CHAPTER 298
HB 590-FN – FINAL VERSION
21Mar2007… 0342h
05/24/07 1663s
13Jun2007… 2129eba
2007 SESSION
10/03
HOUSE BILL 590-FN
AN ACT changing the state migratory waterfowl stamp into a license issued by the fish and game department.
This bill changes the migratory waterfowl stamp program to a requirement for a license to take migratory waterfowl.
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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
21Mar2007… 0342h
05/24/07 1663s
13Jun2007… 2129eba
07-0746
10/03
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seven
AN ACT changing the state migratory waterfowl stamp into a license issued by the fish and game department.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
298:1 Reference Changed; Connecticut River Zone. Amend RSA 209:5-a, I to read as follows:
I. A person holding a Vermont resident hunting license which allows the taking of migratory waterfowl and coots, may take migratory game birds, as provided in RSA 209:5, except woodcock and snipe, from the Connecticut River zone, provided the state of Vermont grants the same right to a person holding a New Hampshire resident hunting license and waterfowl [stamp] license which allows the taking of migratory game birds in the Connecticut River zone in Vermont pursuant to Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 10, sec. 4909.
298:2 State Migratory Waterfowl License. Amend RSA 214:1-d to read as follows:
214:1-d State Migratory Waterfowl [Stamp] License Required.
I. No person shall at any time hunt, shoot, pursue, kill, or take migratory waterfowl without first procuring, in addition to the applicable hunting license required by RSA 214 and the federal duck stamp required by RSA 209:6, a [stamp] license to do so under RSA 214:9, XII, for the same period. [The stamp must be signed across the face in a permanent manner with the applicant’s signature.] A person under the age of 16 years may hunt, shoot, pursue, kill, or take migratory waterfowl without such a [stamp] license, provided that, while so doing, he or she is accompanied by an adult who has procured such a [stamp] license. For the purpose of this section “migratory waterfowl” shall mean ducks, mergansers, coots, geese, and brant.
II. The state treasurer shall establish a separate nonlapsing account within the fish and game fund, to be known as the waterfowl conservation account, to which shall be credited all fees collected by the fish and game department from the sale and issuance of state migratory waterfowl [stamps] licenses, and all donations received under paragraph III[, and all proceeds derived from the art created for the stamp under paragraph IV]. The moneys in the account, from whatever source, shall be used exclusively in the state of New Hampshire for the following purposes and are hereby appropriated for said purposes:
(a) The development, management, preservation, conservation, restoration, acquisition, and maintenance of migratory waterfowl habitat, including the development of state wetlands and shores and designated waterfowl management marshes for maximum migratory waterfowl production, access to such areas, and acquisition of necessary barriers; and
(b) The protection, conservation, and propagation of migratory waterfowl[; and
(c) Up to 25 percent of the prior year’s gross waterfowl receipts shall be expended for the promotion of the state migratory waterfowl stamp and print].
III. The state treasurer is hereby authorized to accept donations into the waterfowl conservation account from sources other than the proceeds from the sale of the state migratory waterfowl [stamps] licenses.
III-a. The state treasurer shall segregate the moneys credited to the waterfowl conservation account, established by RSA 214:1-d, II, and invest these funds to obtain the highest possible return on such investment until such funds are required to be expended exclusively for the purposes specified in RSA 214:1-d, II[(a) through (c)].
[IV. (a) The executive director, with the approval of the commission, shall adopt rules, pursuant to RSA 541-A, relative to the form, design and manner of issuance of the state migratory waterfowl stamp, and may, with the approval of the commission, provide for the reproduction, sale, licensing and other disposal of art created for the stamp, provided that all money received by the fish and game department derived from the art shall be added to the waterfowl conservation account.
(b) Notwithstanding subparagraph (a), in an effort to expedite the 1983 fall season issue of the first migratory waterfowl stamp, the New Hampshire fish and game commission and its executive director are hereby authorized to enter into a contract with Midwest Marketing of Sullivan, Illinois, to furnish stamps and to conduct sale of prints of the art in order to generate income for the waterfowl conservation account. The contractual agreement shall allow the New Hampshire fish and game commission and its executive director to establish a fee schedule for Midwest Marketing based on the amount of sales completed by the company for the New Hampshire fish and game department.
(c) The art for the stamp may be selected through an art contest which shall be regulated by the executive director with the approval of the commission.
V.] IV. The funds in the waterfowl conservation account shall be expended for the purposes stated in paragraph II[(a)-(c)] as determined by the executive director with the approval of the commission. Before the executive director and the commission approve any expenditure of funds from the account, the fish and game department shall analyze the proposed project and provide the executive director and the commission with recommendations as to the project’s usefulness and feasibility.
[VI.] V. The executive director and the commission shall submit to the general court at each regular session a detailed report with sufficient information to be fully understood by the general court and the public summarizing the receipts and disbursements from the waterfowl conservation account and the public benefits derived from the disbursements from it. This report shall also be available to the public after its submission to the general court.
[VII.] VI. Any person who violates any provision of this section or RSA 214:9, XII, or any rule adopted under this section, shall be guilty of a violation, and shall be guilty of a separate offense for each migratory waterfowl bird taken.
298:3 Application; Fees; Waterfowl Licenses. Amend RSA 214:9, XII to read as follows:
XII.[(a)] If the applicant wishes to hunt migratory waterfowl, $4.00, and the agent shall thereupon issue a state migratory waterfowl [stamp] license which shall entitle the licensee to hunt, shoot, kill, and take migratory waterfowl during such time and in such manner and numbers as may be allowed under RSA 209:6. [The agent shall be entitled to retain a fee of $.50 for each migratory waterfowl stamp sold and all migratory waterfowl stamps sold at the department headquarters or any subagency thereof shall charge the same fee which shall be credited to the general fish and game fund.
(b) Notwithstanding any of the general provisions for the expiration of fish and game licenses, any state migratory waterfowl stamp issued under subparagraph (a) shall expire on June 30 of each year.]
298:4 State Migratory Waterfowl License. RSA 214:1-d is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
214:1-d State Migratory Waterfowl License Required.
I. No person shall at any time hunt, shoot, pursue, kill, or take migratory waterfowl without first procuring, in addition to the applicable hunting license required by RSA 214 and the federal duck stamp required by RSA 209:6, a license to do so under RSA 214:9, XII, for the same period. A person under the age of 16 years may hunt, shoot, pursue, kill, or take migratory waterfowl without such a license, provided that, while so doing, he or she is accompanied by an adult who has procured such a license. For the purpose of this section “migratory waterfowl” shall mean ducks, mergansers, coots, geese, and brant.
II. Any person who violates any provision of this section or RSA 214:9, XII shall be guilty of a violation and shall be guilty of a separate offense for each migratory waterfowl bird taken.
298:5 Contingency. If HB 623-FN of the 2007 legislative session becomes law, section 2 of this act shall not take effect and section 4 of this act shall take effect on January 1, 2008 at 12:01 a.m. If HB 623-FN of the 2007 legislative session does not become law, section 2 of this act shall take effect on January 1, 2008 and section 4 of this act shall not take effect.
298:6 Effective Date.
I. Sections 2 and 4 shall take effect as provided in section 5 of this act.
II. The remainder of this act shall take effect January 1, 2008.
Approved: July 13, 2007
Effective: I. Sections 2 and 4 shall take effect as provided in section 5.
II. Remainder shall take effect January 1, 2008.