HB1144_S_Cmte_Amend

SECTION 1. (1) Due to the proliferation of regulated and unregulated, commercial and noncommercial wildlife enclosures, the purpose of this bill is to clarify that the Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks and the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks has plenary power to regulate all such enclosures in order to conserve and protect native wildlife for all citizens to enjoy and to protect our recreational economy dependent on native wildlife resources.

(2) The Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks shall take inventory of the number, location and size of hunting enclosures in the state and the types of animals held or hunted in such enclosures. The department shall file a report with the Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives before January 3, 2007.

SECTION 2. (1) (a) The Mississippi Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks shall have plenary authority and power to regulate big game hunting enclosures, wildlife enclosures under Sections 49-7-58.1, 49-7-58.3 and 49-11-3, and any other enclosure which contains white-tailed deer, nonnative cervids, exotic animals, or nonnative wild animals in which hunting is allowed.

(b) The commission shall require annual permits and inspections of all such wildlife enclosures and shall establish reasonable fees for such permits.

(c) The commission may issue, deny, modify or revoke any wildlife enclosure permit and may promulgate regulations establishing conditions and limitations on such permits.

(d) The commission may adopt, modify, or repeal regulations and wildlife management standards under such conditions as it may prescribe for the prevention, control and eradication of disease, hunting within such enclosures, and for the management and protection of native wildlife.

(e) The commission shall regulate the size of enclosures, the number and species of animals within enclosures and hunting within enclosures.

(2) A person shall notify, register and obtain a permit from the commission before constructing an enclosure and shall register annually and obtain an annual permit no later than July 31.

(3) The commission shall not issue a permit for an enclosure if the enclosure contains white-tailed deer and nonnative cervids within the same fenced area. Enclosures registered or permitted before July 1, 2006 may continue operating with white-tailed deer and nonnative cervids or exotic animals within the same fenced area but the owner or permittee shall provide for the separation of the white-tailed deer within a reasonable time as required by the commission.

(4) The department shall inspect all such enclosures annually and may conduct reasonable additional inspections as may be deemed necessary.

(5) The hunting of carnivorous animals listed in Section 49-8-5 is prohibited within such enclosures.

SECTION 3. Section 49-7-58, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

49-7-58. (1) (a) In addition to the ban on importing white-tailed deer under Section 49-7-54, there is hereby imposed a temporary moratorium on the importation of elk, red deer, mule deer, black-tailed deer and other cervids designated as susceptible to chronic wasting disease by the State Veterinarian and crosses of any such animals into the State of Mississippi. The moratorium on importing such animals shall end upon the adoption of chronic wasting disease regulations by the United States Department of Agriculture.

(b) Any person who possesses, buys, imports or transports any cervid that has been imported in the state in violation of the moratorium shall be subject to a Class I penalty under Section 49-7-141. Any person that imports any exotic animal into the state in violation of entry requirements or regulations of the Board of Animal Health or the Department of Wildlife shall be subject to a Class I penalty under Section 49-7-141. The agency issuing a permit for cervids or exotic animals within an enclosure shall revoke the permit of any person found in violation of the moratorium. If any cervid in an enclosure tests positive for chronic wasting disease or if any cervids within the enclosure have been imported from an area diagnosed with chronic wasting disease, then all cervids in the enclosure shall be deemed a threat to native wildlife and to public health and may be killed and disposed of by the state.

(2) It shall be the duty of the Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce, the Board of Animal Health, the State Veterinarian, the Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, and the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks to consult and coordinate efforts on matters related to chronic wasting disease, the prevention of the introduction of chronic wasting disease in the state and to ensure the health and safety of the public and wildlife.

(3) The Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks and the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks shall have plenary authority in matters related to the importation of white-tailed deer, the intrastate movement of white-tailed deer, cervids, and any other nonnative game animals, * * * enclosures containing such animals, and prevention of the introduction of chronic wasting disease into the native wildlife population.

SECTION 4. Section 49-7-58.1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

49-7-58.1. (1) (a) The owner of any enclosure containing white-tailed deer that prevents the free egress of white-tailed deer from the enclosed area shall notify and register annually with the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks no later than July 31. The person shall give his name, the location of the enclosure, the acreage within the enclosure, and whether any deer or nonnative cervids have been imported into the state and placed in the enclosure, and any other information required by the Commissioner on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.

(b) After July 1, 2006, a person shall notify, register and obtain a permit from the department before constructing such an enclosure and provide any information required by the commission.

(2) Persons who constructed an enclosure prior to July 1, 2003, shall have until January 1, 2004, to notify and provide the information required under this section. The person shall use acceptable hunting and wildlife management practices as may be determined by the department.

(3) The owner of such an enclosure shall comply with any testing of white-tailed deer harvested within the enclosure as may be required by the department. If chronic wasting disease is diagnosed within five (5) miles of the enclosure, the owner of such enclosure shall allow department personnel to enter the enclosure to utilize lethal collection methods to obtain tissue samples for testing. If chronic wasting disease is diagnosed within the enclosure, the owner shall allow department personnel to enter the enclosure and depopulate the white-tailed deer within the enclosure.

(4) A violation of this section is a Class II violation and is punishable as provided in Section 49-7-143. A second or subsequent violation of this section is a Class I violation and is punishable as provided in Section 49-7-141.

SECTION 5. Section 49-7-58.3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

49-7-58.3. (1) The Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks shall regulate the hunting of nonnative cervids and white-tailed deer in noncommercial wildlife enclosures, and the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks may enforce such regulations and laws in the same manner as commercial wildlife enclosures as provided in Section 49-11-25 and Section 2 of House Bill No. 1144, 2006 Regular Session.

(2) This section shall repeal on July 1, 2007.

SECTION 6. Section 49-11-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

49-11-3. (1) The department may issue operating licenses to any person, partnership, association or corporation for the operation of shooting preserves or commercial wildlife enclosures that meet the following requirements and any applicable regulations:

(a) Each shooting preserve shall contain a minimum of one hundred (100) acres in one (1) tract of leased or owned land (including water area, if any) and shall be restricted to not more than six hundred forty (640) contiguous acres (including water area, if any), except that preserves confined to the releasing of ducks only may be authorized to operate with a minimum of fifty (50) contiguous acres (including water area).

(b) The boundaries of each shooting preserve shall be clearly defined and posted with signs erected at intervals of three hundred (300) feet or less.

(c) Each commercial wildlife enclosure shall contain a minimum or maximum number of * * * acres in one (1) tract of leased or owned land (including water area, if any) as may be required by the commission. The department shall establish a minimum area for an enclosure based on number of animals, terrain and vegetative cover which provided an animal with opportunity to evade a hunter and any other conditions that the commission may prescribe. No commercial wildlife enclosure shall be constructed in such a manner as to allow the ingress and egress of native white-tailed deer * * *.

(d) The preserve or enclosure must be privately owned and operated.

(2) The commission may issue any rules or regulations necessary to regulate shooting preserves and commercial wildlife enclosures and to enforce this chapter.

(3) (a) The commission shall regulate the hunting of nonnative cervids and white-tailed deer within a commercial wildlife enclosure, and the department may enter such enclosure as provided under Section 49-11-25 and enforce such regulations.

(b) This subsection (3) shall repeal on July 1, 2007.

SECTION 7. Section 49-11-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

49-11-5. The fee for a shooting preserve license or a commercial wildlife enclosure license shall be established by the commission.

SECTION 8. Section 49-11-15, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

49-11-15. (1) Artificially propagated pheasants, quail, chukar partridges, mallards and black ducks, and any game bird authorized by the commission are the only game which may be hunted on shooting preserves under this chapter.

(2) Mallards and black ducks released on a shooting preserve must have a one-fourth (1/4) inch hole punched in the outer web of the right foot before the birds attain the age of six (6) weeks.

(3) (a) The commission is authorized to specify the species of nonnative wild game that may be released or hunted in commercial wildlife enclosures.

(b) The commission shall not issue a permit for a commercial wildlife enclosure to contain white-tailed deer and nonnative cervids within the same fenced area.

(c) Any commercial wildlife enclosure permitted before July 1, 2006, may continue operating with white-tailed deer and nonnative cervids within the same enclosure but no nonnative cervids may be imported into such enclosure until the permittee has provided for the removal or separation of white-tailed deer from the nonnative cervids as required by the commission. The commission shall require such enclosure to separate white-tailed deer and nonnative cervids within a reasonable time.

SECTION 9. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.