Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

                                                    24LSO-0114
                            STATE OF WYOMING
                            HOUSE BILL NO. HB0060
     Excess wildlife population damage amendments.
     Sponsored by: Joint Agriculture, State and Public Lands &
                   Water Resources Interim Committee
                                    A BILL
                                      for
 AN ACT relating to game and fish; authorizing the game and
 fish department to   compensate landowners,     lessees and
 agents for extraordinary damage to rangeland as specified;
 providing   a definition;    requiring rulemaking;     requiring
 Wyoming game and fish to develop an elk management plan as
 specified; requiring a report; providing a sunset date; and
 providing for effective dates.
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 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
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        Section 1.    W.S. 23-1-901(c) is amended to read:
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        23-1-901.    Owner of damaged property to report damage;
 claims for damages; time for filing; determination; appeal;
 arbitration.
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        (c)    The department shall consider the claims based
 upon   a description of   the livestock or         bees damaged or
 killed by a trophy game animal, the damaged land, growing
 cultivated crops, stored crops including honey and hives,
 seed crops, improvements, and extraordinary damage to grass
 and, until July 1, 2030, extraordinary damage to rangeland.
 The commission is authorized to establish by rule, methods,
 factors and formulas to be used for determining the amount
 to compensate any landowner, lessee or agent for livestock
 damaged as a result of, missing as a result of, or killed
 by trophy game animals and, until July 1, 2030, the amount
 to compensate any landowner, lessee of state or private
 land or agent for extraordinary damage to rangeland. Claims
 shall be investigated by the department and rejected or
 allowed within ninety (90) days after submission, and paid
 in the amount determined to    be due.     In the event the
 department fails to act within ninety (90) days, the claim,
 including interest based on    local bank preferred rates,
 shall be deemed to have been allowed.                   No award shall be
 allowed to any landowner who has not permitted hunting on
 his property during authorized hunting seasons. Any person
 failing to comply with any provision of this section is
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                       STATE OF WYOMING                          24LSO-0114
 barred from making any claim against the department for
 damages.       Any claimant aggrieved by    the decision of    the
 department may appeal to the commission within thirty (30)
 days after receipt of the decision of the department as
 provided by rules of practice and procedure promulgated by
 the commission. The commission shall review the department
 decision at its next meeting following receipt of notice of
 request for review.    The commission shall review the
 investigative report of the department, and it may approve,
 modify or reverse the decision of the department. Until
 July 1, 2030, for purposes of this subsection:
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                (i)    "Extraordinary damage to    rangeland"       means
 the consumption of forage normally available for livestock
 that is consumed by any big game species;
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                (ii)    It shall be    presumed that extraordinary
 damage to    rangeland has occurred if    the consumption of
 forage exceeds fifteen percent (15%) of the estimated total
 annual production of forage in the year for which damage is
 claimed or if the population estimate of any big game herd
 on the rangeland for which damage is claimed exceeds the
 population objective established by the commission for two
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                     STATE OF WYOMING                    24LSO-0114
 (2) or more consecutive years. The department may rebut
 either of    these presumptions based on    the facts of   an
 individual claim;
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               (iii)    Amounts to compensate a landowner, lessee
 or agent for extraordinary damage to rangeland shall be
 based on the animal unit months payable to the state for
 state trust lands or a multiplier of not less than one
 hundred fifty percent (150%) of the private land lease rate
 for the affected area as established by the United States
 department of agriculture for private land.
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        Section 2.      The game and fish department shall develop
 a plan to reduce the elk population in every area that is
 over objective and report the plan to the joint travel,
 recreation, wildlife & cultural resources interim committee
 and the joint agriculture, state and public lands & water
 resources interim committee by September 1, 2024 or at the
 last committee meeting of the 2024 interim.
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        Section    3.    The game and fish department shall
 promulgate all rules necessary to implement this act.
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        Section 4.
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        (a)   Except as otherwise provided by subsection (b) of
 this section, this act is effective July 1, 2024.
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        (b)   Sections   3    and   4   of this act are effective
 immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a
 bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of
 the Wyoming Constitution.
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                                    (END)
                                        5               HB0060
Statutes affected: 
Introduced: 23-1-901