Oklahoma Administrative Code › Title 1 - EXECUTIVE ORDERS › Section 1:2016-16

Current through Vol. 41, No. 20, July 1, 2024
Today I vetoed Senate Bill 1142, because of its safety risk to
			 public property users and its deleterious effects on conservation. I recognize,
			 however, that the harms articulated in my veto message are not likely to be
			 realized on private land, since private property owners have tighter control
			 over who is allowed access to their property and what activities occur thereon.
			 Moreover, I understand the serious threat posed by feral swine to Oklahoma
			 landowners and wildlife, and the responsibility of the state to continue its
			 efforts in exterminating this dangerous nuisance. While research and experience
			 have demonstrated that trapping feral swine proves to be the most effective
			 method of eradication, private property owners should have, at their disposal,
			 every tool available. As a result, I believe adjustments to current eradication
			 practices should be made.
Accordingly, I, Mary Fallin, Governor of the State of Oklahoma,
			 pursuant to the power and authority vested in me by Sections 1 and 2 of Article
			 VI of the Oklahoma Constitution, hereby direct the Oklahoma Department of
			 Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) to promulgate administrative rules in conformity
			 with the Administrative Procedures Act to streamline the process for obtaining
			 annually renewable depredation permits for the removal or attempted removal of
			 feral swine on private property, pursuant to Section
			 4-135
			 of Title 29 of the Oklahoma Statutes. Such rules, to be initially promulgated
			 as emergency rules with an effective date of November 1, 2016, shall, at a
			 minimum:
1. Authorize landowners on
		  private property to remove or attempt to remove feral swine at night, and with
		  the use of: night vision equipment, including image-enhancement technology or
		  thermal-imaging technology; motor-driven land conveyances to pursue or follow
		  feral swine; and handheld or vehicle-mounted headlights or other powerful
		  lights to pursue or follow feral swine. Provided, however, at no time shall it
		  be permitted to pursue feral hogs on public roadways, or to discharge firearms
		  from a public roadway.
2. Require
		  private landowners to agree to provide advance notification to a game warden
		  assigned to the county in which depredation efforts will occur, or a game
		  warden assigned to an adjacent county. Such notification shall occur at a
		  frequency that is mutually agreed upon by the ODWC and each particular
		  landowner, and shall reasonably identify the land on which depredation efforts
		  will occur. The ODWC shall ensure that the prescribed methods of notification
		  are convenient, timely, of minimal (if any) cost, and accessible to a wide
		  variety of users, as solicited through the public comment phase of the
		  rulemaking process.
3. Explain how
		  users may obtain the information necessary to avail themselves of the
		  depredation permit program, including a link to the ODWC webpage that contains,
		  among other things, the full text of the promulgated rules and a
		  county-by-county directory for electronic notification purposes.
4. Clearly articulate under what conditions
		  depredation permits may be revoked. Revocations shall be limited to those
		  situations that plainly implicate public safety concerns or to avoid violation
		  of state law.
Nothing in this Executive Order shall be interpreted to limit,
			 in any way, other state entities from lawfully promulgating administrative
			 rules that explain to the public if and how permission may be obtained to
			 remove or attempt to remove feral hogs on land that it owns, leases, manages,
			 or otherwise controls, as provided in Section
			 6-604(A)
			 of Title 2 of the Oklahoma Statutes. Such rules may, among other things,
			 establish seasonal restrictions on the removal of feral swine (for example, by
			 prohibiting feral swine removal during primitive arms and gun deer hunting
			 seasons in order to bolster the enforcement of illegal poaching).
This Executive Order shall be distributed to the ODWC Director,
			 the Commissioner of Agriculture, the CEO of the Grand River Dam Authority, the
			 Secretary of the Commissioners of the Land Office, the Secretary of Tourism and
			 Recreation, and to all of my Cabinet Secretaries, who shall cause the
			 provisions of this Order to be implemented as herein directed.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have set my hand and caused the Great Seal
			 of the State of Oklahoma to be affixed at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, this 20th
			 day of May, 2016.
BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA
Mary Fallin
ATTEST:
Chris Benge
Secretary of State