BHB/7/13
Sponsored by Alexandria Mickelson, Aiden Orr, Dariush Zafer of Lausanne Collegiate School
This legislation was filed in the Environment and Conservation category
Presented as part of the YIG Volunteer 2024 conference
| 1 | BE IT ENACTED BY THE TENNESSEE YMCA YOUTH LEGISLATURE |
| 2 | |
| 3 | Section 1: Terms in this act shall be defined as follows: |
| 4 | Grassland - an environment dominated by grass or similar vegetation, such as prairies, plains, or |
| 5 | savannas. |
| 6 | Native - growing in an area indigenously |
| 7 | Wildlife Management Area (WMA) - an area protected by Tennessee for the purpose of wildlife |
| 8 | conservation and ecological restoration in addition to activities such as hunting and fishing. |
| 9 | Extension Program - community-level outreach programs conducted by universities in order to |
| 10 | further public education and needs. |
| 11 | Grassland Extension Program - An extension program working to facilitate both education about |
| 12 | and restoration of grasslands for the general public, typically providing education and resources to |
| 13 | private landowners. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | Section 2: If enacted, this bill would provide funding to further the operation and organization of |
| 16 | existing state-funded ecological restoration and conservation projects with a focus on indigenous |
| 17 | grassland. These programs will include the following: |
| 18 | State-funded grassland extension projects enacted through university research programs. This |
| 19 | includes any state university program which currently works with private landowners to provide |
| 20 | resources and education to further grassland health and restoration on their properties. |
| 21 | Non-profit ecological restoration projects of a similar nature to state-run grassland extension |
| 22 | projects. |
| 23 | State of Tennessee Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) in locations where such ecological projects |
| 24 | as detailed above are deemed most appropriate, namely, areas that historically contained |
| 25 | grassland environments. |
| 26 | |
| 27 | Section 3: The fee for all forms of hunting license registration in the state of Tennessee will be |
| 28 | increased by 5%, providing roughly $1.5 million of funding per year for the funding of ecological |
| 29 | restoration projects as defined above for the purposes of: |
| 30 | Ecological restoration of indigenous grasslands |
| 31 | Wildlife conservation |
| 32 | Providing habitat for endangered or threatened species |
| 33 | Purchasing of resources necessary for the above, such as seed and equipment |
| 34 | Furthering the partnership between state-run and non-profit restoration projects |
| 35 | |
| 36 | Section 4: All laws or parts of laws in conflict with this act are hereby repealed |
| 37 | |
| 38 | Section 5: This act shall take effect January 1st, 2025, the public welfare requiring it. |
| 39 |