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20LSO-0205
2020
STATE OF WYOMING
20LSO-0205
Introduced
2.0
HOUSE BILL NO. HB0029
Designation of migration corridors.
Sponsored by: Select Federal Natural Resource Management Committee
A BILL
for
AN ACT relating to game and fish; providing procedures for the designation of migration corridors; requiring a report; and providing for an effective date.
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
Section 1
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W.S. 23
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1101 through 23
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1103 are created to read:
ARTICLE 11
DESIGNATION OF MIGRATION CORRIDORS
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1101.
Definitions.
(a)
As used in this article:
(i)
"Identified migration corridor" means an area of the landscape that the department has identified, using science
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based criteria and information, as an area where migration movement is known or suspected to occur;
(ii)
"Migration corridor" means an area of the landscape that a substantial portion of a native ungulate herd uses consistently to move between seasonal habitats and that has been designated pursuant to this article. "Migration corridor" includes ungulate stopover areas, ungulate movement routes and ungulate migration bottlenecks;
(iii)
"Ungulate migration bottleneck" means any portion of a migration corridor in which migrating ungulates are physically or behaviorally constrained. "Ungulate migration bottleneck" includes habitat leading to a highway underpass or overpass, a gap between fences or other developments or a geographically restrictive route;
(iv)
"Ungulate movement route" means a specific path used by an individual ungulate to make seasonal movements between summer and winter ranges;
(v)
"Ungulate stopover area" means an area consistently used by ungulates to rest and feed during spring and fall migration.
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1102.
Identification of migration corridors.
(a)
The department shall submit identified migration corridors based on scientific data and information for potential designation as a migration corridor under this article. Subject to subsection (b) of this section, the department shall forward any identified migration corridors and their boundaries to the board of county commissioners of every county where the identified migration corridor is located.
(b)
No identified migration corridor shall be identified and forwarded as provided in subsection (a) of this section until the department completes an impact assessment for the identified migration corridor. The department, in consultation with the office of state lands and investments, the department of revenue, the department of transportation, the department of environmental quality and the oil and gas conservation commission, shall complete the impact assessment which shall, at a minimum, include:
(i)
An analysis of existing threats and risks to ungulate populations within the identified migration corridor;
(ii)
A review of existing protections and management actions within the identified migration corridor;
(iii)
An analysis of the potential for threats to ungulates and ungulate habitat within the identified migration corridor;
(iv)
Opportunities for conservation actions within the identified migration corridor;
(v)
A review of impacts on land use in the identified migration corridor, including subdivisions and impacts on recreational, oil and gas, transportation, mining, alternative energy, infrastructure, residential and agricultural uses;
(vi)
An analysis on impacts on tax and severance tax revenues if the identified migration corridor is designated;
(vii)
A review of impacts as a result of lease or permit use restrictions or stipulations that are recommended for development within the identified migration corridor.
(c)
The department shall forward the completed impact assessment to the board of county commissioners of every county where the identified migration corridor is located and to the working group established under W.S. 23
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1103.
(d)
Except as provided in W.S. 23
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1103(k), recommendations for deferral of land use permits and mineral lease sales within migration corridors designated pursuant to this article shall not be made to any federal agency responsible for issuing permits or leases.
(e)
Notice of an identified migration corridor shall be provided:
(i)
By the governor to any federal agency responsible for managing federal lands within the identified migration corridor or responsible for issuing permits and leases within the identified migration corridor;
(ii)
By the department to:
(A)
The office of state lands and investments for the purposes of providing notice of the identified migration corridor for leases the office issues under chapters 5 and 6 of title 36 of the Wyoming statutes;
(B)
Each private landowner who owns land within the identified migration corridor.
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1103.
Migration corridor working group; recommendations; implementation; report.
(a)
For each identified migration corridor forwarded under W.S. 23
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1102, the boards of the county commissioners receiving the information shall create a working group to study the identified migration corridor and make recommendations for designation. The working group shall consist of:
(i)
One (1) county commissioner from each county in which the identified migration corridor is located; and
(ii)
Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, not more than seven (7) additional members with not more than one (1) member representing each of the following interests:
(A)
Agriculture;
(B)
Mining;
(C)
Oil and gas industry;
(D)
Conservation groups;
(E)
Outdoor recreation and sportsmen's groups;
(F)
Wind energy or other impacted industries;
(G)
Municipal government within the counties where the identified migration corridor is located.
(b)
The county commissioner from the county containing the most total acres of the identified migration corridor shall serve as the chairman of the working group.
(c)
The chairman may appoint other representatives to the working group as a replacement of members who otherwise would be appointed under paragraph (a)(ii) of this section if the chairman finds that the identified migration corridor will have no effect on an interest listed in paragraph (a)(ii) of this section.
(d)
The chairman shall solicit applications for members of the working group specified under paragraph (a)(ii) of this section. The county commissioners who are members of the working group shall select the remaining members from among the applicants within sixty (60) days of receiving a report of an identified migration corridor from the department.
(e)
The governor shall select from among the applicants the members specified in paragraph (a)(ii) of this section if the members of the working group are not selected by the county commissioner members within the sixty (60) day period.
(f)
The members of the working group shall not receive any fees, salary or other compensation for services rendered but are entitled to receive per diem and mileage on the same basis and at the same rate as state employees and reimbursement for any other actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of the duties of the advisory group.
(g)
No working group for studying the designation of a migration corridor shall be established under this section if any of the counties in the identified migration corridor are currently participating in another working group previously established under this section.
(h)
The working group may meet as often as deemed necessary by a majority of the working group or at the request of the chairman or the governor. The working group may request assistance from any state agency, county or federal entity to carry out its duties under this section. State agencies shall cooperate with any request for assistance.
(j)
The working group shall review data and make recommendations to the governor regarding whether the identified migration corridor should be designated as a migration corridor to be managed by the state of Wyoming. Only those recommendations that receive an affirmative vote of not less than two
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thirds (2/3) of the members of the working group shall be forwarded to the governor. The working group shall at a minimum consider recommendations for:
(i)
Whether the identified migration corridor should be designated as a migration corridor;
(ii)
If the working group recommends a migration corridor designation for the identified migration corridor:
(A)
Mitigation strategies designed to balance economic development and activity with conservation of wildlife and habitat within the migration corridor;
(B)
Whether the boundaries of the identified migration corridor should be adopted as identified or amended.
(iii)
Whether there will be any impacts to local land use decisions as a result of a designation of a migration corridor;
(iv)
Whether the working group agrees or disagrees with any recommendations contained in the impact assessment developed pursuant to this article. The working group may supplement the impact assessment with any data or information it deems necessary for consideration by the governor.
(k)
The working group shall submit its recommendations to the governor not later than one hundred eighty (180) days after the receipt of a report of an identified migration corridor from the department. The working group shall include all recommendations proposed under subsection (j) of this section and shall state whether the working group failed to agree on an official recommendation by the vote required under subsection (j) of this section.
(m)
The working group shall cease to exist upon submission of recommendations to the governor under this section but may be reconvened by the governor or a board of county commissioners of a county where the migration corridor is located. Vacancies on the working group shall be filled by:
(i)
The board of county commissioners of the county whose member can no longer serve on the working group, if the vacancy is of a member appointed under paragraph (a)(i) of this section;
(ii)
The governor, if the vacancy is of a member appointed under paragraph (a)(ii) of this section. The governor shall fill the vacancy by appointing a member with the same interest under subparagraphs (a)(ii)(A) through (G) of this section as the member who can no longer serve on the working group.
(n)
The governor may take any action within his powers that he deems necessary to act upon the recommendations of a working group, including designating a migration corridor as provided under this article.
(o)
The governor shall oversee overall management of a migration corridor designated under this article. The governor may direct any state agency to take any action necessary to protect a migration corridor while ensuring the potential for multiple uses of land within the migration corridor. The governor may enter into agreements and memoranda of understanding with any federal agency responsible for the management of or the issuance of permits and leases on federal land within the migration corridor. The governor may recommend deferral of land use permits and mineral lease sales within migration corridors designated pursuant to this article to any federal agency responsible for issuing permits or leases.
(p)
Not later than October 1 of each year, the department shall report to the joint travel, recreation, wildlife and cultural resources interim committee and the joint minerals, business and economic development interim committee on the status of existing migration corridors, identified migration corridors and the work of any current working group created under this section.
Section 2
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This act is effective July 1, 2020
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(END)
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HB0029