Below is a list of North Carolina's outdoors-related ratified and pending bills (from NC Camo Coalition):
Ratified Bills :
Retrieval of big game. 2011-22. This bill allows a hunter to use a portable light and a dog on a leash to retrieve any species of big game wounded during a legal attempt to take the animal, provided that no motorized vehicle is used. The hunter may use a legal pistol or bow and arrow weapon to dispatch the wounded animal and the search may extend into the time period between dusk and dawn. http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2011&BillID=h29
Prohibit reclassification of Boylston Creek in Transylvania County to trout waters. 2011-24. This bill disapproved the Rule of the Environmental Management Commission jointly developed with the Wildlife Resources Commission to upgrade the classification of Boylston Creek to trout waters. NC Camo sent out an alert opposing the bill and pointing out the dangerous precedent set by legislating trout water classifications. http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2011&BillID=H62
Repeal crossbow purchase permit requirement. SL 2011-56. This bill repeals the requirement to obtain a special permit before purchasing a crossbow. Removing this impediment to crossbow hunters is a positive change. http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2011&BillID=s406
Pending Bills:
Exempt speckled sea trout from the 2010 law to improve Fishery Management Plans. HB 136. This bill would disregard the law requiring Fishery Management Plans to end over fishing within two years of adoption of the Plan with regard to speckled sea trout. This is a very bad idea that NC Camo sent out an earlier alert on. It appears that the strong response against this bill has killed it in the House Agriculture Committee. http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2011&BillID=h136
Classify striped bass, speckled sea trout, and red drum as coastal game fish. HB 353. This bill would make these fish game fish in coastal waters, just as they are now classified in inland waters; would prohibit their taking except with hook and line; and would outlaw sale of these fish. These fish are struggling for sustainability under current management as commercial fish and need the protection of game fish status. NC Camo sent out an earlier alert supporting this bill. The bill is in the House Commerce Committee. http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2011&BillID=h353
Landowner protection act. HB 762 / SB 374. This bill was requested by the Wildlife Resources Commission to improve public safety on the highways and to help landowners control trespass. The original bill would have prohibited hunting on private lands without written permission; discharging a firearm or bow and arrow from the highway statewide while taking wildlife; and possession of a loaded firearm while taking wildlife outside the passenger area of a vehicle on the roadway, unless the person is the owner or lessee of the property on one side of the road. It would have also repealed over 100 local laws pertaining to hunting from the road and trespass. The bill became very controversial with landowners and hunters alike opposing sections of the bill that repealed local laws, prohibited hunting from the roadway and trespass, except on posted land. The end result is a bill that allows Wildlife Enforcement Officers to enforce the posted trespass law for the first time and establishes a new option for posting private land by using a stripe of purple paint on the boundary at 100 yard intervals. http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2011/Bills/House/PDF/H762v3.pdf
Hunting protection act. HB 569 / SB 429. This bill would have given an exception to the posted trespass law for hunters to enter posted land adjacent to their hunting ground if the land is not fenced and provided no weapon or motor vehicle is used to retrieve hunting dogs that have strayed onto that posted land. The bill would have further required written permission from the owner or lease of unposted lands before entering for the purpose of hunting or before willfully releasing dogs on the property. As expected and predicted, this bill ran into a storm of protest from landowners resulting in it being shelved without action. http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2011&BillID=s429
Randleman Reservoir Fishing. HB 519. This bill would give the authority to regulate the size and number of fish that can be taken from Randleman Reservoir to the Piedmont Triad Water Authority. This is a very bad precedent in that it takes regulatory authority away from the Wildlife Resources Commission and places it in the hands of unqualified, local administrators of the reservoir. It seems that the bill is dead and that some accommodation with the Water Authority has been reached. http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2011&BillID=h519
Amend Fox Laws. HB 755. This bill was requested by the Wildlife Resources Commission and introduced by the House Agriculture Committee. The bill would have placed management and regulation of the fox and coyote with the WRC the same as any other game or fur bearing animal. Also the bill would have repealed over 100 local fox laws to give consistency and understanding to the rules controlling the harvest of foxes. This change would have placed the setting of seasons and bag limits for fox and coyote under authority of the WRC. The bill also would have allowed the WRC to regulate the use of pistols in taking small game. This would have been a monumental change to the game law and would have resulted in much improvement over the management and taking of foxes and coyotes. NC Camo strongly supported this bill; however, strong opposition by fox hunters resulted in the bill being pulled and rewritten to become a Study Bill. The WRC is charged with conducting a study on the biology and management of foxes and coyotes to be concluded by April 1, 2012. The results and any legislative changes recommended to implement the findings of the study will be submitted to the General Assembly for consideration in the Short Session of 2012. http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2011&
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