Draft

Wyoming Wildlife Endowment Act

Definitions.

(a) As used in this chapter:

(i)"Board" means the Wyoming wildlife endowment board

(ii) "Recipient" means any nonprofit, individual or public agency that receives a grant from the Wyoming wildlife endowment.

(iii) "Endowment fund" means the Wyoming wildlife endowment created in this act.

Wyoming wildlife endowment board; creation; members.

(a) There is created a Wyoming wildlife endowment board. The board shall consist of nine (9) members, as follows:

(i)The director of the department of game and fish or his designee;

(ii) Eight persons appointed by the governor [and confirmed by the senate] who are residents of Wyoming and representative of any one (1) or more of the following areas:

A. Tourism

B. Agriculture

C. Business

D. Sportsmen

E. Big-game specialist

F. Fisheries/riparian specialist

G. Non-game specialist

H. Land trusts

I. Landowner

J. Youth organization

K. Outfitter/dude rancher

(b) Each appointed member of the board shall serve for a term of three (3) years. A vacancy on the board shall be filled for the balance of the unexpired term. Not more than 5 appointed members shall be of the same political party.

(c) The board shall meet regularly. Members shall elect a chairman from its members. Members shall serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed for expenses incurred in the performance of their duties in the manner and amounts provided by law for state employees.

Powers and duties of the board.

a) The board shall:

(i) Develop and publicize criteria regarding grants from the endowment fund, including the duration of grants, eligible recipients, application process and any requirements for matching funds from recipients;

(ii) Establish a classification system for ranking potential grant applications, utilizing a point system, and shall award grants to those with high scoring;

(iii) Review grant proposals and make awards to qualified recipients;

(iv) Review and monitor the expenditure of monies by recipients;

(v) Report annually to the governor, joint appropriations committee and the joint travel, recreation and wildlife interim committee on the board's activities. The report should include an evaluation of the effectiveness of the projects funded by the endowment fund;

(vi) Expend monies of the endowment fund for the establishment and promotion of the endowment fund, administrative staff as needed, and for operational expenses of the board;

(vii) Exercise any other powers or perform any other duties which are consistent with the purposes for which the board was created and which are reasonably necessary for the fulfillment of the board's responsibilities.

Wyoming wildlife endowment fund; creation; source of funds.

(a) There is created within the trust and agency fund an account, which shall be referred to as the Wyoming wildlife endowment fund. The fund shall be administered by the board and shall consist of monies appropriated or designated to the account by law. The monies shall be transmitted to the state treasurer for credit to the endowment fund and shall be invested by the state treasurer as authorized under W.S. 9-4-711 in a manner to obtain the highest return possible consistent with the preservation of the corpus. Any interest earned on the investment or deposit of monies in the fund shall also remain in the fund and shall not be credited to the general fund.

b) $250,000,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the Wyoming wildlife endowment fund.

c) Interest credited to the endowment fund shall be available for disbursement or expenditure by the board.

Disbursement of grants from the trust fund.

(a) Grants shall be awarded for projects that maintain, enhance or restore Wyoming’s wildlife, fisheries and their habitat. Projects must demonstrate that this objective is central to the project through its entirety. Projects that address critical wildlife or habitat needs or threats will receive highest ranking. Projects which also provide tools to landowners, communities and groups to address any of the following will receive high ranking as well:

(i)Minimize human-wildlife conflicts associated with development or recreational use;

(ii) Protection of open space and Wyoming agricultural lands;

(iii) Planning and management for maintaining wildlife values;

(iv) Supporting public access to public lands, and for private lands, using the private lands/public wildlife program model;

(v) Involvement of youth as a component of the project;

(vi) Leverages additional dollars and impact through matching funds, cooperative efforts and other such mechanisms.

(vii) Showcases best management practices that can be a model for other efforts.

(b) The board shall have discretion in determining the amount of money to be awarded under each grant.

(i)Shall maintain public access in the project area where public access has historically occurred;

(ii) May not use the power of eminent domain to acquire land or easements;

(iii) Must respect all property rights guaranteed by law;

(iv) May not be used to replace or fund on-going public agency operations.

Biennial audit.

The director of the department of audit or his designee shall audit the trust fund biennially. Copies of the audit shall be provided to the legislature.

No expansion of state law.

Nothing in this act shall expand or limit the powers of the state currently set in law.