BILL REQ. #:  S-3615.1 

Read first time 01/12/12.   Referred to Committee on Energy, Natural Resources & Marine Waters.

     AN ACT Relating to an affirmative defense to unlawful taking of endangered fish or wildlife; and amending RCW 77.15.120.

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 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.
     (4)(a) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this section if the person charged is the owner or the owner's immediate family member, as that term is defined in RCW 77.36.010, or the person is the owner's documented employee or a tenant of the owner's real property and:
     (i) The endangered wildlife is a gray wolf in the act of attacking livestock or there is physical evidence sufficient to lead a reasonable person to conclude that an attack was imminent;
     (ii) The attack took place on land where wolves are federally delisted as an endangered species; and
     (iii) The person notifies the department of fish and wildlife within seventy-two hours of the taking.
     (b) For the purposes of this subsection (4), "in the act of attacking" means a gray wolf is biting, wounding, or killing livestock.
     (c) A person who intentionally baits, feeds, or deliberately attracts and takes a gray wolf forfeits the defense under this subsection (4).