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The 2008 Regular Legislative Session
adjourned on March 13, 2008.
Archives: 2007,
2006.
A bill must go through a
lengthy process in order to become state law. There is a
summary available
to help explain this process. The vast majority of bills never make it out of
committee.
To keep track of a bill's current official status or to read
the actual text of a bill, click
here and
enter the bill's number. If you don't know the bill's number, click
here
and search for all bills in Washington.
Concerning animal trapping. (HB
1606)
Status:
Active
 Top
Jan 14: By resolution, reintroduced and
retained in present status.
If this bill passes, it might actually iron out the BC question for falconry trapping.
I found this language in
the bill itself;
the
digest version just skims over it.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The commission has the authority
to manage the trapping of wild animals in Washington.
which leads back to this definition earlier in the same bill:
Section 1, part 17 "Wild animals" means those species of the class Mammalia
whose members exist in Washington in a wild state. The term "wild animal"
does not include feral domestic mammals, moles, gophers, Eastern grey squirrels,
California ground squirrels, and old world rats and mice of the family Muridae
of the order Rodentia.
So in a nutshell, this bill appears to clarify and codify all trapping in WA
- several WACs are being replaced - while explicitly excluding birds.
The Bill Analysis also explicitly states that: "In addition, the regulations
on the use of body-gripping traps do not apply to any animal that is not a
mammal. This includes bird species, and reptile species."
(Here's the link to the analysis.
http://www.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/2007-08/Pdf/Bill Reports/House/1606.HBA
07.pdf)
Sponsors: Representatives Blake,
Newhouse,
Grant,
Buri,
Takko,
VanDeWege,
B. Sullivan,
Eickmeyer,
Kretz,
Hailey,
Warnick,
Kessler,
Strow,
Hinkle,
Dunn,
Moeller
New Crime: Unlawful Hunting on Property of Another (HB 1078 / SB 5129)
Status:
Active
Top
Jan 14: By resolution, reintroduced and retained in
present status.
Creates a new crime: hunting on the property of another
would be a misdemeanor. One would have to enter or remain unlawfully (as
defined in RCW 9A.52.010) and hunt for wild animals or wild birds. It focus on
big-game animals, but doesn't specify exactly what would happen if a raptor
entered or needed to be retrieved from private land.
Regarding the state wildlife account (SB
6136)
Top
Status:
Active
Jan 14: By resolution, reintroduced and
retained in present status.
A new section is added to chapter 77.12 RCW to read as
follows: (1) It is the policy of the state that the state wildlife account be
self-supporting and that the license and permit fee revenues to the state
wildlife account must be sufficient to fund the cost of the department's
programs that support those activities. Provides that, for each statutory
license or permit fee that references this act, the commission shall
periodically adjust the fee to ensure that state wildlife account revenues are
sufficient to fund these activities. No fee may be increased by more than ten
percent in any calendar year without prior legislative approval.
Surcharge for expanding
hunter access to certain private lands. (SB 5130)
Top
Status: Active
Jan 14: By resolution, reintroduced and
retained in present status.
Read Bill Summary Here
Sponsors:
Senator Jacobsen
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