2023 Tennessee Code › Title 70 - WILDLIFE RESOURCES (§§ 70-1-101 — 70-9-107) › Chapter 5 - WILDLIFE PRESERVES AND RESTORATION PROJECTS (§§ 70-5-101 — 70-5-113) › Section 70-5-107 - Construction and maintenance of state parks - Reelfoot Lake facilities - Wildlife management areas designated - Penalty for violations

(a)
(1)
The supervision and control over all, or any part, of the lands belonging to the state and vested in this chapter in the executive director, with the exception of such lands as may have been or may hereafter be acquired by the use of federal aid funds, may, at any time hereafter, be transferred by the wildlife resources agency, with the approval of the governor and the commissioner of environment and conservation, to the division of parks and recreation, for the purpose of constructing and maintaining state parks.
(2)
In the event of any such transfer, the agency may retain joint use of any office buildings or facilities situated on such lands as may be transferred and necessary for its use.
(3)
The commissioner of environment and conservation has the same power and authority to grant leases of property transferred to the department of environment and conservation upon the same conditions and terms as provided in this chapter for the executive director.
(b)
Leases executed under this section shall be approved by the governor and the attorney general and reporter.
(c)
Prior to the construction of any facility or improvement on state lands at Reelfoot Lake, the plans and specifications for the construction shall be presented to the department or agency having jurisdiction over the lands, which shall authorize such construction as is deemed appropriate, and such authorization shall be evidenced by written supplements to the leases. The executive director, under the supervision of the agency, is authorized to permit the construction, maintenance, and operation of facilities deemed necessary for the best utilization of Reelfoot Lake in the public interest, such facilities or developments to include, but not be limited to, boat docks, fishing piers, camp sites, trailer camps, picnic areas, hotels, motels, restaurants, fish markets and other retail stores, and to grant leases of lands for a period of twenty (20) years or less upon such terms and for such purposes as may be deemed reasonable in the public interest. The leases may contain a provision giving the lessee the option of renewing the lease upon like terms and conditions and for the same term. The leaseholds may be sold; provided, that the sale has been approved by the executive director, the governor, and the attorney general and reporter, but a sale made without their approval shall be void. Furthermore, the executive director has the power to remove any person or persons, at any time, from any of the islands or other lands on Reelfoot Lake belonging to the state who fail to observe the laws, rules and regulations governing the islands or waters of the lake, or who violate any of the provisions of any agreement or lease entered into with the executive director. All revenues collected pursuant to such leases by the agency shall be set aside by the agency to be used exclusively for habitat and resource development at Reelfoot Lake.
(d)
(1)
All lands owned in fee simple by the state of Tennessee or by condemnation or by lease, surrounding the waters of, or which are surrounded by, the waters of Reelfoot Lake, are hereby designated as a state wildlife management area, except for those properties operated by the division of parks and recreation, as the Reelfoot Lake state resort park, including noncontiguous day use areas, and consisting of approximately two hundred seventy-nine and twenty-three hundredths (279.23) acres.
(2)
It is hereby declared that the ordinary high water mark of Reelfoot Lake is two hundred eighty-five feet (285') mean sea level.
(3)
Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, exclusive control over the water level in Reelfoot Lake is hereby vested in the executive director.
(e)
A violation of this section is a Class C misdemeanor.
Acts 1951, ch. 115, §§ 54, 56; 1953, ch. 255, § 4 (Williams, §§ 5178.83, 5178.85); 1955, ch. 59, § 1; 1955, ch. 205, § 1; 1957, ch. 28, § 1; 1957, ch. 169, § 1; impl. am. Acts 1959, ch. 9, § 11; impl. am. Acts 1963, ch. 169, §3; impl. am. Acts 1974, ch. 481, §§ 6, 7; Acts 1974, ch. 481, § 21; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 51-607; Acts 1984, ch. 540, § 1; 1984, ch. 548, § 5; 1985, ch. 350, §§ 9, 11; 1989, ch. 591, § 113.