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SUBSTITUTE
SENATE BILL 5104
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AS
AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
Passed
Legislature - 1997 Regular Session
State of Washington 55th
Legislature 1997 Regular Session
By
Read first time 02/27/97.
Creating
the Washington pheasant enhancement program.
AN
ACT Relating to game birds; adding new sections to chapter 77.12 RCW; and
creating new sections.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 1. The
legislature finds that pheasant populations in eastern Washington have greatly
decreased from their historic high levels and that pheasant hunting success
rates have plummeted. The number of pheasant hunters has decreased due to
reduced hunting success. There is an opportunity to enhance the pheasant
population by release of pen-reared pheasants and habitat enhancements to
create increased hunting opportunities on publicly owned and managed lands.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 2. There
is created within the department the eastern Washington pheasant enhancement
program. The purpose of the program is to improve the harvest of pheasants by
releasing pen-reared rooster pheasants on sites accessible for public hunting
and by providing grants for habitat enhancement on public or private lands
under agreement with the department. The department may either purchase
rooster pheasants from private contractors, or produce rooster pheasants from
department-sanctioned cooperative projects, whichever is less expensive,
provided that the pheasants released meet minimum department standards for
health and maturity. Any surplus hen pheasants from pheasant farms or projects
operated by the department or the department of corrections for this enhancement
program shall be made available to landowners who voluntarily open their lands
to public pheasant hunting. Pheasants produced for the eastern Washington
pheasant enhancement program must not detrimentally affect the production or
operation of the department's western Washington pheasant release program. The
release of pheasants for hunting purposes must not conflict with or supplant
other department efforts to improve upland bird habitat or naturally produced
upland birds.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 3. The
commission must establish special pheasant hunting opportunities for juvenile
hunters in eastern Washington for the 1998 season and future seasons.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 4.
Beginning September 1, 1997, a person who hunts for pheasant in eastern
Washington must pay an annual surcharge of ten dollars, in addition to other
licensing requirements. Funds from the surcharge must be deposited in the
eastern Washington pheasant enhancement account created in section 5 of this
act.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 5. The
eastern Washington pheasant enhancement account is created in the custody of
the state treasurer. All receipts under section 4 of this act must be
deposited in the account. Moneys in the account are subject to legislative
appropriation and shall be used for the purpose of funding the eastern
Washington pheasant enhancement program. The department may use moneys from
the account to improve pheasant habitat or to purchase or produce pheasants.
Not less than eighty percent of expenditures from the account must be used to
purchase or produce pheasants. The eastern Washington pheasant enhancement
account funds must not be used for the purchase of land. The account may be
used to offer grants to improve pheasant habitat on public or private lands
that are open to public hunting. The department may enter partnerships with
private landowners, nonprofit corporations, cooperative groups, and federal or
state agencies for the purposes of pheasant habitat enhancement in areas that
will be available for public hunting.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 6. The
department of fish and wildlife must jointly investigate with the department of
corrections the feasibility of producing pheasants for the eastern Washington
pheasant enhancement program utilizing inmate labor and facilities at the Walla
Walla state penitentiary or other eastern Washington state correctional
facilities. The investigation must include a comparison of the costs of
producing pheasants at a correctional facility versus the costs of purchasing
pheasants for this enhancement program. The two departments must report their
findings to the senate and house of representatives natural resources
committees on or before January 1, 1998.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7.
Sections 2 through 5 of this act are each added to chapter 77.12 RCW.
