OAR 635-075-0011: Oregon Landowner Damage Program

(1) This rule implements HB 2027A, through which the 2013 Legislative Assembly directed the Department to implement an Oregon Landowner Damage Program. As directed by statute, the program addresses damage caused by elk on privately owned lands in Oregon by granting damage tags to qualifying landowners. (2) A "qualifying landowner" is: (a) An individual, partnership, corporation, unincorporated association or other nongovernmental entity which; (b) Owns, leases or rents land in Oregon; and (c) Whose land: (A) Is (at the time of application) suffering damage from elk; or (B) Has within the past five years suffered damage from elk and the Department has taken action to alleviate that damage; or (C) Is in an area designated as an "elk de-emphasis zone" by the Department. (3) "Damage" has the same definition as that in the "damage statute" (ORS 498.012): harm to land, livestock or agricultural or forest crops. (4) This damage program operates in the same manner as the landowner preference tag program in OAR 635-075-0000 through 0030, except that: (a) Damage program tags are limited to antlerless elk; (b) Damage tags may be used to take elk only on property owned, leased or rented by the landowner or by a business entity that includes the landowner as a principal partner or shareholder; (c) Qualifying landowners may exchange unused general season elk tags or controlled hunt tags for damage program tags; (d) No more than five damage program tags may be valid at any one time on a particular property; (e) Qualifying landowners may receive damage tags regardless of the size of their property. There is no minimum acreage requirement; (f) Qualifying landowners may register for damage program tags at any time. (g) The validity period (the time during which damage program tags may be used on a particular property) shall be negotiated between the Department's district biologist and the qualifying landowner; (h) Each qualifying landowner receiving damage program tags must (within 10 days of a designated hunt period) report to the local Department district biologist the number of elk taken by the landowner with damage program tags; (i) Damage program tags may be obtained from, and exchanged through, Department district biologists (rather than License Agents). (j) Only persons who have not been successful in harvesting an elk in a general or controlled hunt season are eligible to receive one damage program elk tag in a fiscal year of July through June; (k) The landowner and those receiving a transferred elk tag must surrender any original unfilled elk tag; or sign an affidavit stating the tag has been lost, stolen, or destroyed; (l) Department personnel shall verify that the person(s) receiving tag(s) has a valid hunting license and has not been successful in harvesting an elk during current general or controlled seasons.