Bill Text: NY S07927 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Protects wolves by requiring animals which could be wolves be submitted for a DNA test and, when determined to be wolves, requiring the department take action to protect wolves from being taken in the future.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-03-01 - PRINT NUMBER 7927A [S07927 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-S07927-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         7927--A

                    IN SENATE

                                     January 3, 2024
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by Sens. HOYLMAN-SIGAL, HARCKHAM, JACKSON, MARTINEZ, SKOUFIS
          -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to
          the Committee on Environmental Conservation --  committee  discharged,
          bill  amended,  ordered  reprinted  as amended and recommitted to said
          committee

        AN ACT to amend the  environmental  conservation  law,  in  relation  to
          protecting wolves

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. The environmental conservation law is amended by  adding  a
     2  new section 11-0541 to read as follows:
     3  § 11-0541. Protection of wolves.
     4    1. All wild canids taken in the state shall be checked and tagged in a
     5  manner to be determined by the department. For purposes of this section,
     6  "wild  canids" shall mean coyotes, including canids that when taken were
     7  thought to be coyotes but which subsequent DNA analysis revealed  to  be
     8  wolves.
     9    2.  Wild  canids  that are taken that have a weight greater than fifty
    10  pounds or that meet additional criteria established  by  the  department
    11  shall  be  subjected  to  a DNA analysis, paid for by the department, to
    12  determine the genetic composition of the animal. Such analysis shall  be
    13  conducted by a reputable laboratory that has prior experience genotyping
    14  hybridized  Canis  populations in the eastern United States. The results
    15  of any analysis performed shall promptly be provided to  the  public  by
    16  posting on the department's website.
    17    3.  In the event that the department determines, based on DNA analysis
    18  or other scientific method, that a wild canid  taken  or  found  in  the
    19  state is a wolf, the department shall:
    20    (a)  determine  the  location  where  the  wolf was taken or found and
    21  determine, based on field research,  whether  there  may  be  additional
    22  wolves in the vicinity;
    23    (b)  impose  a  moratorium on the taking of wild canids, in a specific
    24  area of the state, for as long as the department determines is necessary

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD13643-03-4
        S. 7927--A                          2

     1  to protect any wolves in the occupied wolf territory and  any  potential
     2  adjacent territories; and
     3    (c)  inform  the  public  of the moratorium through posting of written
     4  notices in the moratorium area and on the department's website.
     5    4. No later than January first three years after the effective date of
     6  this section, and every  six  years  thereafter,  the  department  shall
     7  submit to the legislature a report on the status of wolves in the state,
     8  based on data collected by or submitted to the department and such other
     9  methods  as determined appropriate by the department.  The status report
    10  shall be simultaneously posted on the department's website.
    11    5. The department shall  modify  its  hunting  and  trapping  training
    12  curriculum to include educational information concerning the presence of
    13  wolves  in the state, the legal protections for wolves, the checking and
    14  tagging requirements for wild canids, and how to distinguish a wolf from
    15  a coyote when a hunter or trapper is in the field.
    16    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.