BILL REQ. #:  S-4259.2 

READ FIRST TIME 02/03/12.   

     AN ACT Relating to protecting livestock when attacked by wolves; and amending RCW 77.15.120 and 77.36.030.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 77.15.120 and 2000 c 107 s 236 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) A person is guilty of unlawful taking of endangered fish or wildlife in the second degree if the person hunts, fishes, possesses, maliciously harasses or kills fish or wildlife, or maliciously destroys the nests or eggs of fish or wildlife and the fish or wildlife is designated by the commission as endangered, and the taking is not consistent with RCW 77.36.030 or has not been authorized by rule of the commission.
     (2) A person is guilty of unlawful taking of endangered fish or wildlife in the first degree if the person has been:
     (a) Convicted under subsection (1) of this section or convicted of any crime under this title involving the killing, possessing, harassing, or harming of endangered fish or wildlife; and
     (b) Within five years of the date of the prior conviction the person commits the act described by subsection (1) of this section.
     (3)(a) Unlawful taking of endangered fish or wildlife in the second degree is a gross misdemeanor.
     (b) Unlawful taking of endangered fish or wildlife in the first degree is a class C felony. The department shall revoke any licenses or tags used in connection with the crime and order the person's privileges to hunt, fish, trap, or obtain licenses under this title to be suspended for two years.

Sec. 2   RCW 77.36.030 and 2009 c 333 s 61 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Subject to limitations and conditions established by the commission, the owner, the owner's immediate family member, the owner's documented employee, or a tenant of real property may trap, consistent with RCW 77.15.194, or kill wildlife that is threatening human safety or causing property damage on that property, without the licenses required under RCW 77.32.010 or authorization from the director under RCW 77.12.240.
     (2) The commission shall establish the limitations and conditions of this section by rule. The rules must include:
     (a) Appropriate protection for threatened or endangered species;
     (b) Instances when verbal or written permission is required to kill wildlife;
     (c) Species that may be killed under this section; and
     (d) Requirements for the disposal of wildlife trapped or killed under this section.
     (3) The commission's rules must allow for an owner, the owner's immediate family member, or the owner's documented employee to kill a gray wolf, regardless of state classification, without a permit when there is physical evidence that the wolf is in the act of attacking the owner's livestock, subject to conditions imposed by the commission by rule.
     (4) In establishing the limitations and conditions of this section, the commission shall take into consideration the recommendations of the Washington state wolf conservation and management plan.