1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to natural resources; providing compensation 
  1.3             to landowners within two miles of a game refuge for 
  1.4             crops damaged or destroyed by protected wild animals; 
  1.5             appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, 
  1.6             section 97A.091, subdivision 2. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 97A.091, 
  1.9   subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  1.10     Subd. 2.  [WHEN HUNTING ALLOWED; COMPENSATION FOR CROP 
  1.11  DAMAGE OR DESTRUCTION.] (a) The commissioner may allow hunting 
  1.12  of a protected wild animal species within any portion of a state 
  1.13  game refuge, including a state park.  Hunting may be allowed 
  1.14  under this paragraph only if the commissioner finds: 
  1.15     (1) the population of the species exceeds the refuge's 
  1.16  carrying capacity; 
  1.17     (2) the species is causing substantial damage to 
  1.18  agricultural or forest crops in the vicinity; 
  1.19     (3) the species or other protected wild animals are 
  1.20  threatened by the species population; or 
  1.21     (4) a harvestable surplus of the species exists.  
  1.22     (b) The commissioner may allow hunting of unprotected wild 
  1.23  animals in a game refuge. 
  1.24     (c) The commissioner may prescribe rules for any hunting 
  1.25  allowed within a refuge.  
  1.26     (d) In any selection process for permits to take deer 
  2.1   within a game refuge, the commissioner may designate a certain 
  2.2   number of permits that are available only to applicants who are 
  2.3   age 70 or over or are qualified for a special permit under 
  2.4   section 97B.055, subdivision 3, or 97B.106. 
  2.5      (e) The commissioner must compensate landowners for crops 
  2.6   damaged or destroyed by protected wild animals within two miles 
  2.7   of a game refuge, unless the commissioner allowed public hunting 
  2.8   in the game refuge of the protected wild animals causing the 
  2.9   damage or destruction within 12 months of the crop damage or 
  2.10  destruction.  The crop owner is entitled to the target price or 
  2.11  the market price, whichever is greater, of the damaged or 
  2.12  destroyed crop plus adjustments for yield loss determined 
  2.13  according to agricultural stabilization and conservation service 
  2.14  programs for individual farms, adjusted annually, as determined 
  2.15  by the commissioner, upon recommendation of the county extension 
  2.16  agent for the owner's county.  The commissioner, upon 
  2.17  recommendation of the agent, shall determine whether the crop 
  2.18  damage or destruction is caused by protected wild animals and, 
  2.19  if so, the amount of the crop that is damaged or destroyed.  In 
  2.20  any calendar year, a crop owner may not be compensated for a 
  2.21  damaged or destroyed crop that is less than $100 in value and 
  2.22  may be compensated up to $20,000, as determined under this 
  2.23  section, if normal harvest procedures for the area are 
  2.24  followed.  The amount necessary to make payments under this 
  2.25  paragraph is annually appropriated to the commissioner from the 
  2.26  game and fish fund.