Senate Bill No. 478
(By Senator Mitchell)
____________
[Introduced February 1, 2002; referred to the Committee
on Natural Resources; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
____________
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 bear hunting and
bear damage stamps generally; providing for three classes of
bear damage stamps; providing for a fee for each class of
stamp; dedicating one half of the proceeds from the fees for
law-enforcement and other purposes; and prohibiting the sale
of bear damage stamps one day prior to and during bear hunting
seasons.
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. There shall be three
classes of bear damage stamps sold: Bear Damage Stamp - Bow(BS-B)
with a fee of ten dollars; Bear Damage Stamp - Gun (BS-G) with a
fee of ten dollars; and, a Bear Damage Stamp - Combo Bow and Gun
(BS-C) with a fee of fifteen dollars. One half of The fee for a
bear damage stamp shall be four dollars and
such bear damage 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. The remaining proceeds from the sale of bear
damage stamps shall be paid into the fund designated "license
fund-wildlife resources" as provided in section thirty-four of this
article. Bear damage stamps may not be sold one day prior to or
during the applicable bear hunting season.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to
provide for three
classes of bear damage stamps and providing for a fee for each
class of stamp. The bill also dedicates one half of the proceeds
from the fees for law enforcement. The bill also prohibits the
sale of bear damage stamps one day prior to and during bear hunting
seasons.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.