SF 3648

as introduced - 85th Legislature (2007 - 2008) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to natural resources; creating the outdoor heritage fund; providing for
disposition of certain receipts; creating the Sportsman's Stakeholders Council;
proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 97A.

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

Section 1.

[97A.056] OUTDOOR HERITAGE FUND.

(a) The outdoor heritage fund is established in the Minnesota Constitution, article
XI, section 15. All money earned by the outdoor heritage fund must be credited to the
fund. At least 97 percent of the money appropriated from the fund must be spent on
specific fish, wildlife, habitat, and land conservation projects. Receipts in the fund must
be spent only for grants to be allocated by the Sportsman's Stakeholders Council under
section 97A.0561.

(b) A forest consolidation account is created within the outdoor heritage fund. From
the receipts deposited in the fund under the Minnesota Constitution, article XI, section 15,
25 percent each fiscal year must be credited to the forest consolidation account. Money in
the account may be spent only for the acquisition of permanent easements on private forest
land or for the acquisition of land for forest consolidation. The conservation easements
must guarantee public access including, but not limited to, hunting and fishing access.

Sec. 2.

[97A.0561] SPORTSMAN'S STAKEHOLDERS COUNCIL.

Subdivision 1.

Membership.

(a) The Sportsman's Stakeholders Council shall
consist of 11 members to be appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the
senate. One member shall be appointed from each of the congressional districts, and the
remaining members shall be appointed at large. Persons appointed to the council must:

(1) have experience or expertise in the science, policy, or practice of the preservation,
enhancement, and protection of the state's fish, game, and wildlife habitat conservation;

(2) have strong knowledge in the state's fish, game, and wildlife habitat conservation
issues around the state;

(3) represent fishing and wildlife habitat stakeholders; and

(4) have demonstrated ability to work in a collaborative environment.

(b) No member shall, within two years prior to appointment, have received or
applied for, in the member's name, a grant, loan, or other form of assistance from the
council. No more than four of the members shall, during their terms of office, be officers,
directors, or employees of recipient sponsoring organizations. The council members shall
annually select from their membership a chair and other officers as they deem necessary.

Subd. 2.

Terms of office.

Three of the initial members, including one at-large
member, shall be appointed to terms ending the first Monday in January in each of the
years 2010, 2012, and 2013. The remaining two members shall be appointed to terms
ending the first Monday in January 2011. Thereafter, the terms of all members of the
council shall be four years. Members may serve until their successors are appointed and
qualify. If the governor fails to appoint a successor by July 1 of the year in which the
term expires, the term of the member for whom a successor has not been appointed shall
extend, subject to the advice and consent of the senate, until the first Monday in January,
four years after the scheduled end of the original term.

Subd. 3.

Compensation.

Members shall be compensated as provided in section
15.0575, subdivision 3.

Subd. 4.

Removal of members; filling vacancies.

A member may be removed by
the governor at any time:

(1) for cause after notice and hearing;

(2) for failing to submit any report required in subdivision 5; or

(3) for missing three consecutive scheduled meetings of the council.

The chair shall inform the governor of a member missing the three meetings. The
secretary of the council shall inform, in writing, a member after two consecutive missed
meetings and before the next meeting, that the member is subject to removal by missing
the next meeting. Vacancies on the council shall be filled by the governor, with the advice
and consent of the senate, for the remainder of the unexpired term.

Subd. 5.

Reports.

By November 15 of each year, the council shall prepare and
deliver to the legislature and the governor a report, which shall include the following:

(1) a financial statement showing receipts and disbursements for the year ending the
preceding June 30, including a listing of the donors and amount of gifts to the council or
its advisory committees valued in excess of $1,000;

(2) a brief description of the activities of the council for the preceding year;

(3) the number of meetings and approximate hours spent by council members in
meetings and on other council activities;

(4) the names of council members and their addresses, occupations, and dates of
appointment and reappointment to the council;

(5) the names and job classifications of council employees;

(6) a brief summary of council procedures proposed or adopted during the period;

(7) the number of requests for assistance received by the council and the number of
written and oral complaints received from residents of the state relating to the activities of
the council or the performance of the duties of the council as provided in this chapter;

(8) a summary by category of the substance of the complaints and requests referred
to in clause (7) above and the responses of the council to them;

(9) a listing of all grants, loans, or other forms of assistance given by the council,
including:

(i) the recipients of council assistance who are members of the council or its
advisory committees; and

(ii) each recipient sponsoring organization having a member of the council or its
advisory committees as a director, officer, or employee.

The indication required in clause (9), item (ii), shall also specify the name of the
member who is the officer, director, or employee.

Subd. 6.

Duties.

(a) The council shall adopt a strategic plan for making expenditures
from the outdoor heritage fund, including identifying the priority areas for funding for the
next six years. The strategic plan must be reviewed every two years. The strategic plan
must have clearly stated short- and long-term goals and strategies for outdoor heritage fund
expenditures, must provide measurable outcomes for expenditures, and must determine
areas of emphasis for funding. The council shall consider the long-term strategic plans
of agencies with environment and natural resource programs and responsibilities and
plans of fish, game, and wildlife conservation organizations during the development
and review of the strategic plan.

(b) The council shall, through the following activities, stimulate the conservation of
the fish, game, and wildlife habitat in the state:

(1) receive and consider any requests for grants, loans, or other forms of assistance;

(2) advise and serve as a technical resource at the request of sponsoring organizations
and political subdivisions in the state on programs relating to fish, game, and wildlife
habitat conservation;

(3) advise and recommend on existing or proposed activities of the departments of
the state relating to fish, game, and wildlife habitat conservation;

(4) accept gifts and grants to the council and distribute the same in accordance with
the instructions of the donor insofar as the instructions are consistent with the law;

(5) adopt procedures to be followed by the council in receiving and reviewing
requests for grants, loans, or other forms of assistance;

(6) adopt standards consistent with this section to be followed by the council in the
distribution of grants, loans, and other forms of assistance;

(7) distribute, according to the above procedures and standards, grants, loans, and
other forms of assistance for fish, game, and wildlife habitat conservation activities to
departments and agencies of the state, political subdivisions, sponsoring organizations,
and, in appropriate cases, to individuals engaged in fish, game, and wildlife habitat
conservation, provided that a member of the council shall not participate in deliberations
or voting on assistance to groups or persons in which that member has an interest as
officer, director, employee, or recipient;

(8) provide at least 20 percent in each fiscal year for a conservation partners program
to provide matching grants of up to $400,000 to local sporting and conservation clubs for
the improvement, enhancement, fish, game, and wildlife habitat conservation; and

(9) appoint advisory committees, which the council determines are essential to the
performance of its powers and duties under this section, provided that no member of an
advisory committee shall serve on a committee to which the member has an application
pending for a grant, loan, or other form of assistance from the council or its predecessor,
the state.

Subd. 7.

Executive director; staff.

The director shall be selected by a majority
of the council and shall serve at the pleasure of the council. The director shall be
knowledgable in fish, game, and wildlife habitat conservation, and shall have demonstrated
proficiency in the administration of programs related to fish, game, and wildlife habitat
conservation. The director is the chief administrative officer of the council and is
responsible for performing the executive duties of the council as provided in this chapter.
The director shall not be a member of the council. All other employees of the council
shall be in the classified civil service of the state. No employee of the council or its
advisory committees may be an applicant for or recipient of council assistance, nor may
an employee be an officer, director, or employee of a recipient sponsoring organization.

Subd. 8.

Statewide information and publicity.

The council shall develop and
implement a comprehensive statewide information and publicity system. In its report
required under subdivision 5, the council shall summarize its activities pursuant to this
subdivision.

Subd. 9.

Contracting.

The council may contract as necessary in the performance of
its duties.

Subd. 10.

Public meetings.

Meetings of the council and other groups the council
may establish must be conducted according to chapter 13D.

Subd. 11.

Appropriation.

The council's receipts from the sale of publications,
mailing lists, recordings or media projects, and fees from seminars or workshops are
annually appropriated to the council for the purposes of this section.

Sec. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

Sections 1 and 2 are effective upon approval by the voters of the constitutional
amendment proposed in Laws 2008, chapter 151.