hunting of sandhill cranes, programs related to sandhill crane damage, providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures, granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation

Wisconsin Legislature: AB117: Bill Text

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AB117: Bill Text

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2025 - 2026 LEGISLATURE
LRB-2335/1
ZDW:skw
2025 ASSEMBLY BILL 117
March 11, 2025 - Introduced by
Joint Legislative Council
. Referred to Committee on Sporting Heritage.
AB117,1,9
1
An Act

to renumber
29.179 (5);
to amend
20.370 (5) (fq), 29.179 (4), 29.563
2
(13) (a), 29.563 (13) (b), 29.563 (14) (c) 3., 29.563 (14) (c) 4., 29.889 (1) (e),
3
29.938 (intro.), 29.977 (1) (b) and 29.983 (1) (b) 2.;
to create
20.115 (7) (ac),
4
20.370 (1) (hy), 29.165, 29.179 (1) (a) 12., 29.179 (5) (b), 29.180 (1) (a) 8m.,
5
29.180 (4m), 29.183 (1) (hm), 29.183 (6), 29.553 (1) (gm), 29.563 (2) (c) 3.,
6
29.563 (2) (d) 3., 29.563 (13) (am), 29.563 (14) (a) 4., 29.596 and 93.67 of the
7
statutes;
relating to:
hunting of sandhill cranes, programs related to sandhill
8
crane damage, providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures,
9
granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
This bill is explained in the
Notes
provided by the Joint Legislative Council in the bill.
For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.
Joint Legislative Council prefatory note
: This bill was prepared for the Joint Legislative Council Study Committee on Sandhill Cranes to: (1) assist agricultural producers in preventing damage to corn crops from sandhill cranes; (2) authorize the hunting of sandhill cranes; and (3) increase hunting surcharges that support payments to agricultural producers for crop damage caused by wild animals.
Abatement assistance for corn producers
The bill directs the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) to administer a program to provide reimbursements to eligible applicants for the purchase of seed treatment that is registered for use on corn seed to discourage sandhill cranes from consuming the seed. An eligible applicant under the program is a person who plants corn on land that is operated as part of a farm that produced at least $6,000 in gross farm revenue during the taxable year preceding the year in which a person applies for a reimbursement.
The bill provides for reimbursements of up to 50 percent of the actual cost of the purchase of seed treatment, and a reimbursement may not exceed $6,250 per eligible applicant per planting season. Each farm may only receive one reimbursement payment per year, and a “farm”, under the bill, consists of all land under common ownership that is primarily devoted to agricultural use.
The bill provides for an application window from March 1 to June 15 of each year, during which eligible applicants may apply for reimbursement for seed treatments purchased no earlier than November 1 of the prior year. To be eligible for reimbursement, applicants must provide DATCP with proof of purchase and an application on a form provided by DATCP. The department must make all reimbursement payments no later than September 15 following the application window.
The bill directs DATCP to prioritize reimbursement payments based upon an applicant’s receipt of a federal depredation permit for sandhill crane in the previous year; an applicant’s receipt of reimbursement under the bill’s program in any of the prior three years, or documentation of purchase of seed coating in any of the prior three years; and the vulnerability of an applicant’s land to sandhill crane depredation, as determined by DATCP in consultation with the Department of Natural Resources and applicable conservation organizations. After reimbursing applicants that meet these criteria, DATCP must make reimbursement payments on a first-come, first-served basis to other eligible applicants that have experienced, or are likely to experience, seed or crop damage from sandhill cranes.
Under the bill, DATCP must compile and submit an annual report to the appropriate standing committees of the Legislature. The report must detail the number of reimbursements requested and the total dollar amount of these requests. Similarly, the report must detail the number of reimbursements issued and the total dollar amount of these reimbursements. This report must be provided no later than December 31 each year.
The bill grants rule-making authority to DATCP to promulgate administrative rules, including emergency rules, to implement provisions regarding the prioritization and eligibility of applicants under the program.
The bill creates a continuing appropriation of general purpose revenue to support the program. This appropriation consists of $1,875,000 in fiscal year 2025-26 and $1,875,000 in fiscal year 2026-27 for reimbursements, and $85,000 in each of those fiscal years for administrative expenses. The bill also authorizes the creation of one DATCP position to administer the program.
The program takes effect on the first day of the 4th month beginning after publication, or the 2nd day after publication of the 2025 biennial budget act, whichever is later.
Sandhill crane hunting
Like many other migratory birds, sandhill cranes are protected by international treaty and federal law. Consistent with those protections, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) may authorize a state to initiate a sandhill crane hunting season.
The bill directs the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), upon approval by USFWS, to authorize sandhill crane hunting in Wisconsin. The bill requires that DNR use permits to control the number of hunters and the number of cranes that may be harvested. The bill authorizes DNR to establish closed zones or other restrictions to minimize the inadvertent taking of other bird species, including whooping cranes.
Testimony before the committee indicated that only some sandhill cranes are members of breeding pairs, and that harvest of a breeding crane has a greater impact on overall species population than harvest of a nonbreeding crane. The bill directs DNR to establish restrictions to minimize the likelihood that breeding sandhill cranes are disproportionately hunted.
The bill requires that DNR conduct a free sandhill crane hunter education program. A person must complete the program and pass a test before hunting sandhill cranes. The program must include specified information about sandhill cranes, such as how to distinguish them from other birds, and specified information about applicable hunting zones and regulations. The results of the test are valid for one year.
If demand for sandhill crane hunting permits exceeds supply, the bill requires DNR to issue permits according to a cumulative preference system. For any given season, a person may apply for either a permit or for a preference point. A person who applies unsuccessfully for a permit is awarded instead a preference point. A person may accumulate and transfer preference points to certain other persons in the same manner as the cumulative preference systems used for other species. A person may transfer a permit to certain other persons in the same manner as approvals for other species, to the extent allowable by federal law.
The bill sets the cost of a sandhill crane hunting permit at $20 for a resident and $100 for a nonresident. The bill also requires a processing fee of $4.25 and an issuing fee of $0.25 for each application for a permit or for a preference point.
The bill deposits with DNR the revenue raised by the sale of a permit and by the processing fee, to be used by DNR as follows: half for the Wildlife Damage Abatement and Claims Program (WDACP), described below, and half for developing, managing, preserving, restoring, and maintaining the sandhill crane population and for the sandhill crane hunter education program.
Crop damage caused by wild animals
WDACP provides financial assistance for wildlife damage abatement measures and makes payments to agricultural producers for claims regarding damage to agricultural crops by certain wildlife. The program is funded in large measure by a wildlife damage surcharge on most hunting approvals. Under current law, the surcharge is $2 for a resident or nonresident approval, and $4 for a resident or nonresident conservation patron license. A conservation patron license consists of a bundle of individual approvals and authorizations, such as a small game hunting license, a trapping license, and an annual fishing license.
Under current law, damage caused by a sandhill crane becomes eligible under WDACP if hunting of those cranes is authorized by DNR.
The bill raises the wildlife damage surcharge to the following amounts: $3 for a resident approval; $4 for a nonresident approval; $6 for a resident conservation patron license; and $8 for a nonresident conservation patron license. However, the bill renders these increases contingent on USFWS approving a sandhill crane hunting season in Wisconsin.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
AB117,1
1
Section

1
.
20.005 (3) (schedule) of the statutes: at the appropriate place,
2
insert the following amounts for the purposes indicated:
-
See PDF for table

AB117,2
9
Section

2
.
20.115 (7) (ac) of the statutes is created to read:
AB117,2,12
10
20.115
(7)
(ac)
Sandhill crane damage reimbursements.
As a continuing
11
appropriation, the amounts in the schedule for the sandhill crane damage
12
reimbursement program under s. 93.67.
AB117,3
13
Section
3
.
20.370 (1) (hy) of the statutes is created to read:
AB117,2,18
14
20.370
(1)
(hy)
Sandhill crane management.
Fifty percent of all moneys
15
received from the sale of sandhill crane hunting permits under s. 29.165 and the
16
associated processing fee collected under s. 29.563 (14) (a) 4. for developing,
17
managing, preserving, restoring, and maintaining the sandhill crane population
18
and for the sandhill crane hunter education program under s. 29.596.
AB117,4
19
Section

4
.
20.370 (5) (fq) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB117,3,3
20
20.370
(5)
(fq)
Wildlife damage claims and abatement.
All moneys received
21
under ss. 29.181, 29.559 (1r), and 29.563 (13) and not appropriated under par. (fr)
22
and subs. (1) (hs), (hx), and (Ls) and (5) (fs)
and 50 percent of all moneys received
23
from the sale of sandhill crane hunting permits under s. 29.165 and the associated
24
processing fee collected under s. 29.563 (14) (a) 4.
to provide state aid for the wildlife
1
damage abatement program under s. 29.889 (5) (c) and the wildlife damage claim
2
program under s. 29.889 (7) (d), for county administration costs under s. 29.889 (2)
3
(d), and for payments under s. 29.89.
AB117,5
4
Section
5
.
29.165 of the statutes is created to read:
AB117,3,19
5
29.165

Sandhill crane hunting permits.

(1)

Authorization;
6
restrictions.
(a)
Department authority.
The department shall authorize the
7
hunting of sandhill cranes in this state, subsequent to approval by the U.S. fish and
8
wildlife service, and shall issue sandhill crane hunting permits to limit the number
9
of hunters of sandhill cranes and the number of sandhill cranes harvested in any
10
area of the state. The sandhill crane hunting permit issued by the department
11
shall include any restrictions necessary to comply with federal laws and
12
regulations. The department shall establish by rule one sandhill crane hunting
13
season and may establish by rule closed zones where the hunting of sandhill cranes
14
is prohibited. The department may temporarily close a sandhill crane hunting
15
season during festivals or ecotourism events related to sandhill cranes. The
16
department shall establish restrictions on sandhill crane hunting permits to
17
minimize the inadvertent taking of other bird species, to minimize the likelihood
18
that breeding sandhill cranes are disproportionately hunted, and to minimize any
19
potential impact to whooping cranes.
AB117,3,22
20
(b)
Requirements.
No person may hunt sandhill cranes unless he or she has a
21
valid small game license, or other license that authorizes the hunting of small
22
game, and a valid sandhill crane hunting permit.
AB117,4,21
23
(2)

Issuance of permits.
(a)
Procedure; preference system.
If the
1
department issues sandhill crane hunting permits under sub. (1) (a), the
2
department shall determine the number of permits it will issue for a given sandhill
3
crane hunting area and for a given sandhill crane hunting season. If the number of
4
applications for sandhill crane hunting permits for a given hunting area or season
5
does not exceed the number of available sandhill crane hunting permits allocated by
6
the department for that hunting area or that season, the department shall issue a
7
sandhill crane hunting permit to each applicant who pays the applicable fee. If the
8
number of applications for sandhill crane hunting permits for a given hunting area
9
or season exceeds the number of available sandhill crane hunting permits allocated
10
by the department for that area or that season, the department shall issue permits
11
according to a cumulative preference system. The department shall establish
12
preference categories under the cumulative preference system for those applicants
13
who applied for but were not issued permits, with higher priority given to those
14
categories with more preference points than those with fewer preference points.
15
Under the system, the department shall allow each applicant to apply for a
16
preference point or for a permit for each sandhill crane hunting season. The
17
department shall give a preference point to each applicant who applies for a
18
preference point and to each applicant who applies for a permit but who is not
19
selected. If the number of applicants within a preference category exceeds the
20
number of permits available in the category, the department shall select at random
21
within the category the applicants to be issued the permits.
AB117,5,2
22
(b)
Loss of preference points.
Applicants who fail to apply for either a
1
preference point or a permit at least once during any 3 consecutive years shall lose
2
all previously accumulated preference points.
AB117,5,4
3
(c)
Permit limitation.
No person may apply for or receive more than one
4
sandhill crane hunting permit for one season.
AB117,5,9
5
(d)
Notification; issuance; payment.
The department shall issue a notice of
6
approval to those applicants selected to receive a sandhill crane hunting permit
7
under par. (a). A person who receives a notice of approval and who pays the
8
applicable fee in the manner required by the department shall be issued a sandhill
9
crane hunting permit.
AB117,5,13
10
(3)

Use of moneys from fees.
Of the fee amounts collected from the sale of
11
sandhill crane hunting permits, including processing of the permits, 50 percent
12
shall be credited to the appropriation account under s. 20.370 (1) (hy) and 50
13
percent shall be credited to the appropriation account under s. 20.370 (5) (fq).
AB117,6
14
Section

6
.
29.179 (1) (a) 12. of the statutes is created to read:
AB117,5,15
15
29.179
(1)
(a) 12. Sandhill crane hunting permit.
AB117,7
16
Section
7
.
29.179 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB117,5,20
17
29.179
(4)

Retention of preference points.
Notwithstanding ss. 29.164 (3)
18
(cr),
29.165 (2) (b),
29.177 (5) (b), 29.184 (6) (b), and 29.192 (4), a person who is
19
transferred an approval under this section shall retain all preference points that he
20
or she has previously accumulated for that type of approval.
AB117,8
21
Section

8
.
29.179 (5) of the statutes is renumbered 29.179 (5) (a).
AB117,9
22
Section

9
.
29.179 (5) (b) of the statutes is created to read:
AB117,5,24
23
29.179
(5)
(b) This section applies to sandhill crane hunting permits only to
24
the extent allowable under federal laws and regulations.
AB117,10
1
Section
10
.
29.180 (1) (a) 8m. of the statutes is created to read:
AB117,6,2
2
29.180
(1)
(a) 8m. Sandhill crane hunting permit.

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