Bill Text: NY S07927 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended
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
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. LBD13643-03-4S. 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.