The House Subcommittee on Agriculture, Commerce, and Tourism met this afternoon to discuss two bills.
House Bill 2043 allows trackers to use drones to locate mortally wounded wildlife. If tracking is not on one’s property, an individual must be a licensed drone pilot. This is for finding, not hunting. The hunter cannot just track another person’s property without permission; this would remain the same with drone tracking. Other states around WV allow tracking with drones. The drones are commercial and expensive. Presenters aren’t concerned about hunters using the drone to “skirt the system” and use it for hunting instead of locating. The bill also changes to allow only one leashed dog per handler to be tracked. Individuals have been advertising themselves as trackers and release dogs, so they aren’t leashed. This was never the intent of tracking in West Virginia. One handler with one dog allows the handler to read the dog and work with the hunter.
House Bill 2060 creates a tax exemption for agriculture cooperative associations. The bill adds and clarifies definitions for the exemption.
