House Bill 4499
Sponsor: Rep. Rick Johnson
Committee: Agriculture and Resource
Management
Complete to 4-26-99
A SUMMARY OF HOUSE BILL 4499 AS INTRODUCED 4-20-99
The bill would amend the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (NREPA) to prohibit the feeding of deer or elk except as a means of taking game as provided by an order of the Natural Resources Commission. The bill also would add the following definitions to the act:
** "Feed" would be defined to mean "a substance composed of grain, mineral, salt, fruit, vegetable, hay, or any other food material or combination of these materials, whether natural or manufactured, that may attract white-tailed deer or elk." "Feed" would not include plantings for wildlife, standing farm crops under normal agricultural practices, or agricultural commodities scattered solely as the result of normal agricultural planting or harvesting practices.
** "Deer or elk feeding" would be defined to mean "the depositing, distributing, or tending of feed in an area frequented by wild, free-ranging white-tailed deer or elk." Livestock feeding in an area frequented by wild, free-ranging white-tailed deer or elk would constitute deer or elk feeding unless the livestock feeding took place on land used in the commercial production of farm products and either (a) the area was occupied by livestock actively consuming the feed on a daily basis or (b) the feed was covered to prevent wild, free-ranging white-tailed deer or elk from gaining access to the feed. "Deer or elk feeding" would not include any of the following:
(a) Feeding wild birds or other wildlife if done in such a way as to exclude wild, free-ranging white-tailed deer and elk from gaining access to the feed;
(b) Feed that was scattered solely as the result of normal logging practices or normal agricultural planting or harvesting practices; or
(c) The storage or use of feed for agricultural purposes.
Analyst: S. Ekstrom