1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to protection of agricultural crops; 
  1.3             establishing a pilot program to control crop 
  1.4             depredation by deer or migratory waterfowl; 
  1.5             appropriating money. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  [PILOT PROGRAM; CONTROL OF CROP DEPREDATION BY 
  1.8   DEER OR MIGRATORY WATERFOWL.] 
  1.9      Subdivision 1.  [PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.] (a) The commissioner 
  1.10  of natural resources shall establish a pilot program to assist 
  1.11  agricultural producers whose agricultural crops or stored 
  1.12  livestock feed are damaged or destroyed by wildlife.  The 
  1.13  program must provide grants for the acquisition and/or 
  1.14  installation of wildlife deterrent devices. 
  1.15     (b) For purposes of this section, wildlife means deer or 
  1.16  migratory waterfowl; deterrent devices means fences, materials, 
  1.17  or practices at least as effective as fences. 
  1.18     (c) The commissioner, in cooperation with the commissioner 
  1.19  of agriculture, shall prepare and distribute within each 
  1.20  agricultural county forms for reporting crop depredation 
  1.21  incidents and applications for crop depredation grants. 
  1.22     Subd. 2.  [BENEFITS TO PROPERTY OWNERS, TENANTS.] (a) An 
  1.23  eligible property owner or tenant may receive one or more 
  1.24  grants, up to a maximum lifetime limit of $3,000, for deterrent 
  1.25  devices to protect agricultural crops or stored livestock feed 
  2.1   from damage or destruction by wildlife. 
  2.2      (b) The property owner or tenant must apply to the 
  2.3   commissioner on forms provided by the commissioner.  The 
  2.4   application must include reasonable documentation of the need 
  2.5   for the requested deterrent devices. 
  2.6      Subd. 3.  [ELIGIBILITY FOR PARTICIPATION.] A property owner 
  2.7   or tenant desiring to participate in the wildlife depredation 
  2.8   grant program must agree to: 
  2.9      (1) annually provide one or more planted wildlife food 
  2.10  plots having a combined area of five acres or more; 
  2.11     (2) maintain the fencing or deterrent devices as 
  2.12  appropriate and provide secure storage for the devices during 
  2.13  seasons or periods when not in use; and 
  2.14     (3) return the deterrent devices to an agent of the 
  2.15  commissioner of natural resources or the commissioner of 
  2.16  agriculture when the need no longer exists to provide protection 
  2.17  from crop depredation, either from changes in the agricultural 
  2.18  practices on the property or from mitigation of wildlife 
  2.19  depreciation concerns in the area. 
  2.20     Subd. 4.  [PROGRAM FOR MIGRATORY WATERFOWL.] A property 
  2.21  owner or tenant is eligible for a grant under the crop 
  2.22  depredation program for damage caused by migratory waterfowl if: 
  2.23     (1) the property is located in a migratory waterfowl flyway 
  2.24  as recognized by the commissioner of natural resources; and 
  2.25     (2) the depredation occurs during the spring crop growing 
  2.26  season or during the fall agricultural crop harvest season. 
  2.27     Subd. 5.  [PROGRAM FOR DEER.] A property owner or tenant is 
  2.28  eligible for a grant under the crop depredation program for 
  2.29  damage caused by deer if: 
  2.30     (1) the depredation occurs during winter months; 
  2.31     (2) the depredation occurs within a winter feeding range 
  2.32  recognized by the commissioner of natural resources; and 
  2.33     (3) the commissioner has received five or more filed 
  2.34  complaints of crop or stored feed damage by deer within the 
  2.35  township where the property is located. 
  2.36     Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  3.1      $....... is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  3.2   commissioner of natural resources for the biennium ending June 
  3.3   30, 1999, for the wildlife depredation grant program under 
  3.4   section 1.