Revision: Jan. 21, 2010, midnight
CHAPTER 81
HB 447-FN – FINAL VERSION
04/28/05 1210s
2005 SESSION
10/01
HOUSE BILL 447-FN
This bill increases the fee for a license and tag to hunt bear under the black bear management program, and clarifies the uses of the funds in the bear management fund.
This bill is a request of the fish and game department.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
04/28/05 1210s
05-0725
10/01
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Five
AN ACT relative to black bear license and tag fees.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
81:1 Black Bear Management Program; Fees Increased; Use of Funds. Amend RSA 208:24 to read as follows:
208:24 Black Bear Management Program.
I. The wild black bear has played a vital role in the development and history of the state and is recognized as a valuable game and wildlife resource. It is recognized that bears should be accorded such protection as is necessary to maintain and enhance their numbers.
II. No person shall take wild black bears in this state without first procuring a bear license and tag in addition to the applicable license to hunt issued pursuant to RSA 214 or RSA 208:5. The cost of the bear license and tag shall be [$4] $15 for residents and $47 for nonresidents.
III. The bear license and tag shall be in such form as determined by the executive director in rules adopted under RSA 541-A. The holder of a bear license and tag shall, upon killing a bear, fill out and securely attach to the bear’s ear the bear tag bearing the name and address of the licensee and other information that the executive director determines to be appropriate. The bear tag shall remain attached to the bear as long as the bear carcass remains in the state. Only the bear tag issued to the licensee who killed the bear shall be attached to that bear. No person shall possess a bear tag that was not issued to that person. No person shall attach a bear tag to a bear the person did not kill.
III-a. A bear license shall not constitute satisfactory proof that the holder of such license previously had a hunting license issued to the holder in this state, or any other state, province or country as required under RSA 214:23-a.
IV. The state treasurer shall establish a separate nonlapsing account within the fish and game fund, to be known as the bear management fund, into which all fees collected by the fish and game department from bear licenses and tags shall be deposited. The moneys in this account shall be used exclusively [to supplement] for the implementation of a comprehensive black bear management program, including education, research, [and] protection [of black bears], and management, and are hereby continually appropriated for said purposes.
V. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
81:2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2006.
(Approved: June 7, 2005)
(Effective Date: January 1, 2006)