HB5073 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

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93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2003 and 2004
HB5073

Introduced 02/05/04, by William J. Grunloh

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

New Act

Creates the Illinois Hunting Heritage Protection Act. Provides that, subject to limitations, State public lands shall be open to access and use for recreational hunting. Provides that State public land management decisions and actions should, to the greatest practical extent, result in no net loss of land area available for hunting opportunities on State public lands. Provides that by October 1 of each year, the Governor shall submit a report pertaining to areas that have been closed to recreational hunting, the reasons for the closures, and areas that were opened to recreational hunting to compensate for those areas that were closed. Provides that no withdrawal, change of classification, or change of management status that effectively closes 100 or more acres of State public land to access or use for recreational hunting may take effect, unless the Governor has submitted written notice of the withdrawal or change to the General Assembly. Effective immediately.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning wildlife.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Illinois Hunting Heritage Protection Act.

Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds the following:

(1) Recreational hunting is an important and traditional recreational activity in which 14,000,000 Americans 16 years of age and older participate.

(2) Hunters have been and continue to be among the foremost supporters of sound wildlife management and conservation practices in the United States.

(3) Persons who hunt and organizations related to hunting provide direct assistance to wildlife managers and enforcement officers of federal, state, and local governments.

(4) Purchases of hunting licenses, permits, and stamps and payment of excise taxes on goods used by hunters have generated billions of dollars for wildlife conservation, research, and management.

(5) Recreational hunting is an essential component of effective wildlife management, in that it is an important tool for reducing conflicts between people and wildlife and provides incentives for the conservation of wildlife, habitats, and ecosystems on which wildlife depend.

(6) Recreational hunting is an environmentally acceptable activity that occurs and can be provided for on State public lands without adverse effects on other uses of that land.

Section 10. Definitions. For the purposes of this Act:

"Department" means the Department of Natural Resources.

"Department-managed lands" means those lands that the Department owns or those lands of which the Department holds management authority.

"Hunting" means the lawful pursuit, trapping, shooting, capture, collection, or killing of wildlife or the attempt to pursue, trap, shoot, capture, collect, or kill wildlife.

Section 15. Recreational hunting.

(a) Subject to valid existing rights, Department-managed lands shall be open to access and use for recreational hunting except as limited by the Department for reasons of public safety or homeland security or as otherwise limited by law.

(b) The Department shall exercise its authority, consistent with subsection (a), in a manner to support, promote, and enhance recreational hunting opportunities, to the extent authorized by law. The Department is not required to give preference to hunting over other uses of Department-managed lands or over land or water management priorities established by State law.

(c) Department land management decisions and actions may not, to the greatest practical extent, result in any net loss of land acreage available for hunting opportunities on Department-managed lands that exists on the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General Assembly.

(d) By October 1 of each year, the Governor shall submit to the General Assembly a written report describing:

(1) the acreage administered by the Department that has been closed during the previous year to recreational hunting and the reasons for the closures; and

(2) the acreage administered by the Department that was opened to recreational hunting to compensate for those acreage closed under paragraph (1).

(e) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to compel the opening to recreational hunting of national parks or national monuments administered by the National Park Service.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.