[Effective 7/1/2024]

(a) The fish and wildlife commission is directed and authorized to perform the following duties and functions:

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 70-1-206 v2

  • Agency: means the wildlife resources agency. See Tennessee Code 70-1-101
  • Agriculture: means :
    (i) The land, buildings and machinery used in the commercial production of farm products and nursery stock. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Angling: means any effort made to take, kill, injure, capture, or catch any fish and every act of assistance in any effort. See Tennessee Code 70-1-101
  • Commission: means the Tennessee fish and wildlife commission, and "commissioner" means a member of the fish and wildlife commission. See Tennessee Code 70-1-101
  • Executive director: means the executive director of the wildlife resources agency. See Tennessee Code 70-1-101
  • Fish: means all species of trout, salmon, walleye, northern pike, bass, crappie, bluegill, catfish, perch, sunfish, drum, carp, sucker, shad, minnow, and such other species of fish that are presently found in the state or may be introduced or transplanted into this state for consumptive or nonconsumptive use. See Tennessee Code 70-1-101
  • Fishing: means any effort made to take, kill, injure, capture, or catch any fish and every act of assistance in any effort. See Tennessee Code 70-1-101
  • Hunting: means chasing, driving, flushing, attracting, pursuing, worrying, following after or on the trail of, searching for, trapping, shooting at, stalking, or lying in wait for, any wildlife, whether or not such wildlife is then or subsequently captured, killed, taken, or wounded and every act of assistance to any other person, but "hunting" does not include stalking, attracting, searching for, or lying in wait for, wildlife by an unarmed person solely for the purpose of watching wildlife or taking pictures of wildlife. See Tennessee Code 70-1-101
  • Small game: means fur bearers, game birds, swamp rabbits, bullfrogs, cottontail rabbits, fox squirrels, gray squirrels, red squirrels, and all species of small mammals and birds that may be introduced into this state for hunting. See Tennessee Code 70-1-101
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Trapping: means taking, killing, and capturing wildlife by the use of any trap, snare, deadfall, or other device commonly used to capture wildlife, and the shooting or killing of wildlife lawfully trapped, and includes all lesser acts such as placing, setting, or staking such traps, snares, deadfalls, and other devices, whether or not such acts result in taking of wildlife, and every attempt to take and every act of assistance to any other person in taking or attempting to take wildlife with traps, snares, deadfalls, or other devices. See Tennessee Code 70-1-101
  • United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Wildlife: means wild vertebrates, mollusks, crustaceans, and fish. See Tennessee Code 70-1-101
(1) Appoint and dismiss the executive director;
(2) Approve the budget pursuant to § 70-1-306;
(3) Promulgate necessary rules, regulations, and proclamations as required under this title and title 69, chapter 9. The commission is also authorized to promulgate rules and regulations to permit a licensed trapper to release small game animals in counties contiguous to the counties where the animals were trapped;
(4) Establish objectives within the state policy that will enable the wildlife resources agency to develop, manage, and maintain sound programs of hunting, angling, trapping, and other wildlife-related outdoor recreational activities that have the primary purpose of utilizing such activities as the preferred method of wildlife management and conservation of game species within this state;
(5) Establish the salary of the executive director of the wildlife resources agency;
(6) Promulgate rules and regulations for the administration of the Reelfoot Lake natural area, as provided in title 11, chapter 14, part 1; and
(7) Promulgate rules and regulations to adjust fees for licenses and permits in this title and to establish new hunting, fishing and trapping licenses and permits as deemed appropriate along with necessary fees. Adjusting or establishing fees shall be in such amounts as may be necessary to administer the wildlife laws; provided, that the percentage increase in total revenue from a license package containing one (1) or more licenses or permits, or both, shall not exceed the percent of increase in the average consumer price index, all items-city average, as published by the United States department of labor, bureau of labor statistics, on the first day of March 1990, or, in the case of any permit, license or permit/license package fee adjustment after the initial adjustment under this subdivision (a)(7), the difference in the average consumer price index, all items-city average between the dates of one (1) adjustment and any subsequent adjustment; provided further, however, that individual fee adjustment amounts may be rounded up to the next dollar amount. All such fees, and any adjustments to the fees, shall be deposited in the wildlife resources fund and shall be expended solely for the administration and operation of the agency’s programs and responsibilities authorized pursuant to this chapter. Further, the commission shall report actions taken on permits, licenses, and fees to be assessed following the promulgation of the proposed rules and regulations to the energy, agriculture and natural resources committee of the senate and to the agriculture and natural resources committee of the house of representatives.
(b) The fish and wildlife commission shall become knowledgeable in and familiar with the special needs of handicapped and disabled veterans.
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