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.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8295--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
November 27, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CARROLL, COLTON, REYES, BICHOTTE HERMELYN,
WEPRIN, SEAWRIGHT, SIMONE, EPSTEIN, BURDICK -- read once and referred
to the Committee on Environmental Conservation -- recommitted to the
Committee on Environmental Conservation in accordance with Assembly
Rule 3, sec. 2 -- 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:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13643-02-4
A. 8295--A 2
1 (a) determine the location where the wolf was taken or found and
2 determine, based on field research, whether there may be additional
3 wolves in the vicinity;
4 (b) impose a moratorium on the taking of wild canids, in a specific
5 area of the state, for as long as the department determines is necessary
6 to protect any wolves in the occupied wolf territory and any potential
7 adjacent territories; and
8 (c) inform the public of the moratorium through posting of written
9 notices in the moratorium area and on the department's website.
10 4. No later than January first three years after the effective date of
11 this section, and every six years thereafter, the department shall
12 submit to the legislature a report on the status of wolves in the state,
13 based on data collected by or submitted to the department and such other
14 methods as determined appropriate by the department. The status report
15 shall be simultaneously posted on the department's website.
16 5. The department shall modify its hunting and trapping training
17 curriculum to include educational information concerning the presence of
18 wolves in the state, the legal protections for wolves, the checking and
19 tagging requirements for wild canids, and how to distinguish a wolf from
20 a coyote when a hunter or trapper is in the field.
21 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
