Chapter 20, Chapter 20

(a) A person may not hunt, capture, or kill any bear, or have in his or her possession any bear or bear parts, except during the hunting season for bear in the manner designated by rule or law. For the purposes of this section, bear parts include, but are not limited to, the pelt…

(a) Services of outfitters and guides for the benefit and convenience of hunters, fishermen and others in this state are recognized as essential, and such outfitters and guides may be licensed and authorized to serve as provided in this article. The director is hereby authorized …

(a) There is hereby created a whitewater commission within the Division of Natural Resources. The commission shall consist of the director of the Division of Natural Resources or his or her designee; the director of the Division of Parks and Tourism or his or her designee; three …

There is hereby created in the State Treasury a special revenue account, which shall be an appropriated, interest-bearing account, designated as the whitewater study and improvement fund. All proceeds from this fund shall be used exclusively for the purposes of the administration…

There is hereby created in the State Treasury a special revenue account, which shall be an appropriated, interest-bearing account designated as the "whitewater advertising and promotion fund". Each whitewater license holder may contribute any sum desired to this fund, which fund …

(a) Immediately upon the issuance of a whitewater outfitter's license and before any whitewater outfitter's services are offered or rendered thereunder, the licensee shall execute a surety bond in the penal sum of $1,000 payable to the State of West Virginia and conditioned upon …

Other provisions of this article notwithstanding, the implementation of an allocation methodology for the nonmoratorium whitewater zones of the New, Gauley, Cheat, Shenandoah and Tygart rivers, shall be made based upon criteria identified in existing or future studies of carrying…

Each outfitter and guide licensed under the provisions hereof shall be a financially responsible citizen of the United States of America. He shall possess and inventory proper and adequate materials and equipment to provide for hunters, fishermen and others the services and conve…

Each applicant for an outfitter or guide license shall file with the director a verified application setting forth the applicant's name, his address, the property possessed and to be used in the proposed outfitter and guide services, the area within which he proposes to serve, hi…

When satisfied as to the applicant's qualifications for an outfitter's or guide's license and upon receipt of a fee of $10 therefor, the director shall issue such license which shall be for the calendar year therein designated. Immediately upon the issuance of an outfitter's or g…

(a) Except as otherwise provided by law, no resident who has reached his or her 15th birthday and who has not reached his or her 65th birthday before January 1, 2012, and no nonresident shall at any time take, hunt, pursue, trap for, kill or chase any wild animals, wild birds, or…

Persons in the following categories are not required to obtain licenses or permits as indicated: (a) Bona fide resident landowners or their resident children, or resident parents, or bona fide resident tenants of the land may hunt, trap or fish on their own land during open seaso…

(a) The director may exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, article one, chapter twenty-nine-b of this code, any record concerning the site-specific location of an animal species protected under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, 7 U.S.C. §136, a plant prot…

A person may not willfully obstruct or impede the participation of any individual in the lawful activity of hunting, fishing or trapping. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less th…

The assets of the wildlife endowment fund shall be derived from the following: (a) The proceeds from the sale of lifetime hunting and fishing licenses under the provisions of section seven of this article; and (b) The proceeds of any gifts, grants, contributions or other moneys a…

The compact administrator representing this state, as provided for in article VII of the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, shall not be entitled to any additional compensation for his duties and responsibilities as said administrator but shall be entitled to reimbursement for…

(a) No person may keep, hold, or possess in captivity any orphaned, sick, or injured wildlife without receiving a wildlife rehabilitation permit issued by the director. Except, holders of a United States Fish and Wildlife Service Wildlife Rehabilitation Permit to rehabilitate mig…

The ownership of and title to all wildlife in the State of West Virginia is hereby declared to be in the state, as trustee for the people. A person shall not take or hunt wildlife in any manner, or at any time, unless the person taking or hunting the wildlife consents that the ti…

The tax department shall determine by July 1, of each year the total amount designated pursuant to this legislation and shall report such amount to the State Treasurer who shall credit such amount to a special department of natural resources fund.

(a) Each person who applies for any class of license or permit must state to the issuing agent that he or she is eligible for and has satisfied all prerequisites required by this chapter for that class of license or permit. (b) It is unlawful for a person to make a false statemen…

(a) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this article, no base hunting license may be issued to any person who was born on or after January 1, 1975, unless the person submits to the person authorized to issue hunting licenses a certificate of training as provided in this secti…

(a) The size, content, and form of all licenses, tags, and permits shall be prescribed by the director. The information which a licensee is required to furnish shall be placed upon the license by the license issuing authority before delivery of such license to the licensee: Provi…

(a) The clerk of the county commission in each county requesting designation and other persons, designated by the director pursuant to section thirty-three of this article, are license-issuing authorities authorized to issue a license to an applicant if the applicant is legally e…

(a) The director may appoint, in addition to the clerk of the county commission, agents to issue licenses under the provisions of this article to serve the convenience of the public. Each person appointed shall, before issuing any license, file with the director a bond payable to…

(a) (1) Every application for electronic license shall include a solicitation for a voluntary donation to the division's previously established hunters helping the hungry program. (2) The license applicant will be offered an opportunity to designate a donation in any amount to th…

(a) (1) Effective January 1, 2006, every application for a hunting or fishing electronic license shall include a solicitation for a voluntary donation to the division's established Coyote Management Program. (2) The license applicant will be offered an opportunity to designate a …

(a) Every electronic application for a hunting or fishing license shall include a solicitation for a voluntary donation to the West Virginia University Rifle Team. (b) The license applicant will be offered an opportunity to designate a donation in any amount to the West Virginia …

(a) All persons in this state who receive money for licenses and permits required by this chapter, or as donations for the hunters helping the hungry program, shall deposit the moneys into an account at a financial institution at intervals designated by the director with the appr…

Licenses and permits provided by this chapter shall be valid through the last day of the calendar year for which they are issued unless otherwise provided by law.

(a) A person who is required by this article to be licensed may not hunt, take, pursue, trap for, kill, catch or chase for sport any wild animal or wild bird; or fish for, take, kill or catch any fish or amphibians of any kind whatsoever in this state unless he or she shall have …

Any person whose license to hunt or fish has been revoked, who hunts or fishes during the period of revocation, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall for each offense be fined not less than $100 nor more than $500, or be imprisoned in the county ja…

(a) Any person having in his or her possession in or near the fields or woods, or about the streams of this state, any wildlife, hunting dog or other hunting, fishing or trapping paraphernalia, implements or devices suitable for taking wildlife under circumstances indicating he o…

The director may, for cause, refuse a license or permit to any person or revoke a license or permit which had been granted. In case the director desires to refuse a license to any person, he shall notify personnel authorized to issue licenses, in counties where it is expected suc…

The director shall suspend the license or permit of any person to whom a license or permit has been granted upon receiving notice from a magistrate court of this state, pursuant to subsection (b), section two-a, article three, chapter fifty of this code, that such person has defa…

The wildlife endowment fund is declared to constitute a special fund within the department, to be expendable only after legislative approval, with the following limitations and restrictions on expenditures from the funds: (a) The income received and accruing from the investments …

(a) Any person wishing to conduct wildlife rehabilitation in this state must first make application to the director for a wildlife rehabilitation permit. (b) No person may be issued a wildlife rehabilitation permit who has previously been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a viola…

(a) Except for wildlife lawfully taken, killed or obtained, no person may have in his or her possession any wildlife, or parts thereof, during closed seasons. It is unlawful to possess any wildlife, or parts thereof, which have been illegally taken, killed or obtained. This does …

The funds shall be used for the purpose of enhancement and perpetuation of nongame wildlife programs in this state upon order of the director. The director shall on January 15, each year furnish the Legislature with a report stating the amount of money that has been provided and …

The director may propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with §29A-3-1 et seq. of this code, changing any license or stamp fee set forth in this article or in §20-2B-1 et seq. of this code. All increases in license and stamp fees in this article or in §20-2B-1 et seq…

A Class A license is a resident hunting and trapping license and entitles the licensee to hunt and trap all legal species of wild animals and wild birds in all counties of the state, except, big game as provided in §20-2-42v of this code, and except as prohibited by rules of the …

A Class B license is a resident fishing license and entitles the licensee to fish for all legal fish except trout and to take frogs in all counties of the state, except as prohibited by rules of the Director or Natural Resources Commission and when additional licenses, stamps or …

A Class C license is a courtesy hunting and fishing license and entitles the licensee to hunt and fish in all counties of this state. It may be issued by the Director upon application made to him or her and without fee to: (1) Members and agents of the United States Fish and Wild…

A Class E license is a nonresident hunting and trapping license and entitles the licensee to hunt and trap all legal species of wild animals and wild birds in all counties of the state except as prohibited by rules of the Director or Natural Resources Commission and except when o…

A Class EE license is a nonresident bear hunting license and entitles the licensee to hunt bear in all counties of the state, except as prohibited by rules of the Director or Natural Resources Commission and except when additional licenses, stamps or permits are required. The fee…

A Class F license is a nonresident fishing license and entitles the licensee to fish for all legal fish except trout and to take frogs, in all counties of the state except as prohibited by rules of the Director or Natural Resources Commission and except when additional licenses, …

A Class H license is a nonresident small game hunting license and entitles the licensee to hunt small game in all counties of the state, except as prohibited by rules of the Director or Natural Resources Commission and except when additional licenses, stamps or permits are requir…

A Class J license is a nonresident small game shooting preserve license and entitles the licensee to hunt small game on designated shooting preserves, except as prohibited by rules of the Director or Natural Resources Commission and except when additional licenses, stamps or perm…

A Class LL license is a nonresident fishing license and entitles the licensee to fish for all legal fish except trout and to take frogs in all counties of the state for the calendar date chosen by the buyer and which will be specified on the license, except as prohibited by rules…

A Class X license is a resident hunting, fishing and trapping license and entitles the licensee to hunt and trap for all legal species of wild animals and wild birds, to fish for all legal species of fish except trout and to take frogs in all counties of the state, except as proh…

A Class XJ license is a resident junior hunting, fishing and trapping license and a Class XXJ license is a nonresident junior hunting, fishing and trapping license. These licenses entitle the licensee to hunt and trap for all legal species of wild animals and wild birds, to fish …