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Safari Fee on Owners of Big Game Hunting Preserves

SPONSORS: Rep. Cushing, Rock 15; Rep. R. Read, Rock 16
COMMITTEE: Fish and Game and Marine Resources
 
ANALYSIS
This bill establishes a safari fee administered by the fish and game department and assessed on owners of big game hunting preserves.

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
 
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
 
1 New Section; Safari Fee. Amend RSA 212 by inserting after section 26 the following new section:
 
212:26-a Big Game Hunting Preserve; Property Defined; Fee Imposed.
 
I. For the purposes of this section, big game hunting preserve property means the land, consisting of more than 500 contiguous acres, used in whole or in part for the operation of privately owned or leased property, which provides an opportunity for hunting safaris and the taking of big game that has been placed or propagated on the property for such purposes, whether operated on a commercial or nonprofit basis as a hunting preserve for big game.
 
II. A fee imposed at the rate of $1 per acre on all big game hunting preserve property. The fee shall be collected by the fish and game department on April 1 of each calendar year. Upon receipt of revenues from the safari fee, the executive director of fish and game shall deposit the moneys collected into the fish and game fund established under RSA 206:33.
 
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.
LBAO
09-0582
01/15/09
 
HB 466-FN-A - FISCAL NOTE
 
AN ACT establishing a safari fee on owners of big game hunting preserves.
FISCAL IMPACT:
 
The Fish & Game Department states this bill will increase state fish & game fund revenue by $24,000 in FY 2010 and each fiscal year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on county and local revenue or state, county, and local expenditures.
 
METHODOLOGY:
The Fish & Game Department states this bill establishes a fee of $1 per acre on big game hunting preserve properties that satisfy certain criteria, to be deposited in the fish and game fund. The Department states it currently licenses regulated shooting preserves, and one operation falls under the parameters of this bill. The preserve is approximately 24,000 acres in size; therefore, it would pay an annual fee of approximately $24,000 beginning in FY 2010.


Exotic Wildlife Association Membership Alert

To all of our members, this sort of legislation is just the beginning of defining a minimum acreage for hunting preserves.  The fees charged for being allowed to commercially hunt on your own property is absolutely ludicrous.  This will surely cause some to go out of business, but again that is what some state's regulators want...Charly Seale, Executive Director

phone: 830-367-7761