Assembly Bill No. 301–Assemblyman Carpenter

 

March 13, 2003

____________

 

Referred to Committee on Natural Resources,
Agriculture, and Mining

 

SUMMARY—Revises provisions concerning special incentive elk tags and compensation from Board of Wildlife Commissioners for damage to certain property or land caused by certain animals. (BDR 45‑883)

 

FISCAL NOTE:    Effect on Local Government: No.

                             Effect on the State: No.

 

~

 

EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.

 

AN ACT relating to wildlife; prohibiting the Board of Wildlife Commissioners from requiring a person, as a condition of qualifying for a special incentive tag, to have more than 35 elk on private lands which are controlled by the person and are within an actual elk area; providing for the payment of money or materials to prevent or mitigate damages caused by certain animals to fences on private and public lands and to construct fences around certain areas of those lands; authorizing state grazing boards to apply for and accept such payments of money and materials; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN

SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

 

1-1  Section 1. NRS 502.142 is hereby amended to read as follows:

1-2  502.142  1.  The Commission shall adopt regulations to

1-3  establish a program pursuant to which the Division will issue special

1-4  incentive elk tags. The regulations must:

1-5  (a) Set forth the application and annual review processes for the

1-6  issuance of special incentive elk tags.

2-1  (b) Require that an application for a special incentive elk tag

2-2  must be accompanied by:

2-3       (1) The fee charged for an elk tag pursuant to NRS 502.250;

2-4  and

2-5       (2) Any administrative fee charged in connection with the

2-6  issuance of an elk tag pursuant to this chapter.

2-7  (c) Provide for the issuance of a special incentive elk tag only to

2-8  a person who:

2-9       (1) Lawfully owns, leases or manages private land within an

2-10  actual elk use area; and

2-11          (2) If that private land blocks reasonable access to adjacent

2-12  public land, provides reasonable access through the private land to

2-13  allow a person or hunting party possessing a valid elk tag to hunt elk

2-14  on the adjacent public land.

2-15      (d) Establish criteria for the issuance of special incentive elk

2-16  tags based upon:

2-17          (1) The number of elk using private land controlled by the

2-18  applicant;

2-19          (2) The number of days the elk use private lands of the

2-20  applicant in a calendar year;

2-21          (3) The total number of elk; and

2-22          (4) Limiting the number of special incentive elk tags issued

2-23  in each calendar year to not more than one-half of the bull elk tags

2-24  issued in that calendar year,

2-25  within the actual elk use area in the unit or units of the management

2-26  area or areas in which the private land is located.

2-27      (e) Provide that special incentive elk tags are valid for both

2-28  sexes of elk.

2-29      (f) Prohibit a person who has, within a particular calendar year,

2-30  applied for or received compensation pursuant to NRS 504.165 as

2-31  reimbursement for damage caused by elk to private land from

2-32  applying, within the same calendar year, for a special incentive elk

2-33  tag for the same private land.

2-34      (g) Not require a person, as a condition of qualifying for a

2-35  special incentive tag, to have more than 35 elk on the private lands

2-36  which are controlled by the person and are within an actual elk

2-37  area;

2-38      (h) Allow a group of owners, lessees and managers of private

2-39  land to qualify for a special incentive elk tag for their combined

2-40  lands.

2-41      [(h)] (i) Ensure that the issuance of special incentive elk tags

2-42  will not result in the number of bull elk tags issued in any year being

2-43  reduced to a number below the quota for bull elk tags established by

2-44  the Commission for 1997.

3-1  [(i)] (j) Provide that a person to whom a special incentive elk tag

3-2  is issued by the Commission pursuant to this section may:

3-3       (1) If he holds a valid hunting license issued by this state, use

3-4  the special incentive elk tag himself; or

3-5       (2) Sell the special incentive elk tag to another person who

3-6  holds a valid hunting license issued by this state at any price upon

3-7  which the parties mutually agree.

3-8  [(j)] (k) Require that a person who is issued a special incentive

3-9  elk tag must hunt:

3-10          (1) During the open season for elk.

3-11          (2) In the unit or units within the management area or areas

3-12  in which the private land is located.

3-13      [(k)] (l) Provide for the appointment of an arbitration panel to

3-14  resolve disputes between persons who apply for special incentive

3-15  elk tags and the Division regarding the issuance of such tags.

3-16      2.  As used in this section, “actual elk use area” means an area

3-17  in which elk live, as identified and designated by the Division.

3-18      Sec. 2.  NRS 504.165 is hereby amended to read as follows:

3-19      504.165  1.  The Commission shall adopt regulations

3-20  governing the disbursement of money to:

3-21      (a) Prevent or mitigate damage to private property and privately

3-22  maintained improvements[;] , including, without limitation,

3-23  fences;

3-24      (b) Prevent or mitigate damage to fences on public lands;

3-25      (c) Construct fences around sources of water on private lands

3-26  or public lands if there has been damage to the area near such

3-27  sources of water; and

3-28      [(b)] (d) Compensate persons for grazing reductions and the loss

3-29  of stored and standing crops,

3-30  caused by elk or game mammals not native to this state.

3-31      2.  The regulations must contain:

3-32      (a) Requirements for the eligibility of those persons claiming

3-33  damage to private property or privately maintained improvements to

3-34  receive money or materials from the Division, including a

3-35  requirement that such a person enter into a cooperative agreement

3-36  with the Administrator for purposes related to this title.

3-37      (b) Requirements for the eligibility of a person or state grazing

3-38  board claiming damage to fences on public lands or damage to

3-39  areas near sources of water on public lands to receive money or

3-40  materials from the Division, including a requirement that the

3-41  person or state grazing board enter into a cooperative agreement

3-42  with the Administrator for purposes related to this title.

 

 

 

4-1  (c) Procedures for the formation of local panels to assess

4-2  damage caused by elk or game mammals not native to this state and

4-3  to determine the value of a loss claimed if the person or state

4-4  grazing board claiming the loss and the Division do not agree on

4-5  the value of the loss.

4-6  [(c)] (d) Procedures for the use on private property or public

4-7  lands of materials purchased by the State to prevent damage caused

4-8  by elk or game mammals not native to this state.

4-9  [(d)] (e) Any other regulations necessary to carry out the

4-10  provisions of this section and NRS 504.155 and 504.175.

4-11      3.  The regulations must:

4-12      (a) Provide for the payment of money or other compensation to

4-13  cover the costs of labor and materials necessary to [prevent] :

4-14          (1) Prevent or mitigate damage to private property , [and]

4-15  privately maintained improvements and fences on public lands

4-16  caused by elk or game mammals not native to this state[.] ; and

4-17          (2) Construct fences around sources of water on private or

4-18  public lands if elk or game mammals not native to this state have

4-19  caused damage to the area near such sources of water.

4-20      (b) Prohibit a person who has, within a particular calendar year,

4-21  applied for or received a special incentive elk tag pursuant to NRS

4-22  502.142 from applying, within the same calendar year, for

4-23  compensation pursuant to this section for the same private land.

4-24      4.  Money may not be disbursed to a claimant pursuant to this

4-25  section unless the claimant shows by a preponderance of the

4-26  evidence that the damage for which [he] the claimant is seeking

4-27  compensation was caused solely by elk or game mammals not

4-28  native to this state.

4-29      5.  As used in this section:

4-30      (a) “Public lands” means all lands within the exterior

4-31  boundaries of the State of Nevada except lands:

4-32          (1) To which title is held by any private person or entity;

4-33          (2) To which title is held by the State of Nevada, any of its

4-34  local governments or the University and Community College

4-35  System of Nevada;

4-36          (3) Which are located within congressionally authorized

4-37  national parks, monuments, national forests or wildlife refuges, or

4-38  which are lands acquired by purchase consented to by the

4-39  Legislature;

4-40          (4) Which are controlled by the United States Department

4-41  of Defense, Department of Energy or Bureau of Reclamation; or

4-42          (5) Which are held in trust for Indian purposes or are

4-43  Indian reservations.

5-1  (b) “State grazing board” means a state grazing board created

5-2  within the State Department of Agriculture pursuant to

5-3  NRS 568.040.

5-4  Sec. 3.  Chapter 568 of NRS is hereby amended by adding

5-5  thereto a new section to read as follows:

5-6  A state grazing board may apply for and accept money and

5-7  materials distributed by the Division of Wildlife of the State

5-8  Department of Conservation and Natural Resources pursuant to

5-9  NRS 504.165 for the construction or repair of fences within a

5-10  grazing district. Such money shall be subject to disposition only by

5-11  the state grazing board which accepts such money for the grazing

5-12  district concerned.

5-13      Sec. 4.  NRS 568.010 is hereby amended to read as follows:

5-14      568.010  As used in NRS 568.010 to 568.210, inclusive, and

5-15  section 3 of this act, “Taylor Grazing Act” means the Act of

5-16  Congress entitled “An act to stop injury to the public grazing lands

5-17  by preventing overgrazing and soil deterioration, to provide for their

5-18  orderly use, improvement and development, to stabilize the

5-19  livestock industry dependent upon the public range, and for other

5-20  purposes,” approved June 28, 1934, being c. 865, 48 Stat. 1269, also

5-21  designated as 43 U.S.C. §§ 315 to 315r, inclusive, any amendment

5-22  thereto and any replacement therefor, including provisions of the

5-23  Code of Federal Regulations adopted and promulgated pursuant to

5-24  any such act, amendment or replacement, providing for grazing

5-25  districts or for payment of a portion of the moneys derived from

5-26  grazing fees or grazing leases to the State of Nevada.

5-27      Sec. 5.  NRS 568.100 is hereby amended to read as follows:

5-28      568.100  All moneys in the range improvement fund of a

5-29  grazing district or received by a state grazing board pursuant to

5-30  section 3 of this act shall be paid out on claims signed by the

5-31  chairman and secretary of the state grazing board of the district.

5-32  Claims shall be approved by the board and preaudited by the county

5-33  auditor of the county concerned before they are paid.

5-34      Sec. 6.  NRS 568.140 is hereby amended to read as follows:

5-35      568.140  1.  Any project involving construction and

5-36  maintenance of range improvements as provided for in NRS

5-37  568.010 to 568.210, inclusive, and section 3 of this act, on public

5-38  lands within any grazing district established under the provisions of

5-39  the Taylor Grazing Act, shall be undertaken only under cooperative

5-40  agreements entered into on the part either of the state grazing boards

5-41  or the boards of county commissioners, as the case may be, and the

5-42  federal officials in charge of the grazing district concerned.

5-43      2.  Any project mentioned in NRS 568.120 that is within the

5-44  jurisdiction of a governmental entity and does not involve

5-45  construction and maintenance of range improvements shall be

6-1  undertaken only under cooperative agreements entered into by the

6-2  state grazing boards and the appropriate governmental entities.

 

6-3  H