Virginia Board of Wildlife Resources

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The Virginia Board of Wildlife Resources (formerly the Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries) oversees the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources.

Contents

Membership

The Code of Virginia provides that "the Board shall consist of not more than one member from each congressional district". Following Census 2000, Virginia was allocated 11 Congressional districts; therefore, the Board was limited to a maximum of 11 members.

Members are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the General Assembly. [1]

Powers

The Board has power to:

Rulemaking process

The Board holds meetings every year to consider amendments to the Virginia Administrative Code. In even-numbered years, fish and aquatic regulations are reviewed. In odd numbered years, game and terrestrial nongame wildlife regulations are reviewed. Procedures for emergency situations had not yet been developed, as of 2004.

Well-known regulations

Snakeheads

A high-profile regulation issued by the Board is 4VAC15-30-40, [2] which bans the importation of snakehead fish.

Wild animals

The regulation then lists 26 domestic animals (dogs, cats, horses, etc.) which are exempt from the definition. Some Virginians, such as ferret and skunk enthusiasts, would like to see additional animals added to the list of allowed pets.

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References

  1. "Board of Game and Inland Fisheries | Virginia DGIF" . Retrieved 2020-06-22.
  2. "LIS > Administrative Code > 4VAC15-30-40". leg1.state.va.us.
  3. "LIS > Administrative Code > 4VAC15-30-10". leg1.state.va.us.
  4. "LIS > Administrative Code > 4VAC15-20-50". leg1.state.va.us.