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Public Act 093-0837 |
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AN ACT concerning wildlife.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | ||||
represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | ||||
Illinois Hunting
Heritage Protection Act .
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Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds the | ||||
following:
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(1) Recreational hunting is an important and | ||||
traditional recreational
activity in which 14,000,000 | ||||
Americans 16 years of age and older participate.
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(2) Hunters have been and continue to be among the | ||||
foremost supporters of
sound wildlife management and | ||||
conservation practices in the United States.
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(3) Persons who hunt and organizations related to | ||||
hunting provide direct
assistance to wildlife managers and | ||||
enforcement officers of federal, state, and
local | ||||
governments.
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(4) Purchases of hunting licenses, permits, and stamps | ||||
and payment of
excise taxes on
goods used by hunters have | ||||
generated billions of dollars for wildlife
conservation, | ||||
research, and management.
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(5) Recreational hunting is an essential component of | ||||
effective wildlife
management, in that it is an important | ||||
tool for reducing conflicts between
people and wildlife and | ||||
provides incentives for the conservation of wildlife,
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habitats, and ecosystems on which wildlife depend.
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(6) Recreational hunting is an environmentally | ||||
acceptable activity that
occurs and can be provided for on | ||||
State public lands without adverse effects on
other uses of | ||||
that land.
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Section 10. Definitions. For the purposes of this Act:
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"Department" means the Department of Natural Resources.
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"Department-managed lands" means those lands that the | ||
Department owns or
those lands of which the Department holds | ||
management authority.
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"Director" means the Director of Natural Resources.
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"Hunting" means the lawful pursuit, trapping, shooting, | ||
capture, collection,
or killing of wildlife or the attempt to | ||
pursue, trap, shoot, capture, collect,
or kill wildlife.
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Section 15. Recreational hunting. | ||
(a) Subject to valid existing rights, Department-managed | ||
lands shall be open
to
access and use for recreational hunting | ||
except as limited by the Department for
reasons of public | ||
safety, fish or wildlife management, or homeland security or
as | ||
otherwise limited by law.
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(b) The Department shall exercise its authority, | ||
consistent with subsection
(a), in a manner to support, | ||
promote, and enhance recreational hunting
opportunities, to | ||
the extent authorized by State law.
The Department is not | ||
required to give preference to hunting over other uses
of | ||
Department-managed lands or over land or water management | ||
priorities
established by Department regulations or State law.
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(c) Department land management decisions and actions may | ||
not, to the
greatest practical extent, result in any net loss | ||
of land acreage available for
hunting opportunities on | ||
Department-managed lands that exists on the effective
date of | ||
this Act.
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(d) By October 1 of each year, the Director shall submit to | ||
the General
Assembly
a written report describing:
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(1) the acreage administered by the Department that has | ||
been closed during
the
previous year to recreational | ||
hunting and the reasons for the closures; and
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(2) the acreage administered by the Department that, in | ||
order to comply
with subsection (c), was opened to
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recreational
hunting to compensate for those acreage | ||
closed under paragraph (1).
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