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
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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.