d. The enrollee uses abusive or threatening language towards the county or its agent.
e. The enrollee fails to make a reasonable effort to respond to requests for hunting access.
f. The enrollee fails to comply with any other WDACP requirements.
24Section 24 NR 12.38 (title), (1), (2) (intro.) and (a), and (5) (a), 12.39 (title), (1), (3) (a), and (b) 4., 12.41 (title), (1), and (3) are amended to read: NR 12.38 Woven-wire and electric barrier fence construction.
(1) Specific applications and funding for woven-wire and electric barrier fences shall be approved by the department and county and included in the county plan. Woven-wire and electric barrier fences are permanent, high-profile fences built to function 15 years or more.
(2) Prior to granting its approval, the department shall assure verify all of the following:
(a) Deer or elk damage has occurred or, is occurring, or is likely to occur on the lands of the applicant and is likely to occur in the future.
(5) (a) The county and its agent shall follow permanent barrier fence project development, contracting, bidding, funding, billing, and contract term inspection procedures detailed in the WDACP technical manual or as otherwise directed by the department.
NR 12.39 County and agent recordkeeping.
(1) In this section, “records" means books, documents, papers, accounting records, audits, and other evidence and accounting procedures and practices. This includes records in electronic and paper form.
(b) 4. Records which relate to appeals, disputes, litigation on the settlement of claims arising out of the performance of the project for which funds were awarded, or costs and expenses of the project to which exception has been taken by the department or any of its duly authorized representatives, shall be retained for a period of 3 years after any appeals, litigation, claims, or exceptions have been finally resolved.
NR 12.41 Permits to hunt Canada geese causing spring agricultural damage.
(1) Issuance authority. Contingent upon the establishment of a federal harvest quota and goose season framework valid for Wisconsin and in accordance with this section, the department may issue Canada goose damage hunting shooting permits valid between May 1 and August 31 to agricultural crop land owners or lessees experiencing crop damage by Canada geese. Permittees may issue Canada goose damage hunter permits to other persons and authorize them to assist by hunting Canada geese causing damage.
(3) Application requirement. An applicant shall apply for a landowner or lessee permit to hunt Canada geese causing spring agricultural damage under this section on forms supplied by the department. A separate application is required for each parcel of noncontiguous crop lands.
25Section 25 NR 12.41 (3) (note) is repealed. 26Section 26 NR 12.41 (4) (intro.) is amended to read: NR 12.41 (4) Permit issuance criteria. After determining that issuance or extension of permits under this section will not result in the harvest of Canada geese which exceeds the federally assigned approved quota, the department may issue goose damage hunting permits only to landowners or lessees meeting the following criteria:
27Section 27 NR 12.41 (4) (d) (intro.) is renumbered NR 12.41 (4) (d) and amended to read: NR 12.41 (4) (d) Alternative abatement attempted. The applicant shall comply with all alternative damage abatement techniques recommended by either: the county or the county’s agent.
28Section 28 NR 12.41 (4) (d) 1., 2., and (e) are repealed. 29Section 29 NR 12.41 (4) (f) is amended to read: NR 12.41 (4) (f) Permit and license compliance. The applicant shall have complied with the conditions of any permit to hunt remove Canada geese causing spring agriculture damage issued to him or her within the 12 months immediately preceding application and may not currently have their hunting license privileges revoked.
30Section 30 NR 12.41 (5) (a) 3., 4., and (b), (c), (d), and (e) are repealed. 31Section 31 NR 12.41 (5) (f) and (g) are amended to read: NR 12.41 (5) (f) Reporting. The landowner or lessee permittee shall maintain a record of all hunters, including themselves, who participated and were issued carcass tags. Within 3 days following permit expiration, Upon request from the county, its agent, or the department, the landowner or lessee permittee shall return their permit and all hunter permit records, all unused carcass tags, and report the number of Canada geese harvested under permit to the department office indicated on the permit. The permittee shall report all Canada geese harvested under the permits to the department by October 31 of the year the permit was issued.
(g) Permit length. Permits shall remain in effect until all carcass tags issued under this section have been used, but not longer than 7 days, unless the department grants an extension under par. (h). Permits shall only be valid from May 1 to August 31 of each year.
32Section 32 NR 12.41 (5) (h) is repealed. 33Section 33 NR 12.41 (6) (e) is repealed and recreated to read: NR 12.41 (6) (e) Goose disposition. Canada geese shall be disposed of in compliance with 50 CFR 21.165 (d) (5). 34Section 34 NR 12.41 (6) (f) is amended to read: NR 12.41 (6) (f) Regulation compliance. Except as otherwise authorized in this section, all participants shall comply with all state and federal waterfowl hunting regulations including tagging and the daily bag limit. Any geese taken by a person who has not complied fully with this section shall be considered illegally obtained.
Section 35. Effective Date. This rule takes effect on the first day of the month following publication in the Wisconsin Administrative Register as provided in s. 227.22 (2) (intro.), Stats. Section 36. Board adoption. This rule was approved and adopted by the State of Wisconsin Natural Resources Board on September 25, 2024.
Dated at Madison, Wisconsin _____________________________.
STATE OF WISCONSIN
DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
BY ______________________________________
For Karen Hyun, Ph.D., Secretary
