HF 219

1st Engrossment - 92nd Legislature (2021 - 2022) Posted on 02/11/2022 11:28am

A bill for an act
relating to game and fish; modifying provisions on farmed Cervidae; modifying
firearms restrictions; permanently allowing portable stands in certain wildlife
management areas; modifying Cervidae carcass transportation restrictions;
amending Minnesota Statutes 2020, sections 35.155, subdivisions 1, 6; 97A.015,
subdivision 51; 97A.137, subdivision 5; 97A.505, subdivision 8; 97B.031,
subdivision 1, by adding a subdivision; repealing Minnesota Statutes 2020, section
97B.318.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 35.155, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Running at large prohibited.

(a) An owner may not allow farmed
Cervidae to run at large. The owner must make all reasonable efforts to return escaped
farmed Cervidae to their enclosures as soon as possible. The owner must immediately notify
the commissioner of natural resources of the escape of farmed Cervidae if the farmed
Cervidae are not returned or captured by the owner within 24 hours of their escape.

(b) An owner is liable for expenses of another person in capturing, caring for, and
returning farmed Cervidae that have left their enclosures if the person capturing the farmed
Cervidae contacts the owner as soon as possible.

(c) If an owner is unwilling or unable to capture escaped farmed Cervidae, the
commissioner of natural resources may destroy the escaped farmed Cervidae. The
commissioner of natural resources must allow the owner to attempt to capture the escaped
farmed Cervidae prior to destroying the farmed Cervidae. Farmed Cervidae that are not
captured by 24 hours after escape may be destroyed.

(d) A hunter licensed by the commissioner of natural resources under chapter 97A may
kill and possess escaped farmed Cervidae in a lawful manner and is not liable to the owner
for the loss of the animal.

(e) Escaped farmed Cervidae killed by a hunter or destroyed by the commissioner of
natural resources must be tested for chronic wasting disease at the owner's expense.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective September 1, 2021.

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 35.155, subdivision 6, is amended to read:

Subd. 6.

Identification.

(a) Farmed Cervidae must be identified by means approved by
the Board of Animal Health. The identification must include a distinct number that has not
been used during the previous three years and must be visible to the naked eye during
daylight under normal conditions at a distance of 50 yards. The identification for white-tailed
deer must also include contact information of a phone number or address that enables the
reader to readily identify the owner of escaped deer. This contact information does not need
to be visible from a distance of 50 yards. White-tailed deer must be identified before October
31 of the year in which the animal is born, at the time of weaning, or before movement from
the premises, whichever occurs first. Elk and other cervids must be identified by December
31 of the year in which the animal is born or before movement from the premises, whichever
occurs first. As coordinated by the board, the commissioner of natural resources may destroy
any animal that is not identified as required under this subdivision.

(b) The Board of Animal Health shall register farmed Cervidae. The owner must submit
the registration request on forms provided by the board. The forms must include sales
receipts or other documentation of the origin of the Cervidae. The board must provide copies
of the registration information to the commissioner of natural resources upon request. The
owner must keep written records of the acquisition and disposition of registered farmed
Cervidae.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective September 1, 2021.

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 97A.015, subdivision 51, is amended to read:

Subd. 51.

Unloaded.

"Unloaded" means, with reference to a firearm, without ammunition
in the barrels and magazine, if the magazine is in the firearm. A muzzle-loading firearm
with is unloaded if:

(1) for a flintlock ignition is unloaded if, it does not have priming powder in a pan. A
muzzle-loading firearm with;

(2) for a percussion ignition is unloaded if, it does not have a percussion cap on a nipple.;

(3) for an electronic ignition system, the battery is removed and is disconnected from
the firearm; and

(4) for an encapsulated powder charge ignition system, the primer and powder charge
are removed from the firearm.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective the day following final enactment.

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 97A.137, subdivision 5, is amended to read:

Subd. 5.

Portable stands.

(a) Prior to the Saturday on or nearest September 16, a portable
stand may be left overnight in a wildlife management area by a person with a valid bear
license who is hunting within 100 yards of a bear bait site that is legally tagged and registered
as prescribed under section 97B.425. Any person leaving a portable stand overnight under
this subdivision must affix a tag with: (1) the person's name and address; (2) the licensee's
driver's license number; or (3) the "MDNR#" license identification number issued to the
licensee. The tag must be affixed to the stand in a manner that it can be read from the ground.

(b) From November 1 through December 31, a portable stand may be left overnight by
a person possessing a license to take deer in a wildlife management area located in whole
or in part north and west of a line described as follows:

State Trunk Highway 1 from the west boundary of the state to State Trunk Highway 89;
then north along State Trunk Highway 89 to Fourtown; then north on County State-Aid
Highway 44, Beltrami County, to County Road 704, Beltrami County; then north on County
Road 704 to Dick's Parkway State Forest Road; then north on Dick's Parkway to County
State-Aid Highway 5, Roseau County; then north on County State-Aid Highway 5 to
Warroad; then north on State Trunk Highway 11 to State Trunk Highway 313; then north
on State Trunk Highway 313 to the north boundary of the state.

A person leaving a portable stand overnight under this paragraph must affix a tag with: (1)
the person's name and address; (2) the licensee's driver's license number; or (3) the "MDNR#"
license identification number issued to the licensee. The tag must be affixed to the stand so
that it can be read from the ground and must be made of a material sufficient to withstand
weather conditions. A person leaving a portable stand overnight in a wildlife management
area under this paragraph may not leave more than two portable stands in any one wildlife
management area. Unoccupied portable stands left overnight under this paragraph may be
used by any member of the public. This paragraph expires December 31, 2019.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective retroactively from July 1, 2019.

Sec. 5.

Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 97A.505, subdivision 8, is amended to read:

Subd. 8.

Importing hunter-harvested Cervidae carcasses.

(a) Importing
hunter-harvested Cervidae carcasses procured by any means into Minnesota is prohibited
except for cut and wrapped meat, quarters or other portions of meat with no part of the
spinal column or head attached, antlers, hides, teeth, finished taxidermy mounts, and antlers
attached to skull caps that are cleaned of all brain tissue. Hunter-harvested

(b) Cervidae carcasses taken originating from outside of Minnesota may be transported
on a direct route through the state by nonresidents.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective the day following final enactment.

Sec. 6.

Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 97B.031, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Permissible firearms and ammunition; big game and wolves.

A person
may take big game and wolves with a firearm only if:

(1) the any rifle, shotgun, and or handgun used is a caliber of at least .22 inches and with
has centerfire ignition;

(2) the firearm is loaded only with single projectile ammunition;

(3) a projectile used is a caliber of at least .22 inches and has a soft point or is an
expanding bullet type;

(4) the any muzzleloader used is incapable of being has the projectile loaded only at the
breech muzzle;

(5) the any smooth-bore muzzleloader used is a caliber of at least .45 inches; and

(6) the any rifled muzzleloader used is a caliber of at least .40 inches.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective the day following final enactment.

Sec. 7.

Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 97B.031, is amended by adding a subdivision to
read:

Subd. 7.

Regular firearms deer season.

During the regular firearms deer season, all
legal firearms may be used statewide.

Sec. 8. REPEALER.

Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 97B.318, is repealed.

APPENDIX

Repealed Minnesota Statutes: H0219-1

97B.318 ARMS USE AREAS AND RESTRICTIONS; REGULAR FIREARMS SEASON.

Subdivision 1.

Shotgun use area.

During the regular firearms season in the shotgun use area, only legal shotguns loaded with single-slug shotgun shells, legal muzzle-loading long guns, and legal handguns may be used for taking deer. Legal shotguns include those with rifled barrels. The shotgun use area is that portion of the state lying within the following described boundary: Beginning on the west boundary of the state at the northern boundary of Clay County; thence along the northern boundary of Clay County to State Trunk Highway (STH) 32; thence along STH 32 to STH 34; thence along STH 34 to Interstate Highway 94 (I-94); thence along I-94 to County State-Aid Highway (CSAH) 40, Douglas County; thence along CSAH 40 to CSAH 82, Douglas County; thence along CSAH 82 to CSAH 22, Douglas County; thence along CSAH 22 to CSAH 6, Douglas County; thence along CSAH 6 to CSAH 14, Douglas County; thence along CSAH 14 to STH 29; thence along STH 29 to CSAH 46, Otter Tail County; thence along CSAH 46, Otter Tail County, to CSAH 22, Todd County; thence along CSAH 22 to U.S. Highway 71; thence along U.S. Highway 71 to STH 27; thence along STH 27 to the Mississippi River; thence along the east bank of the Mississippi River to STH 23; thence along STH 23 to STH 95; thence along STH 95 to U.S. Highway 8; thence along U.S. Highway 8 to the eastern boundary of the state; thence along the east, south, and west boundaries of the state to the point of beginning.

Subd. 2.

All legal firearms use area.

The all legal firearms use area is that part of the state lying outside of the shotgun use area.