2017 Legislative Review
After weeks of debate and discussion, North Dakota lawmakers adjourned in late April.
As always, a number of the bills introduced to the 65th Legislative Assembly had the potential to play significant roles in how the North Dakota Game and Fish Department serves its constituents.
In total, Game and Fish Department officials tracked 28 bills, 11 of which were passed by both chambers and signed into law. Any new legislation passed into law this session won’t take effect until August 1, unless there was an emergency clause attached to the bill.
The Department evaluated each bill based on its own merit and provided appropriate feedback, or testimony, based on those evaluations.
We believe that establishing a relationship with legislators is important to facilitating open dialogue during the session. That interchange is an important and effective strategy for influencing the development of new hunting- and fishing-related laws.
Some bills inevitably have the potential of becoming contentious and, from that perspective, require more attention than others. Hunting- and fishing-related bills can and sometimes do attract a lot of attention, which is a reflection of how strongly many North Dakotans feel about their hunting and fishing opportunities.
While there will be some changes to the state’s hunting and angling laws, my assessment would be that, overall, any negative influences will be minimal.
While the legislative process can seem intimidating or cumbersome to many, it is cleverly designed and places a high value on public input. The Department continues to encourage all hunters and anglers to become involved in that process.
What follows is a look at the 28 outdoors-related bills tracked by Game and Fish Department officials that passed and failed:
Bills That Passed
HB 1017 - Appropriates $83,277,498 to the Game and Fish Department for the biennium beginning July 1, 2017, and ending June 30, 2019. Passed House 72-13. Passed Senate 44-1.
HB 1025 - Provides a guideline for the Director to allocate big game hunting licenses to eligible organizations, and turkey hunting licenses for individuals receiving hunting expeditions from a nonprofit organization. Passed House 84-6. Passed Senate 45-0.
HB 1150 - Allows a resident of North Dakota, who does not want to receive a hunting license issued by lottery, to purchase a bonus point for a fee that is the same as the respective license. The fee is allocated to the Game and Fish Department’s Private Land Open To Sportsmen program. Passed House 90-0. Passed Senate 44-0.
HB 1204 - Reduces the age from 16 to 12 to qualify for an apprentice hunter validation license; allows youth who turn age 11 before the end of the calendar year to receive a whitetail doe license valid only for the youth hunting season without having taken the hunter education course; repeals the eagle language on state law, however, eagles remain protected under federal regulations. Passed House 83-2. Passed Senate 47-0.
HB 1207 - Allows Game and Fish to seize tangible property presumed abandoned on state game refuges, real property leased or managed by the Game and Fish Department, and state game or fish management areas. After 90 days, the director may dispose of seized, unclaimed, tangible property presumed abandoned, or order it be turned over to the North Dakota Wildlife Federation to be sold for the highest price obtainable. The sale proceeds, after expenses of the seizure and sale are deducted, must be remitted to the North Dakota Wildlife Federation Report All Poachers fund. A report of the sale, supported by proper vouchers covering all deductions made for expenses, must be filed for the record with the director. Passed House 84-4. Passed Senate 46-0.
HB 1367 - An operator of a personal watercraft is not required to have an observer on board while towing an individual on water skis, kneeboard or an inflatable craft if the personal watercraft is equipped with a mirror on each side with an unobstructed field of vision to the rear; allows an individual who is at least 16 years old to windsurf or boardsail without wearing a personal flotation device; prohibits water skiing or surfboarding between one hour after sunset to one hour before sunrise. Includes emergency clause. Passed House 87-5. Passed Senate 44-3.
HB 1419 - Gives the director the option to establish a shooting sports grant program, which may be made available to schools, clubs and organized youth groups. Passed House 85-3. Passed Senate 41-4.
SB 2239 - Repeals the annual inspection of all watercraft used for hire. Includes emergency clause. Passed House 89-2. Passed Senate 47-0.
SB 2284 - A vendor who sells hunting and fishing licenses may add a 3 percent service fee to the total transaction. The service fee does not apply to license purchases or applications made through the Game and Fish Department website. Passed House 91-3. Passed Senate 46-0.
SB 2308 - Allows a fish house and a coyote snare to be identified by a registration number provided by the Game and Fish Department. Previously, the trapper or angler needed to display their name or telephone number. This new law provides a registration number as another option for identifying fish house and snare ownership. Passed House 90-2. Passed Senate 47-0.
SB 2318 - Requires the pheasant hunting season to open no later than October 12. In 2017, the season is tentatively set to open October 7. Passed House 81-10. Passed Senate 46-0.
Bills That Failed
HB 1077 - Would have appropriated $83,569,734 to the Game and Fish Department for the biennium beginning July 1, 2017, and ending June 30, 2019. Failed House 0-88.
HB 1170 - This bill was related to criminal forfeitures, forfeiture of property, seizure procedures and forfeiture procedures. A portion of the bill originally replaced the term “property” with “animals, birds or fish” as items that must be turned over to the North Dakota Wildlife Federation to be sold for the highest price obtainable, but was removed during House proceedings. Passed House 50-42. Failed Senate 0-46.
HB 1180 - Would have required a law enforcement officer to have reasonable suspicion to stop an operator of a vehicle solely to determine compliance, except for inspections and safety checkpoints for commercial motor vehicles. This would have required Game and Fish to have reasonable suspicion for stops for violations of laws relating to wildlife. Failed House 41-46.
HB 1268 - Would have allowed Game and Fish to issue lifetime fishing licenses, and adopt rules necessary to determine eligibility and fees for the licenses. Failed House 22-67.
HB 1350 - Would have waived the nonresident landowner deer hunting license fee for retired veterans. Failed House 9-81.
HB 1377 - Would have allowed an individual to use a mechanized vehicle, spotlight, or artificial light of any size or battery capacity, to pursue, shoot, kill, take, or attempt to take, a coyote. Failed House 25-65.
HB 1396 - Would have allowed the director to issue special elk depredation management licenses to landowners in designated areas between ND Highway 14 on the western border, ND Highway 43 on the southern border, ND Highway 3 on the eastern border, and the Canadian border on the northern border, upon payment of the fee requirement for a resident big game license. Failed House 0-92.
HB 1413 - Would have developed a system for hunting license lotteries, providing preference to applicants 70 years of age or older. Failed House 16-74.
SB 2056 - Would have allowed a hunter of at least 65 years of age to use a crossbow during any bowhunting season. Failed Senate 13-32.
SB 2155 - Would have allowed an individual to use an airbow during any deer gun season. Failed Senate 10-34.
SB 2225 - Would have required an individual to receive permission from the landowner to hunt, trap or pursue game on private land. Currently permission must be received if the land is posted. Failed Senate 7-28.
SB 2226 - Would have allowed an honorably discharged veteran, who must obtain a certificate of completion for a hunter education course, to obtain the certificate by completing four hours of online instruction on hunter safety approved by the director. Failed Senate 19-26.
SB 2227 - Would have allowed a nonresident age 65 or older to purchase up to two nonresident waterfowl hunting licenses per year, with $100 of the fee for the nonresident’s second license to be used for the PLOTS program. The second license would have cost $150. Failed Senate 21-24.
SB 2228 - Would have allowed the director to issue six deer licenses and four spring wild turkey licenses to veterans residing in North Dakota who are selected by a nonprofit organization. Failed Senate 6-39.
SB 2259 - Would have allowed a nonresident to buy a waterfowl license for $200 that would have been valid for three periods of four consecutive days. Passed Senate 33-13. Failed House 30-63.
SB 2282 - Would have allowed an individual over age 65 who received a muzzleloader license to hunt deer using a telescopic sight, with a maximum four-power magnification. Passed Senate 44-2. Failed House 44-47. Motion to reconsider failed.