GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

1987 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 452

SENATE BILL 299

 

AN ACT TO PROVIDE A SPECIAL MIGRATORY WATERFOWL HUNTING LICENSE AND TO PRESCRIBE THE PENALTY FOR MIGRATORY GAME BIRD VIOLATIONS.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

 

Section 1.  G.S. 113-270.2B reads as rewritten:

"§ 113-270.2B.  Voluntary migratory waterfowl conservation stamp print.-(a)  The Wildlife Resources Commission has exclusive production rights for the voluntary migratory waterfowl conservation stamp print, and is authorized to adopt policy for the annual selection of an appropriate design for the stamp print and to have the stamp print produced for sale at a price not to exceed ten dollars ($10.00). This policy may include ownership rights of the original art selected and; arrangements for the reproduction, distribution and marketing of prints of the design of the stamp,; and provision for sharing the resulting revenues.

(b)       The proceeds accruing to the Commission from its share of the voluntary migratory waterfowl conservation stamp program prints shall be used by the Commission for the benefit of migratory waterfowl management in North Carolina."

Sec. 2.  G.S. 113-270.3(b) is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:

"(6)      Migratory waterfowl hunting license - $5.00.  This license is valid for use by an individual within the State and must be procured before taking any migratory waterfowl within the State.  The Wildlife Resources Commission may implement this license requirement through the sale of an official waterfowl stamp which may be a facsimile, in an appropriate size, of the waterfowl conservation print authorized by G.S. 113-270.2B.  An amount not less than one-half of the annual proceeds from the sale of this license shall be used by the Commission for cooperative waterfowl habitat improvement projects through contracts with local waterfowl interests, with the remainder of the proceeds to be used by the Commission in its programs for the conservation of waterfowl."

Sec. 3.  G.S. 113-270.3(d) reads as rewritten:

"(d)      Any individual who possesses a current and valid lifetime or resident or nonresident sportsman combination license may at lawful times and places engage in any specially regulated activity without any of the licenses required by subdivisions (1) through (4) of subsection (b).  Any individual who possesses a current and valid lifetime sportsman combination license may engage in hunting migratory waterfowl without the license required by subdivision (b)(6) of this section.  The Wildlife Resources Commission may administratively provide for the annual issuance of big game tags, or other identification for big game authorized by subsection (c), to holders of lifetime sportsman combination licenses."

Sec. 4.  G.S. 113-294 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:

"(m)     Any person who unlawfully takes any migratory game bird with a rifle or an unplugged or improperly plugged shotgun; or who unlawfully takes any migratory game bird with the aid of live decoys or any salt, grain, fruit, or other bait; or who unlawfully takes any migratory game bird during the closed season or during prohibited shooting hours; or who unlawfully exceeds the bag limits or possession limits applicable to any migratory game bird is guilty of a misdemeanor.  In addition to any other penalty prescribed in this Subchapter for the offense in question, any person convicted under this subsection is punishable by a fine of not less than one hundred fifty dollars ($150.00) in addition to any other punishment that the court, in its discretion, may impose."

Sec. 5.  Section 4 of this act shall become effective October 1, 1987.  Sections 1, 2, and 3 of this act shall become effective July 1, 1988.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 23rd day of June, 1987.