Recent Legislation Affects Texas Wildlife, Parks

AUSTIN, Texas — New limited-entry management programs for the Texas
oyster and Gulf of Mexico shrimp fisheries, changes in game bird stamps
hunters are required to buy, creation of an all-terrain vehicle trail
program and new or clarified enforcement powers for game wardens are
among the outcomes of bills passed by the 79th Texas Legislature.

– Lake Mohave

The deadline for Gov. Rick Perry to sign or veto bills was June 19,
and a number of bills that became law affect the Texas Parks and
Wildlife Department, its constituents and the state’s fish and wildlife
resources. Below are descriptions of selected bills.

The descriptions below do not constitute legal definitions and are
solely intended to provide brief summaries of new legislation. For
general information on most new laws that affect hunting and fishing
this fall, see the Texas Outdoor Annual booklet, available free in
early August wherever hunting and fishing licenses are sold.

Unless otherwise noted below, all new laws take effect Sept. 1.

HB 505 — This bill makes it a Class C
misdemeanor to discharge a firearm across a private property line while
hunting or engaging in recreational shooting. The bill contains a
provision so there is no violation if the person shooting owns both
sides of the property line or has obtained written landowner permission.
HB 506 —
Currently, when private property becomes flooded by a public river or
stream, that land can then be used for hunting. This bill requires a
person to obtain landowner consent in order to hunt any wild animal or
wild bird on private land that has been submerged by public water when
the land is conspicuously marked as privately owned by a sign or signs.
HB 883 —
Under the Texas Artificial Reef Act of 1989, the Texas Parks and
Wildlife Department administers the Texas Artificial Reef Program on
sites permitted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This bill allows
private citizens, groups, and/or associations to deploy reef material
under guidelines and rules established by the Texas Parks and Wildlife
Commission. It would also allow law enforcement agencies that have
confiscated a derelict watercraft to transfer it to TPWD for use as an
artificial reef. This bill took effect when the governor signed it on
May 27.
HB 942 — This bill provides that any
boat 35 years old or older will be included in the antique boat
classification, which gives boat owners greater flexibility with the
placement of identification decals. The current definition for an
antique boat covers any boat manufactured prior to 1968.
HB 1076 —
As a token of appreciation for the sacrifices being made by active duty
Texas service members, this bill directs the TPWD Commission to waive
all fees for hunting and fishing licenses for Texas residents currently
on active military duty. A Texas resident is defined as a person who
has resided continuously in the state for more than six months prior to
applying for a license.
HB 1636 — Currently,
the Parks and Wildlife Code defines “resident” as an individual who has
resided continuously in Texas for more than six months immediately
before applying for a hunting, fishing, or other TPWD license. However,
there are no requirements for documenting whether or not a person is a
bona fide Texas resident. This bill gives the Texas Parks and Wildlife
Commission the authority to establish the proof required to demonstrate
residency for the purpose of obtaining a department license or permit.
This bill was technically effective when the governor signed it on June
18, but as a practical matter it won’t take effect until the Parks and
Wildlife Commission adopts the proposed requirements at the Commission
Meeting on Aug. 25.
HB 1959 — This bill will
provide an enforcement tool to deter unlawful hunting of deer with dogs
in certain East Texas counties where the activity has historically
occurred. It is not intended to prevent lawful hunting, including
trailing a wounded deer in counties where that is legal. The bill
applies to 22 East Texas counties, including Angelina, Hardin, Harris,
Harrison, Houston, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty, Montgomery, Nacogdoches,
Newton, Orange, Panola, Polk, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto,
Shelby, Trinity, Tyler and Walker counties. The bill authorizes the
department to specify the type of firearm a person may have in
possession during an open deer season, if that person is hunting on
someone else’s property with a dog. The bill imposes the same penalties
on hunting deer with dogs as are currently imposed for hunting game
animals at night, hunting from a vehicle on a public roadway, and
hunting with artificial light–three examples of violations which
decreased dramatically in recent years after penalties were increased.
HB 2025 —
This bill transfers jurisdiction of the Admiral Nimitz State Historic
Site-National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg to the Texas
Historical Commission. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department currently
administers the museum as part of the state park system. This bill took
effect when the governor signed it on June 18, and TPWD is in the
process of developing an agreement with THC to transfer operation of
the museum as directed by the legislation.
HB 2026 —
This bill repeals some ambiguous language and clarifies statutes
related to taking wildlife resources, possessing wildlife eggs, and
disposing of seized wildlife, including exotic livestock and fowl. It
also repeals the alligator hunting license and allows a person to take
an alligator with a general hunting license. The bill repeals the
maximum number of acres for a private bird hunting area and clarifies
area sign placement. Internet hunting is banned under the provisions of
this bill with a fine of $200 to $2000 and/or 180 days in jail. A
person may not engage in computer-assisted remote hunting of any animal
or bird or provide or operate facilities for computer-assisted remote
hunting if the animal or bird being hunted is located in Texas. The
bill also provides a $25 to $500 penalty for a person leaving public or
private water who does not remove and lawfully dispose of any harmful
or potentially harmful aquatic plant clinging to the person’s boat,
trailer or vehicle.
HB 2027 — Currently, a
person may legally hunt state-owned riverbeds in Texas, but this bill
makes it illegal to shoot a rifle, handgun or arrow from the bed or
bank of a navigable river or stream in Dimmit, Edwards, Frio, Kenedy,
Llano, Maverick, Real, Uvalde, or Zavala County. It does allow
continued hunting in these areas with a shotgun, as long as the hunter
is using a shotgun loaded with shot or buckshot (not slugs).
HB 2032 —
The bill broadens the scope of the Operation Game Thief (OGT) Committee
of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to better support the
efforts of game wardens to stop natural resource crimes. For the first
time, it allows OGT to consider reward claims for phone tips involving
boating while intoxicated (BWI), environmental crimes enforcement and
several other offenses. OGT operates a toll free phone hotline, (800)
792-GAME, that allows citizens to report wildlife crimes in Texas, and
callers can receive cash rewards if convictions result. This bill
amends the law to allow OGT to consider a reward claim for many other
violations wardens routinely enforce, including those related to
shrimping, oystering, water pollution, and solid waste dumping,
antiquities destruction or damage, arson and criminal mischief,
criminal trespass, theft, tampering with identification numbers,
tampering with governmental record, boating while intoxicated,
intoxication assault, intoxication manslaughter, and payment of sales
tax on boats and boat motors.
HB 2037 — This
bill permits game wardens to seize personal property and sell, destroy
or use it if the property owner is convicted of hunting on private
property without landowner consent. Property that may be seized
includes items such as a firearm, knife, spotlight, GPS unit, radio,
mobile phone or other item, but not a vehicle, aircraft, or vessel.
Under current law, personal property may be seized for some crimes, but
if the violator crosses onto private property and the landowner files
criminal charges for hunting without landowner consent, there is no
provision for seizing the hunter’s property.
HB 2555 —
This bill provides a legal defense to prosecution for people who act to
show mercy by humanely dispatching a suffering animal that has been
left mortally wounded by a non-hunting incident or appears to be a
diseased animal or an animal that poses a risk of harm to themselves,
people, or other wildlife. Currently, a person who finds such an animal
or bird can be prohibited from killing it because it may be out of
season or because the individual lacks a legal weapon. This bill took
effect when the governor signed it on May 24. Proposed rules for
implementing this new law will be adopted at the TPWD Commission
Meeting on Aug. 25
HB 3024 — This bill
amends the Agriculture Code to facilitate the sale of fish by the owner
of a private facility to manage fish in a private pond. (Current law
does not allow
the sale of fish without an appropriate license issued
by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department or an Aquaculture License
issued by the Texas Department of Agriculture.) Under the terms of this
bill, fish must be collected and purchased by an aquaculture license
holder. Sales must be documented within thirty days by an invoice
submitted to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department by the purchaser.
SB 272 —
This bill establishes a license moratorium for Texas commercial oyster
licenses due to overcapitalization (too many boats working the water).
It essentially creates for commercial oyster fishing the same type of
limited-entry management approach that has been successful in recent
years for bay shrimping and other Texas fisheries. A central concept of
the limited-entry strategy is to reduce the number of boats working the
fishery over time through attrition. This happens when TPWD retires a
license after a boat leaves the business, thus reducing overall fishing
pressure and creating more economically viable conditions for those who
remain in the fishery. The bill authorizes regulated issuance and
renewal of commercial oyster licenses based on historical participation
in the fishery. It is needed because the commercial oyster fishery is
the only Texas inshore open-access commercial fishery resulting in
economic instability. This is a particular concern during high Texas
oyster production years that correspond with poor production in other
states along the Gulf of Mexico. In those years, new entrants from out
of state can enter the fishery to take advantage of high production,
thus reducing profits for traditional Texas fishery participants. This
bill took effect when the governor signed it on May 20.
SB 454 —
This bill establishes a license moratorium for Texas gulf shrimp
licenses due to overcapitalization (too many boats working the water).
It essentially institutes for the Texas gulf shrimp fishery a
limited-entry management approach similar to that which has been
beneficial for bay shrimping and other Texas fisheries. The industry
has suffered in recent years from new entrants in the fishery and
market conditions as well as increased cost of production. Furthermore,
a moratorium on shrimp licenses in federal waters (beyond nine nautical
miles offshore) is anticipated. The result of the federal moratorium
will be to drive more shrimpers into the gulf waters; thus a license
moratorium for Texas gulf shrimping is necessary to further limit the
destabilization of the market for existing participants. SB 454 allows
regulated issuance and renewal of commercial gulf shrimp licenses based
on historical participation in the fishery in order to provide greater
economic stability. This bill took effect when the governor signed it
on May 20.
SB 489 — This bill authorizes the
TPWD Commission to adopt rules to revoke and suspend boat dealer
licenses for rules infractions. It also requires boat dealers,
distributors, or manufacturers to enter into a license agreement with
TPWD and it redefines “dealer” to eliminate the requirement that a
dealer be at an established or permanent place of business. The
department currently has authority to issue marine dealer licenses, but
there is no procedure to revoke a license.
SB 804 —
This bill strengthens TPWD’s legal claim to collect money from the sale
of hunting and fishing licenses and other licenses and permits that
support conservation work. One key feature of the bill is to prevent a
significant financial loss of conservation revenue to TPWD in the event
of a license deputy bankruptcy. This bill took effect when the governor
signed it on June 17.
SB 1192 — This bill
reorganizes the existing three Texas game bird stamps–the white-winged
dove stamp, waterfowl stamp, and turkey stamp–into two new stamps. The
new $7 Migratory Bird Stamp will cover all migratory game birds, such
as ducks, geese, doves, and cranes. The new $7 Upland Game Bird Stamp
covers all resident game birds, such as turkey, quail, and pheasants.
The new configuration would provide funding to all species currently
covered by the existing stamps, as well address concerns about
declining species like mourning doves and quail. The new stamps will
enable the department to improve its ability to measure hunter
participation, and harvest of a number of these species. The stamp
reorganization would provide much-needed flexibility for TPWD to use
stamp funds where the greatest species and habitat needs lie. For
example, research is needed for mourning doves, which population
surveys indicate have been declining for years. However, white-winged
dove stamp funds currently cannot be used for mourning dove research.
The stamp reorganization is also expected to provide funding and
flexibility needed to research and address quail population declines.
This bill was technically effective when the governor signed it on June
17, but as a practical matter it won’t take effect until new season
hunting and fishing licenses go on sale Aug. 15.
SB 1311 —
This bill establishes, within the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department,
a program to provide a system of trails and recreational areas for use
by off-highway vehicles. The program is to be self-funded through the
purchase of decals, fines levied for offenses relating to the operation
of off-highway vehicles, and funds and grants received from the federal
government and other sources determined by the department. The
legislative analysis for the bill estimated nearly 60,000 off-highway
vehicles were sold in 2001 in Texas and about 1.3 million users of
off-highway vehicles and off-highway motorcycles in the state. However,
Texas has only about six sites specifically intended for off-road use,
and none of them use a management program. The bill envisions
designated trails to allow off-road recreation while protecting natural
habitats by limiting off-road vehicle usage in sensitive areas.