The Committee on Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Mining was called to order at 1:35 p.m., on Wednesday, April 28, 1999. Chairman Marcia de Braga presided in Room 3161 of the Legislative Building, Carson City, Nevada. Exhibit A is the Agenda. Exhibit B is the Guest List. All Exhibits are available and on file at the Research Library of the Legislative Counsel Bureau.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:

Mrs. Marcia de Braga, Chairman

Mrs. Gene Segerblom, Vice Chairman

Mr. Douglas Bache

Mr. John Carpenter

Mr. Jerry Claborn

Mr. Lynn Hettrick

Mr. John Jay Lee

Mr. John Marvel

Mr. Harry Mortenson

Mr. Roy Neighbors

Ms. Genie Ohrenschall

Ms. Bonnie Parnell

COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT:

Mr. David Humke (Excused)

STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT:

OTHERS PRESENT:

After roll was called the Chairman explained several committee members were testifying in other committees throughout legislature and attendance for the meeting would be sporadic for an undetermined period of time. She opened the meeting as a subcommittee because a quorum was not present. She commenced the hearing on S.B. 105.

Terry Crawforth, Administrator of Nevada Division of Wildlife, was the first to testify on the proposed legislation, which was requested by his agency. He explained the measure was needed because individuals who fish in private ponds, referred to as artificial situations stocked with fish, should not be required to have state fishing licenses.

Mr. Marvel asked for an approximate number of private ponds throughout the state, which might be affected by the legislation. Mr. Crawforth said there were approximately 200 ponds on private property.

Mr. Mortenson asked why state fishing licenses were required for fishing on private property. Mr. Crawforth explained the statute regarding state fishing licenses did not differentiate between private and state land. The intent of the legislation was to make that distinction and remove the requirement.

Mr. Carpenter asked if there were fishing license requirements for farms or ranches, to which Mr. Crawforth responded in the affirmative. Several years ago the need for farm pond permits was eliminated if property owners agreed to stock certain kinds of fish and if the ponds were not used for commercial purposes. State fishing licenses were required of individuals fishing at commercial operations that were opened to the public.

Mr. Neighbors asked if Nevada had a problem with fish diseases, to which Mr. Crawforth responded in the affirmative, adding whirling disease, caused by a worm, was a serious problem that was adversely impacting fishing throughout the western United States.

Wayne Hendrix, private citizen representing the Hendrix Ranch in Fallon, Nevada, was called upon by the Chairman to offer testimony and a proposed amendment to S.B. 105. The proposed amendment was needed to clarify the measure and to ease the burden of Nevada Division of Wildlife in regulating the new legislation (Exhibit C). Mr. Hendrix said his pond was located partially on his private property and partially on public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). He said it was difficult to be in a position such as that, particularly because he was having a great deal of trouble trying to negotiate with BLM to acquire the portion of the shared pond located on public land.

The Chairman explained the proposed amendment would be inserted into subsection c (2), lines 10 through 12 on page 2 of the proposed legislation. She announced she had to leave the committee meeting to attend another legislative meeting and turned the hearing over to Vice Chairman Segerblom.

The Vice Chairman asked if there were additional questions or comments and there were none. She closed the hearing on S.B. 105 and opened the hearing on S.B. 106.

Mr. Crawforth explained the measure was requested by his agency and was intended as a housekeeping measure. It provided clarification of issues relating to license and permit stipulations as they related to fishing. He explained the proposed legislation would remove those stipulations from statute and decriminalize the assessment process. Division of Wildlife would be able to revoke licenses and permits and apply demerit points against individuals convicted of agency offenses.

Mr. Hettrick asked for clarification regarding the definitions between license and permit. Steve Albert, Deputy Chief Game Warden, Law Enforcement Bureau of the Nevada Division of Wildlife, was called upon to respond to the question. He said the two words were distinguished in statute as they related to hunting. The proposed legislation was intended to include fishing licenses and permits into statute. The measure was not intended to include special licenses and permits, such those needed for falconry and possession and collection of live wildlife. Mr. Albert said the proposed legislation was intended to apply only to duel licenses and permits, which were specific to hunting and fishing.

Mr. Hettrick asked why Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) statute 504.300 was replaced by NRS 504.395. Mr. Albert said the correction to the NRS was a housekeeping change needed to correct a technical error made in the 1997 Legislative Session.

Mr. Claborn commented the Division of Wildlife had a complicated permitting and licensing classification system in place, to which Mr. Albert agreed, adding it was needed to properly assess and evaluate activities relating to wildlife.

Mr. Carpenter asked if the measure covered hunting mountain lions, to which Mr. Albert responded in the affirmative. Mountain lions were classified as big game animals and individuals were required to have a hunting license to hunt them.

The Vice Chairman asked if there were additional questions or comments and there were none. She closed the hearing on S.B. 106 and opened the hearing on S.B. 343.

Fred Messmann, Boating Law Administrator for the Division of Wildlife, testified in support of the proposed legislation. He explained the measure was needed because Division of Wildlife was responsible for the payment of storage fees of vessels seized as evidence in the event a crime had been committed using the vessel regardless of what law enforcement agency seized the vessel. Mr. Messman said the proposed legislation would make the law enforcement agency that seized a vessel responsible for the payment of those storage fees.

The Vice Chairman asked if there were additional questions or comments concerning S.B. 343 and there were none. There being no further business before the committee, the hearing was adjourned at 2:33 p.m.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

Sharon Spencer,

Committee Secretary

APPROVED BY:

Assemblywoman Marcia de Braga, Chairman

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