HB 2072 Sale of big game tags

[cmc]

You all might want to become very familiar with this bill being proposed....

 

HB 2072 Sale of big game tags

 

It's bound to be quite the subject matter of many discussions in the very near future.

 

cmc

[cmc]

First version....

 

 

 

 

HB 2072

Introduced by

Representative Weiers JP

 

AN ACT

 

 

 

amending title 17, CHAPTER 3, article 2, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 17-347; relating to big game tags and permits.

 

 

 

 

 

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

 

 

 

 

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

 

Section 1. Title 17, chapter 3, article 2, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 17-347, to read:

 

START_STATUTE17-347. Big game tags; sale in bulk to qualified nonprofit organization; definitions

 

A. Each year the department shall reserve certain hunt tags for taking big game species as specified in subsection b of this section for a qualified organization to resell rights to the reserved tags by auction and raffle at an annual sportsmen exposition in this state under the auspices of the qualified organization and at annual banquets in this state of any of its chapters. The proceeds of resale shall be used as authorized in this section. Within thirty days after the effective date of this section, the department shall contract with the qualified organization that has made the requisite payment and advance deposit under subsection C of this section. The original contract shall specify the terms and conditions consistent with this section for sale in bulk of rights to reserved tags, for the qualified organization to exercise its authority to resell rights to the tags at the annual sportsmen exposition and county banquets and for the department to issue the reserved tags after resale.

 

B. Tags whose rights are sold for resale by auction or raffle and that are reserved for issue by the department after resale shall be known as governor tags, legislator tags and sportsmen tags as follows:

 

1. Governor tags shall be reserved for resale by auction, shall be species specific and shall be valid for that species for any hunt area with any legal weapon for three hundred sixty-five days beginning August 15 of each year. Governor tags shall be issued in the following numbers for all of the following big game species:

 

(a) Two tags for each of the following species: elk, mule deer, whitetail deer, bison (buffalo) and bear.

 

( B ) One tag for each of the following species: desert bighorn sheep, rocky mountain bighorn sheep, pronghorn (antelope), merriam's turkey, rio grande turkey and gould's turkey.

 

2. Legislator tags shall be reserved for resale by auction, shall be species specific and shall be valid for any open season for that species for a specific hunt area with the legal weapon allowed for that season. Legislator tags shall be issued in the following numbers for all of the following big game species and apply to all of the following hunt areas:

 

(a) At least ten tags, and at least one tag for each hunt area, for bull elk in hunt areas that offer all of the following three types of hunts:

 

(i) Early archery bull elk hunts.

 

(ii) Either early muzzleloader bull elk hunts or early rifle bull elk hunts.

 

(iii) Late bull elk hunts.

 

( B ) One tag for whitetail deer for each hunt area that offers late hunts.

 

© One tag for mule deer for each hunt area that offers a general season hunt and is located north of the Colorado river.

 

(d) Two tags for antelope valid for all hunt numbers as the commission specifies in any of regions 1, 2, 3 and 5 as in existence on January 1, 2012, except that both tags shall not be from the same region.

 

3. Sportsmen tags shall be reserved for resale by raffle and shall be valid for a specific hunt number. Sportsmen tags shall be issued in the following numbers for all of the following big game species and apply to all of the following hunt numbers:

 

(a) One tag for each hunt number for mule deer and one tag for each hunt number for whitetail deer.

 

( B ) At least twenty-one bull elk tags for early bull elk hunts as follows:

 

(i) At least eight tags for rifle bull elk hunts with at least one tag for each hunt number.

 

(ii) At least five tags for muzzleloader bull elk hunts comprising at least one tag for each bull elk hunt number.

 

(iii) Eight tags for archery-only bull elk hunts comprising one tag for each of the following eight hunt areas as in existence on January 1, 2012: 1, 3a/3c, 8, 9, 10, 22, 23 and 27.

 

© Ten tags for late bull elk hunts from the general season with not more than one tag in any hunt number as the commission specifies.

 

(d) Two pronghorn (antelope) tags from the general season comprising one tag for each of hunt areas 10 and 19a as in existence on January 1, 2012.

 

(e) Fourteen spring Merriam's turkey tags with not more than two tags for each hunt area as the commission specifies and with hunt dates occurring in April or May.

 

(f) Twenty-five peccary (javelina) tags comprising ten tags from the general season, ten tags from the archery season and five tags from the ham season as the commission specifies. Not more than two of the twenty-five tags shall be for the same hunt area.

 

(g) Fifty antlerless elk tags as the commission specifies.

 

(h) Except as provided by subdivision (f) of this paragraph, the department shall reserve no legislator or sportsmen tags for hunt numbers that are exclusively for C.H.A.M.P. hunts, ham hunts or juniors hunts as designated by the department or for hunts assigned by the department only for bonus points.

 

C. The department and the qualified organization must enter into the original contract within thirty days after the effective date of this section. The original contract shall provide that the department shall sell in bulk to the qualified organization the rights to resell all the tags specified in subsection B of this section not later than September 1 of each year beginning in 2013. The date in the original contract for the first sale in bulk shall not be later than October 1, 2012, unless the parties mutually agree on a later date. For the original contract and each contract thereafter, the governor tags sold in bulk shall be for the three hundred sixty-five day period beginning the following august 15, and the legislator and sportsmen tags sold in bulk shall be for hunt seasons as specified by the department that are in the one-year period beginning the following July 1. As a condition to negotiating the original contract between the department and the qualified organization under subsection A of this section, a qualified organization shall pay the department:

 

1. A nonrefundable one-time fee of ten thousand dollars for the cost to the department to implement and administer this section.

 

2. For the first bulk sale of rights to resell tags an advance deposit of twenty-five thousand dollars, which shall be applied as a credit toward the amount due from the qualified organization under subsection D, paragraph 2 of this section.

 

D. Not later than September 1 of each year beginning in 2013, the department and the qualified organization shall enter into an addendum to the original contract to conform the contract to the current fees for tags. The original contract and the annual addenda are subject to the following conditions:

 

1. The rights to the tags shall be sold to the qualified organization at the generally applicable resident fee for those hunt tags as specified and published for the applicable season.

 

2. The right to resell the rights to the tags for issuance by the department after resale vests in the qualified organization on payment in full of the total resident fees for all tags rights to which are sold to it in bulk.

 

E. Notwithstanding section 17-332, subsection D, the rights to tags may be resold by auction and raffle as provided by this section. The qualified organization shall only designate to the department for issuance of a tag individuals who have presented to the qualified organization a valid hunting or combination license, except a three-day class H license.

 

F. Under the rules of the department and as provided by the original contract between the department and qualified organization, the department shall issue the reserved tags to individuals whom the qualified organization designates as having purchased the right to a specific reserved tag by auction or raffle, subject to the following conditions:

 

1. Nothing in this section, including subsection D, paragraph 2 of this section, requires the department to issue a legislator or sportsmen tag if a hunt is not established for the species and hunt area for which the tag was reserved.

 

2. If a nonresident individual purchases the rights to a tag by auction or raffle, the department shall not issue the tag until the nonresident pays to the department the difference between the published resident fee and published nonresident fee for the tag.

 

3. Except for payment as required by paragraph 2 of this subsection, a nonresident who purchases a tag by auction or raffle at the annual sportsmen exposition is not subject to any otherwise applicable restriction on issuance of the tag to a nonresident.

 

4. An individual to whom the department issues a tag may later transfer the tag only as department allows by rule.

 

G. The tag is valid for the year and season of the hunt that the commission prescribes, except for governor and legislator tags as prescribed in subsection B, paragraphs 1 and 2 of this section. The qualified organization shall not re-sell to an individual by raffle the rights to more than one tag per species per year, except that for the purposes of this limitation mule deer and whitetail deer are considered separate species. Big game taken under tags issued under this section do not count toward normal bag limits for the species that the commission establishes. The department shall not in any manner restrict participation by any individual in the department's annual draws for tags based on the individual's possession of, or participation in the process to purchase rights to reserved tags under this section.

 

H. The qualified organization shall first apply the proceeds from the resale by auction and raffle of the rights to tags to cover all costs associated with the annual sportsmen exposition in this state and any county chapter banquets at which rights to tags are auctioned or raffled. The qualified organization shall apply the remaining proceeds from the resale by auction and raffle of the rights to tags in this state for programs to achieve any of the following purposes, including the qualified organization's costs of administration:

 

1. To sustain or create sportsmen education and outdoor programs for youth of this state.

 

2. To facilitate access for sportsmen to cross private lands onto public lands.

 

3. To sustain or enhance habitat in this state and to increase targeted species populations for deer, sheep, elk, pronghorn (antelope) and turkey in this state.

 

4. To facilitate public education and communications programs relating to sportsmen and wildlife issues.

 

5. To protect sportsmen heritage.

 

6. To conduct other programs or activities that promote concepts consistent with the north american model of wildlife conservation.

 

I. The legislature finds that all of the purposes in subsection h, paragraphs 1 through 6 of this section complement and enhance the department's management of wildlife in the public trust under this title to include current and future programs in the department's strategic plan and comprehensive wildlife conservation strategy. For the purposes listed in subsection h of this section, the qualified organization may use the proceeds, solely or in conjunction with other organizations, to make matching or other grants to the department and to organizations that are qualified pursuant to section 501©(3) of the internal revenue code and whose articles of incorporation or bylaws stipulate that the mission or purpose of the organization is to increase, sustain or otherwise conserve specific species of wildlife. Beginning in 2014, not later than march 31 of each year the qualified organization shall file with the department a report adopted by resolution of its board of directors that specifies for the preceding calendar year the amounts of the proceeds from the sale by auction and raffle of rights to tags at the exposition and annual banquets, of the costs associated with the exposition and annual banquets, of the monies paid for each of the six purposes listed under subsection h of this section and of the costs of administration. For the purposes of this subsection, "strategic plan and comprehensive wildlife conservation strategy" means the department's "wildlife 2012: strategic plan for the years 2007‑2012" and "arizona's comprehensive wildlife conservation strategy: 2005‑2015" and their respective successor and modified plans and strategies.

 

J. Unless defined in this subsection or for the purposes of this title, the terms used in this section have the meanings prescribed by the department by rule. For the purposes of this section:

 

1. "Early bull elk hunts" means hunts for elk with hunt dates occurring during weeks 37, 38, 39 or 40.

 

2. "Hunt area" means an area as defined by the commission as of january 1, 2012 or as later redefined but pertaining to the same or similar area.

 

3. "Hunt number" means the number assigned by commission order to any hunt area where a limited number of hunt tags is available.

 

4. "Late bull elk hunts" means hunts for bull elk with hunt dates occurring during weeks 47, 48 or 49.

 

5. "Late whitetail deer hunts" means hunts for whitetail deer with hunt dates occurring during weeks 50, 51 or 52.

 

6. "Qualified organization" means an organization that is qualified pursuant to section 501©(3) of the internal revenue code and that meets all of the following conditions:

 

(a) Its membership includes a significant cross-section of species‑specific wildlife conservation and sportsmen organizations from throughout this state.

 

( B ) It is not a member of, does not hold a charter from and is not a chapter of a national wildlife conservation or sportsmen organization.

 

© It has been in existence for at least five years.

 

7. "Tag" means the applicable hunt permit-tag as defined by rule. END_STATUTE

 

Sec. 2. Implementation; exemption from rule making

 

A. Within thirty days after the effective date of this act, the Arizona game and fish commission shall adopt any rules that are necessary for the department to timely enter into the original contract and make the sale in bulk of rights to tags for the hunt seasons beginning July 1, 2013 for legislator and sportsmen tags and for the hunting period beginning August 15, 2013 for governor tags.

 

B. Except as provided by subsection A of this section, for the purposes of this act the Arizona game and fish commission is exempt from the rule making requirements of title 41, chapter 6, Arizona Revised Statutes, for six months after the effective date of this act.

 

Sec. 3. Emergency

 

This act is an emergency measure that is necessary to preserve the public peace, health or safety and is operative immediately as provided by law.

[gotcoues]

All in favor, say I..............

 

total silence.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

 

This guy can't be serious

[elkaholic]

this is how ++++ get things voted in without anybody noticing

 

please contact your legislative rep-- one can buy a govenors type tag for any spieces and kill all you can bafford to buy

 

 

heres the guy who proposed this !

 

http://www.azleg.gov/MembersPage.asp?Member_ID=58&Legislature=49&Session_ID=87

[gearsnagger]

There just ain't enough Governors tags as it is so the rich folk can't go hunting????? BOO HOO This is probably Outfitter and Guide driven!$ $ $

The next step is land owners/grazing rights tags again $ Outfitter and Guide biz driven$!

When I get drawn for a hunt I have waited years for I sure as heck don't want some rich a$$hole and his guide anywhere in the unit! Just make a few more governors tags and leave the draw tags for the working folks!

Just another way that whitey keeps us down!

[TAM]

So where do the profits from the sale of these tags go? Who is in charge of spending the money? What are they allowed to spend the money on? Is there any oversight or rules in who, what, when, or how these groups can spend the money or do they just get to all give themselves big pay raises?

 

Seems like a great way to create more tags for the wealthy and more corruption within the system!

 

I also feel like this would push AZ one step closer to a land owner tag system like they have in Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. Seems like a very slippery slope if you ask me.

[PaysonBrad]

HB 2072 misses the mark and opens the door to numerous issues. Its a clear attempt by one organization to gain control over significant funds and to decide who and where the publics resources are utilized. The concept of utilzing tag revenue to fund habitat and access needs is attractive but as proposed in this bill its designed as a funding mechanism for one organization, opens the door to land owner tags and is destined to be divisive between the sportsmen groups in the State. Its mystifying to me with the relative small amount of sportsmen/women in the State why the organizations can't work together to develop legislation that is beneficial to the fish and wildlife of the State. Secretive bills that are poorly conceived are detrimental to sportsmen and ultimately to the wildlife of the State. I plan to contact Jerry Weiers and express my opposition to this Bill, I hope you do that same.

[rthrbhntng]

Jerry Wieirs is a member of the Arizona Elk Society and many other organizations here in Arizona.

This legislation is being pushed by Arizona Sportsmen for Wildlife.

The Arizona Elk Society is not involved in this legislation at all.

 

Steve Clark, President, Arizona Elk Society

[Jay Scott]

Respectfully, in situations like this I have found it is best to read thru everything very clearly and make sure to have an absolute understanding of what is being proposed. Then create a list of questions or things that need to be clarified in order to make a decision as to whether the proposal might be good or bad and why. Personally, this is the first I have seen of this but think there could be some very positive things that could come out of this for wildlife. I am going to do some research and get to the bottom of the pros and cons. One thing I know for sure is that we need way more money for our wildlife that what we have. I think it is easy to get emotional over things like this but I am going to try and get a full understanding before I make my decision.

[CouesWhitetail]

Respectfully, in situations like this I have found it is best to read thru everything very clearly and make sure to have an absolute understanding of what is being proposed. Then create a list of questions or things that need to be clarified in order to make a decision as to whether the proposal might be good or bad and why. Personally, this is the first I have seen of this but think there could be some very positive things that could come out of this for wildlife. I am going to do some research and get to the bottom of the pros and cons. One thing I know for sure is that we need way more money for our wildlife that what we have. I think it is easy to get emotional over things like this but I am going to try and get a full understanding before I make my decision.

 

 

+1

 

This will raise a lot of money for wildlife management and is worth giving some serious thought to. I haven't made up my mind either as I haven't read through the bill in detail. But from what I hear this would help make the Expo here in AZ a much bigger event drawing a lot more hunters here to attend the expo (and therefore a lot of additional money for AZ businesses). So more money for AZ wildlife, more money for AZ businesses sound like strong pluses. Some estimate the Expo with all these added raffle and auction tags will bring $20,000,000 to Arizona. That's 20 million bucks of additional revenue in a state that is hurting for money.

 

This bill is not proposing landowner tags. And many of the tags would be raffled off, not auctioned, so it's not just targeting rich out of state hunters.

[elkaholic]

would be nice to see a list of what non-profit organizations actually qualify for these tags !!

 

 

??? The qualified organization shall first apply the proceeds from the resale by auction and raffle of the rights to tags to cover all costs associated with the annual sportsmen exposition in this state and any county chapter banquets at which rights to tags are auctioned or raffled.The qualified organization shall apply the remaining proceeds from the resale by auction and raffle of the rights to tags in this state for programs to achieve any of the following purposes, including the qualified organization's costs of administration:

 

 

 

what money will be left - ?????

 

 

heres another take - wake up call

 

 

6. "Qualified organization" means an organization that is qualified pursuant to section 501©(3) of the internal revenue code and that meets all of the following conditions:

The only group that qualifies for this is the Sportsman for Wildlife and that is it! It was written by and for the Sportsman for Wildlife (Gilstrap and Jerry Weiers to be exact) so you see if this goes through it will tie the hands of all other organizations in this state.

 

They do not tell you the entire story and what that story is is this—if this goes forward we will have a heck of a time with private land owners—the private land owners will fight this and they will have their land owner tags in our state—why? Because it opens the door for a fight from the land owners in this state and they are a lot stronger than all of us sportsman put together.

 

 

H. The qualified organization shall first apply the proceeds from the resale by auction and raffle of the rights to tags to cover all costs associated with the annual sportsmen exposition in this state and any county chapter banquets at which rights to tags are auctioned or raffled. The qualified organization shall apply the remaining proceeds from the resale by auction and raffle of the rights to tags in this state for programs to achieve any of the following purposes, including the qualified organization's costs of administration:This means that this group will have to pay for an Annual Sportsman Expo with the money they generate from the tags—do you know how much this would cost? It would pretty much eat up any and all monies that are generated right there. And why do we need a sportsman expo when we already have one each year?

[azslim]

got this off another site from a member I respect.

 

 

6. "Qualified organization" means an organization that is qualified pursuant to section 501©(3) of the internal revenue code and that meets all of the following conditions:

 

The only group that qualifies for this is the Sportsman for Wildlife and that is it! It was written by and for the Sportsman for Wildlife (Gilstrap and Jerry Weiers to be exact) so you see if this goes through it will tie the hands of all other organizations in this state.

 

They do not tell you the entire story and what that story is is this—if this goes forward we will have a heck of a time with private land owners—the private land owners will fight this and they will have their land owner tags in our state—why? Because it opens the door for a fight from the land owners in this state and they are a lot stronger than all of us sportsman put together.

 

 

H. The qualified organization shall first apply the proceeds from the resale by auction and raffle of the rights to tags to cover all costs associated with the annual sportsmen exposition in this state and any county chapter banquets at which rights to tags are auctioned or raffled. The qualified organization shall apply the remaining proceeds from the resale by auction and raffle of the rights to tags in this state for programs to achieve any of the following purposes, including the qualified organization's costs of administration:

This means that this group will have to pay for an Annual Sportsman Expo with the money they generate from the tags—do you know how much this would cost? It would pretty much eat up any and all monies that are generated right there. And why do we need a sportsman expo when we already have one each year?

 

 

 

 

I tend to agree with him. Since the expo's have a cover fee I'm sure there will be money leftover but how much. And I hate to see State based organizations left out, AES, ADA, ADBSS.

[Jeff Welker]

I'm in the minority of folks that sees an opportunity for positive benefits for all Arizona outdoorsmen in HB 2072, rather than a shrouded conspiracy involving a small special interest group. Maybe I'm wrong; however, I agree with Jay on the best approach to finding out what is intended with this bill by directly asking informed questions of 2072's sponsor. I also think all of us are served best in these type of lively debates by couching our individual comments as "opinions" instead of adamant facts.

 

I have sent an email to Representative Weiers asking specific questions about this bill and will happily post his responses when received.

[Red Rabbit]

This legislation is being pushed by Arizona Sportsmen for Wildlife.

 

SFW?

Seems SFW was under the microscope in the startup of the AZ organization due to SFW operations in Utah. Judging from posts on Monster Muleys, UT SFW is rather contentious and the accounting of expo funds have not been published. What % of UT SFW funds actually hit the ground for habitat and wildlife? What % of the UT SFW tag monies have gone back to UTDWR? How is AZ SFW different from the UT SFW?

[CouesWhitetail]

Doug,

 

I am with you on wanting to see a thorough accounting of how the money is spent.

 

This whole proposal is very similar to what Utah has done with the Western Hunting and Conservation Expo. I just checked their website and they don't seem to provide a link to an accounting of how much money actually hits the ground.

 

However, I know from attending the Western Hunting and Conservation Expo that lots of hunters love the opportunity to enter the drawings to win some great tags. They limit the number of times any one person can enter to win and so the odds of winning are pretty good. They do post odds of winning on the expo website.

http://www.huntexpo.com/apply.php

 

Just to be clear the AZ Sportsmen for Wildlife group is an arizona-based group that is not part of the national SFW organization. In fact this bill specifically states that the qualified group must not be tied to a national organization. You can read more about their public policies here: http://arizonasportsmenforwildlife.org/?option=com_content&view=article&id=98&Itemid=69