Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 50, December 13, 2024
Section 58-63-2 - Definitions2.1. "Cervid" means all members of the deer family, native and exotic.2.2. "Facility" means the property on which a person engages in an activity for which one of the licenses listed in section 2.2 of this rule or issued pursuant to W. Va. Code § 20-2-51 and § 20-2-52 is required by statute and includes, but is not limited to, buildings, enclosures, grounds, impoundments, and ponds.2.3. "Licensee" means a person who has been granted one of the following permits and licenses issued by the Division or issued pursuant to W. Va. Code §§ 20-2-51 and 20-2-52: 2.3.1. A license for the operation of a private game preserve for the propagation of wild animals or wild birds for commercial purposes (W. Va. Code § 20-2-47). The Division will issue three categories of this license: 2.3.1.a. Commercial game farm license. This license authorizes the licensee to breed or raise wild animals and wild birds as specified by the license, to sell the wild animals and wild birds dead or alive, or to sell the eggs of birds in accordance with the provisions of this rule and under the terms and conditions of the license. This license does not include the acquisition or holding of foxes or raccoons trapped from the wild by a legal trapper (W. Va. Code § 20-2-11);2.3.1.b. Hound coursing/training pen game farm license. This license authorizes the licensee to purchase, hold, and release into hound coursing/training pens in accordance with the provisions of this rule and under terms and conditions of the license, live foxes or raccoons obtained from the wild by a legal trapper (W. Va. Code § 20-2-11) or live wildlife obtained by means specified under Section 3 of this rule; and2.3.1.c. Incorporated sportsmen club game farm license. This license authorizes incorporated sportsmen clubs in West Virginia to purchase, hold, and release in accordance with the provisions of this rule and under terms and conditions of the license, live foxes and raccoons obtained from the wild by a legal trapper (W. Va. Code § 20-2-11) or other means specified under Section 3 of this rule for the purpose of restocking.2.3.2. A license for the operation of a private plant, pond, or business for the propagation, sale, or purchase of fish, frogs, turtles, or other forms of aquatic life for commercial purposes (W. Va. Code § 20-2-48). This license authorizes the licensee to breed or raise the species specified by the license and to buy and sell those species dead or alive or the eggs of the species in accordance with the provisions of this rule.2.4. "Hound Coursing/Training Pen" means a permanent enclosure of no less than 40 acres from which there is no reasonable expectation of escape of the animals placed within, except that fox hound coursing/training pens must enclose no less than 100 acres.2.5. "Incorporated Sportsmen Club" means a club, organization, or group formed for a common purpose to further the tradition of hunting, fishing, or trapping and registered with the Secretary of State for that purpose.2.6. "Legal Trapper" means a trapper possessing a valid West Virginia trapping license or otherwise exempted from licensing requirements as provided in W. Va. Code §§ 20-2-27 and 20-2-28.2.7. "Native" means commonly accepted and documented in scientific literature to live in the wild as part of the present or historic natural fauna of this State.2.8. "Wildlife" means wild birds, wild animals, game and fur-bearing animals, fish (including minnows), reptiles, amphibians, mollusks, crustaceans and all forms of aquatic life used as fish bait, whether dead or alive. The term "wildlife" does not include captive cervids owned or possessed pursuant to W. Va. Code § 19-2H-1 et seq.2.9. All other terms have the meaning prescribed in W. Va. Code § 20-1-2.