1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to agriculture; removing the per animal limit 
  1.3             on wolf depredation payments; amending Minnesota 
  1.4             Statutes 1998, section 3.737, subdivision 1. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 3.737, 
  1.7   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.8      Subdivision 1.  [COMPENSATION REQUIRED.] (a) 
  1.9   Notwithstanding section 3.736, subdivision 3, paragraph (e), or 
  1.10  any other law, a livestock owner shall be compensated by the 
  1.11  commissioner of agriculture for livestock that is destroyed by a 
  1.12  timber wolf or is so crippled by a timber wolf that it must be 
  1.13  destroyed.  The owner is entitled to the fair market value of 
  1.14  the destroyed livestock, not to exceed $750 per animal 
  1.15  destroyed, as determined by the commissioner, upon 
  1.16  recommendation of a university extension agent and a 
  1.17  conservation officer.  
  1.18     (b) Either the agent or the conservation officer must make 
  1.19  a personal inspection of the site.  The agent or the 
  1.20  conservation officer must take into account factors in addition 
  1.21  to a visual identification of a carcass when making a 
  1.22  recommendation to the commissioner.  The commissioner, upon 
  1.23  recommendation of the agent and conservation officer, shall 
  1.24  determine whether the livestock was destroyed by a timber wolf 
  1.25  and any deficiencies in the owner's adoption of the best 
  2.1   management practices developed in subdivision 5.  The 
  2.2   commissioner may authorize payment of claims only if the agent 
  2.3   and the conservation officer have recommended payment.  The 
  2.4   owner shall file a claim on forms provided by the commissioner 
  2.5   and available at the university extension agent's office.