CHAPTER 212
(SB 216)
Prairie dogs considered pests under certain conditions.
ENTITLED, An Act to
enumerate the circumstances under which prairie dogs are to be considered
pests.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA:
Section
1.
That
§
38-22-1.2
be amended to read as follows:
38-22-1.2.
Terms used in this chapter
, unless the context otherwise clearly requires,
mean:
(1)
"Agricultural chemical," any material used to control or eradicate weeds or pests;
(2)
"Board," any county weed and pest board;
(3)
"Board member area," a geographical area within a county from which a member of the
board is appointed;
(4)
"Commission," the South Dakota Weed and Pest Control Commission;
(5)
"Control," the prevention or limiting of the growth, spread, or development of weeds
or pests;
(6)
"Department," the State Department of Agriculture;
(7)
"Pest," any rodent, bird
,
other than a game bird or a state or federally protected bird,
insect
,
or nematode which the commission has found to be detrimental to the production
of crop or livestock or to the welfare of persons residing within the state
. Prairie dogs
are included in the definition of a pest if all of the following conditions apply:
(a) Sylvatic plague has been reported in any prairie dog colony east of the Rocky
Mountains;
(b) The South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks has determined that the
population of prairie dogs within the state, including tribal lands, exceeds the one
hundred forty-five thousand acre level;
(c) Prairie dogs are colonizing on lands where the prairie dogs are unwanted by the
owner of the impacted land;
(d) Lands adjacent to the impacted owner's land do not have a maintained one-mile
buffer zone, or other mutually agreed border, in which prairie dog control is
applied, and the owner of the impacted land has filed a written complaint of
encroachment requesting mitigation or abatement with the South Dakota
Department of Agriculture and served a copy upon the owner of adjoining lands
from which the prairie dogs are encroaching
;
(8)
"Pesticide," a substance or mixture of substances for preventing, destroying, repelling,
or mitigating any pest or any substance or mixture of substances intended for use as a
plant regulatory, defoliant, or desiccant or any substance or mixture of substances
intended to be used as a spray adjuvant;
(9)
"Secretary," the state secretary of the Department of Agriculture;
(10)
"Supervisor," any person appointed or employed by a board for the purpose of carrying
out the provisions of this chapter;
(11)
"Weed," any plant which the commission has found to be detrimental to the production
of crops or livestock or to the welfare of persons residing within the state.
Signed March 4, 2005