One of the questions many might have noticed, or might be wondering is: Waitasecond, hasn’t a valid hunting or fishing license always been required for possession of at least some native amphibians and reptiles in Wisconsin? Well, in the longstanding “Wisconsin’s Amphibian and Reptile Regulations” pamphlet and PDF, includes the following:
Licenses for Collection and Possession:
Any person who collects, attempt to collect, or
possesses native Wisconsin aquatic turtles, or frogs
used for bait, must possess one of the following
licenses: Fishing, Small Game, Sports, Conservation
Patron, Setline*, or Set or Bank Pole*. Existing
Senior Citizen Recreational Cards also qualify. In
addition to the licenses listed above, residents
holding a Commercial Fishing License may harvest
turtles on Wisconsin/Mississippi Boundary Waters.
* These licenses are available only to residents.
The link to the pamphlet can be found here: p.widencdn.net/xj9s5p/ER0102
In fact, this is the very first recommendation made by the Partner's in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC) Model Guidelines for States: https://parcplace.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/HERPETOFAUNAR.pdf
a. Require the purchase of a standard fishing or small
game hunting license for the collection of
herpetofauna for personal use (e.g. pets, food,
fishing bait, or cultural needs). As an alternative to
a fishing or hunting license, consider creating a
special herpetofauna license or stamp. This special
license or stamp could also assist-an agency in
managing and monitoring the number of collectors,
collection trends, creating a stakeholder contact-
list and establish base funding for herpetofauna
management.
This pamphlet might not, of course, be the actual administrative codes and/or legislative statutes themselves, so let’s take a look at those and where these requirements might have come from.
NR 19.275 Turtles. (1) APPLICABILITY. This section applies to the taking and possession of turtles in Wisconsin, except for the Wisconsin−Minnesota boundary waters and the Wisconsin −Iowa boundary waters, where the taking and possession of turtles is governed by ss. NR 21.13 and 22.13, respectively.
(3) ADDITIONAL RESTRICTIONS. No person may do any of the following:
(a) Take, possess or control a turtle unless the person is in pos session of a valid approval issued under s. 29.624, 29.161, 29.204, 29.207, 29.231 or 29.235, Stats., which authorizes the hunting of small game, or an approval issued under s. 29.624, 29.228, 29.219, 29.231, 29.235, 29.531, or 29.533, Stats., which authorize fishing, unless otherwise exempt from the need to possess one of more of these approvals to hunt or fish under ch. 29, Stats. Note: The s. 29.228, Stats., fishing license exemption for nonresidents under age 16 only applies to taking fish by hook and line. Therefore, any nonresident under age 16 who takes turtles by hand, hooking or with hoop net turtle traps must possess a valid fishing or small game authorization.
So, this was N.R. 19.275(3)(a). For frogs, the administrative code was the section below, although this code, unlike for turtles, does not state any hunting or fishing authorizations:
NR 19.26 Season and restrictions for taking frogs.
(1) The open season for frogs runs from the Saturday nearest to May 1 to December 31.
(2) No person may take frogs with the aid of a firearm or air gun.
(3) Possession limits for frogs are established in s. NR 16.12. History: Cr. Register, May, 2000, No. 533, eff. 6−1−00; CR 03−030: r. and recr. Register October 2003 No. 574, eff. 11−1−03.
But what are the actual, authorizing legislative statutes which supply N.R. 19? Those are Chapter 29 statutes, which deal with hunting, fishing, and “nongame” wildlife regulations and authorizations. So what is “nongame” wildlife?
29.039 Nongame species.
(1) The department may conduct investigations of nongame species to develop scientific information relating to population, distribution, habitat needs, and other biological data to determine necessary conservation measures. The department may develop conservation programs to ensure the perpetuation of nongame species. The department may require harvest information and may establish limitations relating to taking, possession, transportation, processing and sale or offer for sale, of nongame species.
Respectively, all of the different hunting, fishing, and trapping license authorizations can be found in Subchapter III of Chapter 29 statutes. Of particular interest, through, is that of s. 29.231, Sports Licenses:
29.231 Sports licenses.
(1) A resident sports license shall be issued subject to ss. 29.024 and 54.25 (2) (c) 1. d. by the department to any resident who applies for this license, and a nonresident sports license shall be issued subject to s. 29.024 by the department to any person who is not a resident and who applies for the license.
(2) A resident sports license confers upon the licensee all of the combined privileges conferred by a resident small game hunting license, resident fishing license and resident deer hunting license subject to all of the duties, conditions, limitations and restrictions of those licenses.
(3) A nonresident sports license confers upon the licensee all of the combined privileges conferred by a nonresident small game hunting license, nonresident fishing license and nonresident deer hunting license subject to all of the duties, conditions, limitations and restrictions of those licenses.
So do Subchapter III’s hunting, fishing, and trapping licenses and authorizations satisfy the collection and possession of native amphibians and reptiles, if they are classified as “nongame” wildlife? There does not appear to be any explicit mention or authorizations for reptiles and amphibians specifically under Chapter 29 statutes, as s. 29.039 on “nongame” wildlife species is really the only substantive section found in Chapter 29, so the answer would seemingly be, no.
There is a strong tendency within the WDNR to stay within the framework of Chapter 169 statutes, which a hunting, fishing, or sports license does not fall under. However, there are six (6) citations overall referencing Chapter 29 licenses within Chapter 169. These are: s. 169.04(1)(b), s. 169.05(1), s. 169.06(1)(a), s. 169.07(1)(a), s. 169.10(1), and s. 169.10(2)(a).
So there is no reason why a hunting, fishing, or sports license also cannot be amended into s. 169.12 for native reptiles and amphibians.
BUT, there has been another interesting trend: s. 29.039 on Nongame Species has always consistently appeared as the main authorizing statute for all other Wisconsin native herptile regulations in the forms of CR 03-092, CR 05-031, and CR 14-025. So why not CR 25-092? Why was s. 29.039 not included in CR 25-092?
It could have been that WDNR simply saw s. 169.12(1) as the more directly related statute to for captive wildlife than s. 29.039, and went with that. But, that still doesn’t mean it *couldn’t* have used its discretion under BOTH Chapter 29 and 169 statutes to allow for the continued regulated possession of native amphibians and reptiles under a valid hunting, fishing, or other Chapter 29 permit or license.
Maybe s. 29.039 would have been the better statute to go by than s. 169.12 since that statute contains much more detailed direction, and would have given WDNR much more ability to allow continued possession under regulated conditions.
s. 169.12 (1) Possession; general. No person may take from the wild or possess live native wild reptiles or live native wild amphibians unless the person is authorized to do so under rules promulgated by the department or unless sub. (3) applies.
So why not just require a valid hunting, fishing, or sports license for all reptiles and amphibians in Wisconsin? That would prevent the massive problem that is going to occur with unwanted rescue and surrender animals that are native species as a result of CR 25-092. Prominent rescues in Wisconsin have already been attempting to contact the WDNR repeatedly as to what to do with native animals, with no answers or response.
Simply requiring a fishing, hunting, and/or sports license would be the quickest and easiest fix to much of this, and WDNR has the discretion to implement them to stymie the many problems we are going to see with the new regulations. This is also something the Wisconsin Legislature needs to take up as well in the next session.
