20.1-02 Game and Fish Department

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CHAPTER 20.1-02GAME AND FISH DEPARTMENT20.1-02-01. Director of the game and fish department - Office to be maintained -Appointment - Term - Removal. The governor shall appoint the director of the game and fish department. The director holds office for a term of four years beginning on the first day of July after the governor's election and until a successor is appointed and qualified. The director is subject to removal by the governor for cause only.20.1-02-02. Oath of director. Before entering upon that individual's duties and withinten days after the date of appointment, the director shall take and file the oath prescribed for civil officers.20.1-02-03.Compensation and expenses of director - Audit and payment.Thesalary of the director must be within the amount appropriated for salaries by the legislative assembly. The director must be reimbursed for the necessary expenses incurred by the director in the performance of the director's duties. The director's salary and expenses must be paid out of the game and fish fund and must be audited and paid in the same manner as the salary and expenses of other state officers.20.1-02-04. Duties of director. The director shall:1.Maintain an office in Bismarck.2.Adopt rules necessary to the conduct of the department.3.Keep an accurate record of all the transactions and expenditures of the department and submit a biennial report to the governor and the secretary of state in accordance with section 54-06-04.4.Enforce state laws involving wildlife.5.Collect and distribute statistics and information germane to this title and publish information and reports, including a monthly bulletin, for the education of the public in conservation matters.6.Examine all waters of the state and, wherever suitable waters are found, arrange to plant, stock, or deposit available fish, spawn, or fry.7.Cooperate with the United States fish and wildlife service, or any other appropriate federal agency, and make applications for fish, spawn, and fry, to apportion and deposit in waters of the state.8.Cooperate with and assist clubs and individuals in stocking the waters of this state with fish.9.Remove or take from any public waters containing a surplus of fish any reasonable quantity of fish for stocking other public waters, hatching or propagating purposes, or exchange with other states and countries.10.Control, construct, mark, designate, manage, and have charge of all state fish hatcheries, state game farms, game refuges, and game reserves owned, leased, or controlled for the propagation and protection of game birds, game animals, and fish.11.Supervise the breeding, propagation, capture, distribution, and preservation of game birds, game animals, and fish as the director deems advisable.Page No. 112.Adopt rules necessary for carrying out section 20.1-10-01 and these rules have the force of law after one publication in the daily newspapers of this state.13.Provide the necessary blank forms for making applications for licenses of all kinds and distribute them among those authorized to sell licenses.14.Keep a record of all permits issued for the purpose of propagation and domestication of game birds or protected animals.20.1-02-05. Powers of director. The director may:1.Fix the salaries and the necessary travel and other expenses of department personnel subject to law and legislative appropriations.2.Employ any part-time personnel necessary to run the director's office and remove the employees at will. Salaries and necessary traveling and other expenses of these appointees must be authorized, audited, and paid in the same manner as salaries and expenses of state officers.3.Accept from any person, or gather, or purchase, fish, spawn, or fry, for distribution in state waters.4.Take alive at any time, under the director's personal supervision or under the personal supervision of any of the director's bonded appointees, any birds or animals for propagation purposes or for exchange with other states and foreign countries for game birds and animals of other species.5.Order additional protection for any fish with an open season when, after investigation, the director finds danger of extinction, undue depletion in any waters, or to aid in the propagation and protection of immature fish, by prescribing how, how many, where, and when the fish may be taken. The orders have the force of law.6.Take or cause to be taken at any time from any state public waters any suckers, carp, or pickerel.7.With the governor's approval, purchase, lease, or, subject to chapter 32-15, condemn real estate, when it is required to carry out this title, and sell it when it is no longer required, in the name of the state.8.Lease up to ninety-nine years any department land, for the purpose of development and improvement, to any nonprofit corporation, upon consideration of specified improvements to be made by the corporation and other improvements the department and the corporation may agree upon. The lease must provide that all funds received by the corporation through lease of the property be expended upon the leased premises for development and improvements. The corporation has the authority, subject to approval by the director, to sublease the premises for cabin sites and other recreational purposes. Upon termination of the lease, the leased property, together with all improvements, reverts to the department.9.Secure specimens of game birds, animals, and fish for breeding purposes by purchase or otherwise and by exchange with the game commissions or state game wardens of other states or countries.10.Issue special permits to shoot wildlife from a stationary motor vehicle upon application from individuals who are physically unable to walk for purposes of hunting or taking wildlife or who have lost the use of an arm at or below the elbow. The application must be accompanied by a physician's statement verifying the person's condition, and if used to hunt on lands controlled by the board of university and school lands, must designate the land on which the individual intends to hunt.Page No. 2The permittee must have permission from the lessee and the commissioner of university and school lands to hunt on lands controlled by the board of university and school lands. A permit issued under this subsection allows the permittee to drive, or to be driven, onto any land for the purposes of hunting wildlife, except that neither any other passenger within the vehicle nor the driver, if someone other than the permittee, may be a hunter, unless the other person is also a permittee. Provided, however, that if the land is privately owned and if the permittee is not going to drive or be driven along an established road or trail, the permittee must first obtain the consent of the owner or lessee to hunt on the land in the manner provided in this title.11.Issue to any individual who is blind, is a paraplegic, or who has lost the use of one or both arms a special permit to hunt game with a crossbow if that individual otherwise complies with and qualifies under the licensing and other provisions of this title. Battery-powered and electronic-lighted sight pins and telescopic sights not exceeding a maximum power of four by thirty-two millimeters may be attached to crossbows used for hunting under this subsection. However, an individual who is blind and who receives a special permit to hunt game with a crossbow under this subsection may hunt only on a preserve or area approved by the director.Forpurposes of this subsection, an individual who is blind means an individual who is totally blind, whose central visual acuity does not exceed twenty/two hundred in the better eye with corrective lenses, or in whom the widest diameter of the visual field is no greater than twenty degrees.12.Issue any resident license prescribed by this title to an individual who has come to the state with a bona fide intention of becoming a resident, even though that individual has not been a resident of this state for the required time period immediately preceding the application for the license; to any individual who is a member of the United States armed forces and who is within the state on duty or leave; to any employee of the United States fish and wildlife service or the conservation department of any state or province of Canada in the state to advise or consult with the department; or to any nonresident full-time student living in this state who is attending an institution under the jurisdiction of the state board of higher education, a private institution of higher education, or a tribal college. Except for a license issued to a nonresident full-time student living in this state who is attending an institution under the jurisdiction of the state board of higher education, a private institution of higher education, or a tribal college, a license may not be issued under this subsection unless an affidavit of a bona fide resident, setting forth the actual conditions, accompanies the application. This subsection does not apply to lottery permits, except that the director shall issue a resident deer hunting license to any resident of this state who is a member of the United States armed forces stationed outside this state and who shows proof of North Dakota residence and who pays the appropriate licensing fee. A deer license issued to a member of the United States armed forces under this subsection must be issued without being subject to the lottery for deer hunting licenses.13.Adopt rules, and issue permits for the transporting or introducing of fish, fish eggs, small game, big game, or fur-bearers after determining that the fish, fish eggs, birds, or animals have been properly inspected for disease, and that the transplanting or introduction will be in compliance with state laws and rules.No person maytransplant or introduce any fish or fish eggs into any of the public waters of this state, or transplant or introduce any species of small game, big game, or fur-bearers into this state without obtaining a permit from the director.14.Pursuant to section 4-01-17.1, cooperate with the agriculture commissioner, the United States fish and wildlife service, and other agencies in the destruction of predatory animals, destructive birds, and injurious field rodents. The director may adopt rules in accordance with organized and systematic plans of the department of the interior for the destruction of these birds and animals.The director mayPage No. 3determine the necessity and issue permits and rules and regulations therefor for the operation and use of private aircraft to assist in the destruction of the above birds and animals and aid in the administration or protection of land, water, wildlife, livestock, domesticated animals, human life, or crops.15.Exercise authority to establish programs and rules and administer state and federal funds provided to the state for the preservation and management of resident species determined by the director to be threatened or endangered species of wildlife. The authority exercised must be in compliance with the Endangered Species Act of 1973, Public Law 93-205.Any person who violates rules adopted under thissubsection is guilty of a class B misdemeanor.16.Provide for the funding of a private land habitat and access improvement program with moneys derived from the interest earned on the game and fish fund and habitat restoration stamp fees. The director shall place these funds in a special fund called the "game and fish department private land habitat and access improvement fund".17.Carry out a private land habitat and access improvement program by:a.Entering cost-sharing, habitat enhancement, and access agreements with landowners or agencies working on private land to help defray all or a portion of their share of local, state, or federally sponsored conservation practices considered beneficial to fish and wildlife.b.Leasing and developing fish and wildlife habitat or sport fishing areas on private land. Public access to leased land may not be prohibited.c.Carrying out practices that will alleviate depredations caused by predatory animals and big game animals.d.Publishing a brochure on an annual basis describing areas funded from the game and fish department private land habitat and access improvement fund which are open to public access in this state.e.Receiving advice from the game and fish advisory board concerning expenditures from the game and fish department private land habitat and access improvement fund.18.Subject to prior approval of the attorney general, lease or exchange lands under the director's jurisdiction or control which are deemed necessary for the improved management of wildlife resources.19.Subject to prior approval of the attorney general, impose any conditions or reservations to the leases or exchanges as the director determines necessary.20.Adopt rules and issue permits for conducting fishing contests involving public waters of the state. The director by rule shall define the term "fishing contest" and shall set criteria for which a fishing contest permit is required. The director may deny permits. No person may conduct a fishing contest on public waters without first receiving a permit issued by the director.21.Issue duplicates of lost or destroyed game and fish licenses or permits.Theprocedure for reissuing the licenses or permits and fees to be charged must be prescribed by the director by rule.22.Establish noncriminal penalties for any rules adopted by the director. The maximum noncriminal penalty that may be set by the director is a fine of two hundred fifty dollars.Violation of any rule not designated as having a noncriminal penalty isconsidered a criminal violation as established in the appropriate chapter of this title.Page No. 423.Issue, as a means of encouraging and promoting economic development in this state, complimentary fishing licenses to nonresident visiting dignitaries.Thecircumstances and conditions of complimentary fishing licenses issued must be determined by the director. The number of complimentary licenses may not exceed fifty licenses per year. The director shall determine the visiting dignitaries to be of national or international stature before they are eligible for complimentary licenses.24.Carry out a coyote depredation prevention program by conducting practices that will alleviate depredations caused by coyotes.25.Issue, as a means of rewarding dedication to teaching firearm hunter safety, complimentary lifetime resident certificates and combination licenses provided under section 20.1-03-11.1 to resident certified hunter education volunteer instructors. Eligible persons must have served as a lead or assistant certified hunter education volunteer instructor in this state for a minimum of one course in each of thirty years. The license is known as the "lifetime combination license" and must be signed by the director and the person receiving the license. The license must be revoked by the director if the licenseholder is convicted of a felony or found to have violated any provision of this title.26.Carry out a program that targets waterfowl resting areas within the private lands initiative program which includes payments to private landowners for lease of waterfowl resting areas on private lands that during the term of the lease provides limited public access for the hunting of waterfowl.27.Issue free hunting licenses to an organization that sponsors hunting trips for terminally ill children. A license issued under this subsection may be used by an individual sponsored by the organization to hunt the species indicated on the license.20.1-02-05.1. Land acquisitions - Statewide land acquisition plan. The director shallestablish a comprehensive statewide land acquisition plan that must be approved by the budget section of the legislative management.Every land acquisition made by the departmentexceeding ten acres [4.05 hectares] or ten thousand dollars must be approved by the budget section. Prior to any land acquisition, the department shall have the land in question appraised by a certified appraiser. The department may not acquire any land for an amount that exceeds the appraised value except for parcels or tracts of land less than forty acres [16.19 hectares] which may be acquired for up to two hundred percent of the appraised value.20.1-02-05.2. Private land access program - Guidelines. 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20.1-02 Game and Fish Department