S-4196               _______________________________________________

                                         SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL NO. 4552

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State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1986 Regular Session

By Senate Committee on Agriculture (originally sponsored by Senators Hansen, Barr, Newhouse, Goltz, Bailey, Benitz, Gaspard and Bauer)

Read first time 1/23/86.

AN ACT Relating to livestock; and amending RCW 16.20.020, 16.20.030, and 16.24.010.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

        Sec. 1.  Section 1, chapter 111, Laws of 1917 as amended by section 18, chapter 415, Laws of 1985 and RCW 16.20.020 are each amended to read as follows:

          It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, association or corporation to turn upon or allow to run at large on any range area in this state any bull other than a registered bull of a recognized beef breed.  All persons running cattle in common on any range area may, however, agree to run any purebred or crossbred bull of any breed, registered or unregistered, as they may deem appropriate for their area.

        Sec. 2.  Section 2, chapter 111, Laws of 1917 and RCW 16.20.030 are each amended to read as follows:

          ((That)) Before any person, firm, association or corporation ((shall)) turns upon ((the open range)) any range area in this state any female ((breeding)) cattle of breeding age of more than fifteen in number, ((two years old or over,)) they shall procure and turn with said female breeding cattle one registered ((purebred)) bull of recognized beef breed for every forty females or fraction thereof of twenty-five or over((:  PROVIDED, HOWEVER, That RCW 16.20.020 through 16.20.040 shall not apply to counties lying west of the summit of the Cascade mountains)).  All persons running cattle in common on any range area may, however, agree to any other proportion of bulls to female cattle of breeding age as they may deem appropriate for their area.  Persons who run cattle exclusively on their own land confined by a fence shall be exempt from the provisions of this section.

        Sec. 3.  Section 1, chapter 25, Laws of 1911 as amended by section 1, chapter 40, Laws of 1937 and RCW 16.24.010 are each amended to read as follows:

          The board of county commissioners of any county of this state shall have the power to designate by an order made and published, as provided in RCW 16.24.030, certain territory as stock restricted area within such county in which it shall be unlawful to permit livestock of any kind to run at large((:  PROVIDED, That)) and shall require that the cost of any new fencing which may become necessary to prevent livestock located in a range area from running at large in stock restricted area formed after the effective date of this 1986 act be shared equally by the affected adjoining landowners.  No territory so designated shall be less than two square miles in area((:  AND PROVIDED FURTHER, That RCW 16.24.010 through 16.24.065 shall not affect counties having adopted township organization)).  All territory not ((so)) designated as stock restricted shall be range area, in which it shall be lawful to permit livestock to run at large.  Nothing in this section affects fencing agreements entered into between two or more parties before the effective date of this 1986 act.