill any bear accompanied by such a cub;
(5) To have in possession possess 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 division personnel;
(7) To hunt bear with dogs or to cause dogs to chase bear
during seasons other than those designated for such purpose by the
department division of natural resources for the hunting of bear;
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) To possess, harvest, sell or purchase bear parts obtained
from bear killed in violation of this section;
(9) Notwithstanding the provisions of sections twenty-three
and twenty-four of this article, for any person to (10) 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
notwithstanding the provisions of sections twenty-three and twenty-
four of this article
; or
(10) (11) 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)(c) The following shall apply to bear destroying property:
(1)(A) Any property owner including a or lessee, who has
suffered damage to real or personal property, including loss occasioned by the death or injury of livestock or the injury
thereto or the unborn issue thereof of livestock, caused by an act
of a bear may complain to any conservation officer of the
department division of natural resources, for the protection
against such the bear.
(B) Upon receipt of the complaint, such the officer shall
immediately proceed to investigate the circumstances giving rise to
such of the complaint, and if such. If the officer is unable to
personally investigate the complaint, he or she shall designate a
wildlife biologist to investigate on his or her behalf and if.
(C) If the complaint is found to be justified, such the
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 that caused the property damage:
Provided, That only the conservation officer or the wildlife
biologist shall determine whether to destroy or capture 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 ,
and whether to use dogs to do so or capture of such bear:
Provided, however, That in the event out of state dogs from without
this state are used in such the hunt, the owners thereof shall be of the dogs are the only nonresidents permitted to participate in
hunting such the bear.
(2)(A) When a property owner has suffered damage to real or
personal property as the result of an act by a bear, such and has
not contacted the division of natural resources as set forth in
division one, subsection (c) of this section, the owner shall file
a report with the director of the department division of natural
resources, stating. The report shall state whether or not such the
bear was hunted and destroyed and, if so, the sex, weight and
estimated age of subject the bear, and also submit to the
department. The report shall also include an appraisal of the
property damage occasioned by subject the bear duly signed by three
competent appraisers, fixing the value of the property lost. Such
(B) The 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 comprised of the
complaining property owner, an officer of the department division,
and a person to be jointly selected by the officer of the
department and the complaining property owner.
(C) The department division shall by rules and regulations to
be promulgated establish the procedures to be followed in
presenting and deciding claims under this section in accordance
with article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code.
and all such
(D) All claims shall be paid in the first instance from the
bear damage fund provided for in section forty-four-b of this
article, and in. In the event such the 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 division 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. In cases where the 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
personal property taxes.
(c) (d) Criminal penalties.- (1) Any person who kills commits
a bear in violation of the provisions of this section shall be is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not less than five hundred one thousand dollars nor more than
one five thousand dollars, which fine is not subject to suspension by the court, or imprisoned in the a county or regional jail not
less than thirty nor more than one hundred days, or both fined and
imprisoned; and. Further, the suspension of the person's hunting
and fishing licenses shall be suspended for one year two years.
(2) Any person who commits a second violation of the
provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than two thousand
dollars nor more than seven thousand five hundred dollars, which
fine is not subject to suspension by the court, imprisoned in a
county or regional jail not less than thirty days nor more than one
year, or both fined and imprisoned. The person's hunting and
fishing licenses shall be suspended for life.
(3) Any person who commits a third or subsequent violation of
the provisions of this section is guilty of a felony and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than five thousand
dollars nor more than ten thousand dollars, which fine is not
subject to suspension by the court, imprisoned in a correctional
facility not less than one year nor more than five years, or both
fined and imprisoned. The person's hunting and fishing licenses
shall be suspended for life.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.