1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to game and fish; establishing an elk license auction to control elk 
1.3 	causing damage or nuisance; appropriating money;amending Minnesota Statutes 
1.4 	2012, section 97B.515, subdivision 4.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 97B.515, subdivision 4, is amended to read:
1.7 		Subd. 4.Taking elk causing damage or nuisance. (a) The commissioner may 
1.8 	authorize licensed hunters to take elk that are causing damage or nuisance from August 
1.9 	15 to March 1 under rules prescribed by the commissioner. The commissioner may 
1.10 	issue licenses to hunters by public auction conducted through a sealed bid process as 
1.11 	provided under paragraph (b). If the commissioner is unable to award a sufficient number 
1.12 	of licenses to address the damage or nuisance being caused by elk, the commissioner 
1.13 	may issue licenses to hunters impartially selected from a list of elk hunt applicants who 
1.14 	indicated on their application that they would be interested and available to respond to 
1.15 	an elk damage or nuisance situation. Notwithstanding section 97A.433, subdivision 2, 
1.16 	clause (2), a person receiving a license to hunt elk under this subdivision does not lose 
1.17 	eligibility for future elk hunts.
1.18 	(b) The commissioner must first award elk licenses to take elk causing damage or 
1.19 	nuisance by public auction conducted through a sealed bid process. The commissioner 
1.20 	shall establish the form and procedures for conducting the auction. The commissioner 
1.21 	must award elk licenses under this subdivision to the highest bidders until all elk licenses 
1.22 	have been awarded or all eligible bidders have received a license. A person awarded an 
1.23 	elk license under this subdivision has 15 days to submit payment for the license. The 
1.24 	minimum bid for an elk license is $287. The amount paid for each elk license issued 
2.1 	under this subdivision shall be deposited in the general fund and is appropriated to the 
2.2 	commissioner of agriculture for compensation for crop or fence damage caused by elk as 
2.3 	provided under section 3.7371.