Sources: South Dakota Codified Laws, 1991, Title 41; 1992 Pocket Supplement.
STATE WILDLIFE POLICY
No person shall at any time or in any manner acquire any property in, or subject to his dominion or control, any game bird, game animal, or game fish or any part thereof, but they shall always and under all circumstances be and remain the property of the state unless taken in the manner provided by law or regulations prescribed by the Game, Fish and Parks Commission (Commission) and for the purposes authorized by law, and during permitted periods of killing, when the same may be used by any person during the time, in the manner and for the purposes expressly authorized by law (41-1-2 and -3). All wild birds or animals as defined in 41-1-1, both resident and migratory, in the state are the property of the state (41-11-1).
PROTECTED SPECIES OF WILDLIFE
No person may hunt, kill, or capture black bears, mountain lions and wolves in South Dakota except pursuant to 41-6-29 (41-8-2.1). Except as otherwise expressly provided, no person may hunt, pursue, take, possess or capture a big game animal within the state, violations to be punished pursuant to 41-8-18 (41-8-2). Except as permitted, no person may kill, catch, or have in possession, living or dead, a wild bird other than small game, or ship within or without the state, or sell, a wild bird or small game after it has been killed or caught (41-11-2). Except as provided, no person may hunt, kill, take or have in possession or control a snipe, prairie chicken or pinnated grouse, white breasted or sharp-tailed grouse, partridge, or ruffed grouse, sage grouse, Hungarian partridge, chukar partridge, Chinese ringnecked or English pheasant, wild turkey, upland plover, golden plover, crow, mourning dove, quail, wild duck of any variety, wild geese of any variety, brant or any variety of aquatic fowl or part thereof (41-11-4). Except as permitted by statute, no person may take or have in possession or break or destroy a nest of the eggs of the above birds (41-11-7). No part of the plumage, skin or body of a protected bird may be sold or had in possession for sale, irrespective of whether such bird was captured or killed within or without the state, except that the plumage or skin of the Chinese pheasant, sharptail grouse, Hungarian partridge and prairie chicken legally taken may be sold or had in possession for sale (41-11-8). A Department raptor license is required in order to possess or capture a raptor (41-11-11). Violations of all of the above are class 2 misdemeaners.
The Department and the Department of Agriculture may participate in programs to reintroduce the black-footed ferret under the following conditions: areas containing prairie dogs but without the potential to support black-footed ferrets shall be identified, evaluated and declared ferret-free; existing USFS prairie dog management plans shall be strictly adhered to, and if future increases in acres are needed, a funding mechanism shall be established to compensate landowners suffering lost income; no additional land may be acquired for ferrets through condemnation, and the USFS multiple use concept shall be continued; initial ferret reintroduction efforts shall be concentrated within Badlands National Park, and after techniques are refined, the Buffalo Gap management plan is functioning, and there is citizen input, reintroduction efforts may be expanded to the grasslands; the USFW shall provide for continued meetings of personnel from USFS, Pine Ridge Indian reservation, US Park Service, USFW, affected state agencies, private organizations and local landowners during and after reintroduction of the ferret (41-11-15).
See also RELEVANT WILDLIFE DEFINITIONS; HUNTING, FISHING, TRAPPING PROVISIONS; ANIMAL DAMAGE CONTROL; and ENFORCEMENT OF WILDLIFE LAWS.
HABITAT PROTECTION
The Department may acquire by gift or lease from willing landowners the right to maintain unused, terminated or abandoned section-line rights-of-way for game production areas, excluding section lines where roads have never been developed. The roadways may be reopened for public travel. Every state political subdivision east of the Missouri River having highways or roadways under its jurisdiction which are undeveloped or not maintained as public highways may notify the Department of these, and shall cooperate with the Department in acquiring and maintaining such rights-of-way for use as game production areas. The sand and gravel islands formed in the Missouri River can be administered by the Secretary primarily for wildlife habitat or public recreation, or both, and the Secretary may also lease out contracts for sand and gravel taking. It is a class 2 misdemeanor to hunt within the limits of the boundaries of the "state game preserve" and game and bird refuges which may be hereafter established, or to carry a rifle, shotgun or other hunting firearm across such refuges unless enclosed in a case, and residents within refuges may carry firearms for killing nongame and predatory wildlife on their own premises within the refuge. It is the duty of Conservation Officers and state Forest Service members to enforce refuge provisions (41-5-7 through -11).
It is a class 2 misdemeanor to place chemicals to control plants in state public waters which contain game fish without explicit authority to do so from the Department, which may prescribe such rules as necessary to safeguard game fish and other animals (41-13-2). It is a class l misdemeanor to empty, place sawdust, manure, refuse matter, sedimentary materials, pollutants or chemicals in state waters containing fish and wildlife, or to deposit the same within such distance that it may be carried into such waters by natural causes except as expressly provided in this chapter. Persons who knowingly or willfully empty, place, discharge pollutants or chemicals into state waters are liable to the Department for an amount, to be deposited in the Department of Game, Fish and Parks Fund, which will compensate the state for restoration of fish and game losses (41-13-l). Agricultural producers are not liable for the result of normal farming practices if fish or wildlife kills occur (41-13-1.1).
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New Mexico Center for Wildlife Law
University of New Mexico School of Law
1117 Stanford NE, Albuquerque, NM 87131
(505) 277-5006
lprovenc@unm.edu