HCS CSSB 247(RES): "An Act restricting the use of certain funds deposited in the fish and game fund; and relating to the powers and duties of the commissioner of fish and game."
00HOUSE CS FOR CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 247(RES) 01 "An Act restricting the use of certain funds deposited in the fish and game 02 fund; and relating to the powers and duties of the commissioner of fish and 03 game." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 16.05.050 is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 06 (20) to cooperate with sportsmen's organizations and other 07 organizations to increase game populations in the state and to expand indigenous 08 populations into suitable habitat. 09 * Sec. 2. AS 16.05.130(a) is repealed and reenacted to read: 10 (a) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, except as provided in (c) 11 of this section, money accruing to the state from sport fishing, hunting, and trapping 12 licenses or tag fees shall be expended only as provided by appropriation. Money 13 subject to this subsection 14 (1) shall be used only for projects that provide for
01 (A) intensive management of game populations for maximum 02 sustained yield by human harvest; 03 (B) propagation, reintroduction, restocking, transplantation, 04 manipulation of habitat, predator removal, hunter education, wildlife education, 05 public access to sport fishing and hunting areas, or restoration of sport fish and 06 game resources; 07 (C) direct benefits to purchasers of sport fishing, hunting, and 08 trapping licenses and tags that may enhance sport fish stocks and game 09 populations for purposes of increasing opportunities for human harvests of sport 10 fish and game; 11 (D) conservative management of sport fish stocks for high quality recreational fisheries, including catch and 12 release fisheries and trophy fisheries; 13 (E) construction and preservation of shooting ranges; or 14 (F) administration of the fish and game license function and 15 payment of license vendor compensation; and 16 (2) may not be 17 (A) expended for projects in an area where consumptive uses 18 of sport fish and game are not allowed, except in cases where educational 19 efforts are evident that support sport fishing, hunting, trapping, and related 20 management; 21 (B) expended, borrowed, or otherwise used for a purpose not 22 authorized under this subsection; 23 (C) expended for costs of personnel or administration, other 24 than costs of personnel or administration directly incurred in conjunction with 25 projects allowed under this subsection, except under a general indirect recovery 26 provision; or 27 (D) expended for costs of construction, other than costs of 28 construction projects that are consistent with (1) of this subsection and that are 29 for 30 (i) facilities used solely for the propagation of sport fish 31 or game for restocking, enhancement, or transplantation;
01 (ii) shooting ranges; 02 (iii) facilities to improve public access to areas where 03 consumptive uses of sport fish and game may occur; or 04 (iv) educational programs, associated with designated 05 areas, that support sport fishing, hunting, trapping, and related 06 management. 07 * Sec. 3. AS 16.05.130(b) is amended to read: 08 (b) Money accruing to the state from waterfowl conservation tag fees from 09 hunters may not be diverted to a purpose other than (1) the [CONSERVATION AND] 10 enhancement of waterfowl; (2) the acquisition, by lease or otherwise, of wetlands that 11 are important for waterfowl and for consumptive uses [PUBLIC USE] of waterfowl 12 in the state; and (3) projects related to consumptive uses of waterfowl 13 [WATERFOWL RELATED PROJECTS APPROVED BY THE COMMISSIONER; 14 (4) THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE WATERFOWL CONSERVATION 15 PROGRAM; AND (5) EMERGENCIES IN THE STATE AS DETERMINED BY THE 16 GOVERNOR]. The department shall maintain a state waterfowl tag fee account within 17 the fish and game fund to permit separate accounting records for the receipt and 18 expenditure of money derived from the sale of waterfowl tags. [THE DEPARTMENT 19 SHALL PREPARE A REPORT BEFORE APRIL 15 OF EACH EVEN-NUMBERED 20 YEAR FOR THE PUBLIC AND THE LEGISLATURE ON THE USE OF MONEY 21 DERIVED FROM WATERFOWL CONSERVATION TAGS AND LIMITED 22 EDITION PRINTS. THE DEPARTMENT SHALL NOTIFY THE LEGISLATURE 23 THAT THE REPORT IS AVAILABLE.] 24 * Sec. 4. AS 16.05.130 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 25 (e) Except as otherwise required by federal law, federal funds received by the 26 state through the federal aid to fish restoration program or the federal aid in wildlife 27 restoration program may not be expended except as provided by appropriation. Funds 28 subject to this subsection 29 (1) shall be used only for projects that provide for 30 (A) intensive management of game populations for maximum 31 sustained yield for human harvest;
01 (B) propagation, reintroduction, restocking, transplantation, 02 manipulation of habitat, predator removal, hunter education, wildlife education, 03 public access to sport fishing and hunting areas, or restoration of sport fish and 04 game resources; 05 (C) direct benefits to purchasers of sport fishing and hunting 06 licenses and tags that may enhance sport fish stocks and game populations for 07 purposes of increasing opportunities for human harvests of sport fish and game; 08 (D) conservative management of sport fish stocks for high quality recreational fisheries, including catch and 09 release fisheries and trophy fisheries; or 10 (E) construction and preservation of shooting ranges; and 11 (2) may not be 12 (A) expended for projects in an area where consumptive uses 13 of sport fish and game are not allowed except for projects that are consistent 14 with (1) of this subsection and that are for 15 (i) facilities used solely for the propagation of sport fish 16 or game for restocking, enhancement, or transplantation; 17 (ii) shooting ranges; 18 (iii) facilities to improve public access to areas where 19 consumptive uses of sport fish and game may occur; or 20 (iv) educational programs, associated with designated 21 areas that support sport fishing, hunting, trapping, and related 22 management; 23 (B) expended, borrowed, or otherwise used for a purpose not 24 authorized under this subsection; 25 (C) expended for costs of personnel or administration, other 26 than costs of personnel or administration directly incurred in conjunction with 27 projects allowed under this subsection; or 28 (D) expended for costs of construction, other than costs of 29 construction projects that are consistent with (1) of this subsection and that are 30 for 31 (i) facilities used solely for the propagation of sport fish
01 or game for restocking, enhancement, or transplantation; 02 (ii) shooting ranges; or 03 (iii) facilities to improve public access to areas where 04 consumptive uses of sport fish and game may occur. 05 (f) The department shall prepare an annual report of expenditures from the fish 06 and game fund and provide the report to each member of the legislature. The report 07 must contain a detailed accounting of expenditures and a description of the proportion 08 of the fund expended for each project and of the benefits of each project to purchasers 09 of hunting, trapping, and sport fishing licenses. 10 (g) In this section, "educational" means interpretive signs, public service, 11 wildlife education events, and hunting education days. 12 * Sec. 5. AS 16.05.340(a)(17)(B) is amended to read: 13 (B) The Board of Game shall by regulation exempt the 14 requirement of a waterfowl conservation tag for waterfowl hunting in areas of 15 the state not likely to benefit from programs described in AS 16.05.130(b)(2) 16 and (3) [AS 16.05.130(b)(2) - (4)]. 17 * Sec. 6. AS 16.05.130(d) is repealed.