A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to amend various laws governing Hunting and trapping.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  It is the intent of the General Assembly to replace the welter of local acts regulating the hunting and trapping of foxes with seasons and other regulations for management of fox populations set by the Wildlife Resources Commission based on sound science and best practices for the management of the fox population in the State.
SECTION 2.  G.S. 113‑270.5 reads as rewritten:
"§ 113‑270.5.  Trapping licenses.
(a)	Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, no one may take fur‑bearing animals by trapping, or by any other authorized special method that preserves the pelt from injury, without first having procured a current and valid trapping license. When the trapping license is required, it serves in lieu of a hunting license in the taking of fur‑bearing animals. If fur‑bearing animals are taken as game, at the times and by the hunting methods that may be authorized, hunting license requirements apply.
(b)	The trapping licenses issued by the Wildlife Resources Commission are as follows:
(1)	Resident State Trapping License – $30.00. This license is valid only for use by an individual resident of the State.
(2)	Repealed by Session Laws 2013‑283, s. 6, effective August 1, 2014.
(3)	Nonresident State Trapping License – $125.00. This license is valid for use by an individual within the State.
(4)	Resident Lifetime Trapping License – $300.00. This license shall be issued only to an individual resident of the State and is valid for the lifetime of the licensee.
(5)	Nonresident Lifetime Trapping License – $1,000. This license shall be issued only to an individual nonresident of the State and is valid for the lifetime of the licensee."
SECTION 3.  G.S. 113‑291.6 reads as rewritten:
"§ 113‑291.6.  Regulation of trapping.
…
(b)	No one may take wild animals by trapping with any steel‑jaw, leghold, or conibear trap unless it:
(1)	Has a jaw spread of not more than seven and one‑half inches.
(2)	Is horizontally offset with closed jaw spread of at least three sixteenths of an inch for a trap with a jaw spread of more than five and one‑half inches. This subdivision does not apply if the trap is set in the water with quick‑drown type of set.
(3)	Is smooth edged and without teeth or spikes.
(4)	Has a weather‑resistant permanent tag attached legibly giving the trapper's identification number issued by the Wildlife Resources Commission or the trapper's name and address.
A steel‑jaw or leghold trap set on dry land with solid anchor may not have a trap chain longer than eight inches from trap to anchor unless fitted with a shock‑absorbing device approved by the Wildlife Resources Commission.
…."
SECTION 4.(a)  G.S. 113‑291.4 reads as rewritten:
"§ 113‑291.4.  Regulation of foxes; study of fox and fur‑bearer populations.
(a)	All of the regulatory powers granted the Wildlife Resources Commission generally with respect to game, wild animals, and wildlife apply to foxes unless there are specific overriding restrictions in this section.
(b)	Except for any closed season under subsection (h), foxes may be taken with dogs both night and day on a year‑round basis.
(c)	Foxes may not be taken with firearms except:
(1)	As provided in subsection (f) or (i) of this section or G.S. 113‑291.4A(a).
(2)	As an incidental method of humanely killing them following any lawful method of taking that does not result in death.
(3)	When they are lawfully shot under laws and rules pertaining to the destruction of animals committing depredations to property.
(d)	Foxes may not be taken with the aid of any electronic calling device.
(e)	The Wildlife Resources Commission is directed to improve its capabilities for studying fox and fur‑bearer populations generally and, on the basis of its present knowledge and future studies, to implement management methods and impose controls designed to produce optimum fox and fur‑bearer populations in the various areas of the State.
(f)	If, on the basis of its studies and other information available, the Wildlife Resources Commission determines the population of foxes in an area is fully adequate to support a harvesting of that population, the Wildlife Resources Commission may open a season for taking foxes by trapping. When the season is open for trapping, foxes may also be taken by the use of methods lawful for taking game animals, including the use of firearms. The Wildlife Resources Commission may also establish different seasons for hunting and trapping of fox, may set different open seasons for different areas of the State, and may make reasonable rules governing the possession of foxes killed by motor vehicles or other accidental means. Any bag, possession, or season limits imposed on foxes taken from the area in question will apply in the aggregate to all foxes killed without regard to the method of taking.
…."
SECTION 4.(b)  G.S. 113‑291.4A and subsection (f1) of G.S. 113‑291.4 are repealed.
SECTION 4.(c)  All local acts in conflict with this section are repealed to the extent of the conflict.
SECTION 4.(d)  G.S. 113‑133.1(e) reads as rewritten:
"(e)	Because of strong community interest expressed in their retention, the local acts or portions of local acts listed in this section are not repealed. The following local acts are retained to the extent they apply to the county for which listed:
Alleghany: Session Laws 1951, Chapter 665; Session Laws 1977, Chapter 526; Session Laws 1979, Chapter 556.

Ashe: Session Laws 1951, Chapter 665.
Avery: Former G.S. 113‑122.
Beaufort: Session Laws 1947, Chapter 466, as amended by Session Laws 1979, Chapter 219; Session Laws 1957, Chapter 1364; Session Laws 1971, Chapter 173.
Bertie: Session Laws 1955, Chapter 1376; Session Laws 1975, Chapter 287.
Bladen: ‑ Session Laws 1961, Chapter 348 (as it applies to Bladen residents fishing in Robeson County); Session Laws 1961, Chapter 1023; Session Laws 1971, Chapter 384.
Brunswick: Session Laws 1975, Chapter 218 (as applied to trapping of wildlife other than red fox, gray fox, or coyote).
Buncombe: Public‑Local Laws 1933, Chapter 308.
Burke: Public‑Local Laws 1921, Chapter 454; Public‑Local Laws 1921 (Extra Session), Chapter 213, Section 3 (with respect to fox seasons); Public‑Local Laws 1933, Chapter 422, Section 3; Session Laws 1977, Chapter 636.
Caldwell: Former G.S. 113‑122; Session Laws 1979, Chapter 507.
Camden: Session Laws 1955, Chapter 362 (to the extent it applies to inland fishing waters); Session Laws 1967, Chapter 441.
Carteret: Session Laws 1955, Chapter 1036; Session Laws 1977, Chapter 695 (as applied to trapping of wildlife other than red fox, gray fox, or coyote).
Caswell: Public‑Local Laws 1933, Chapter 311.

Chatham: Public‑Local Laws 1937 Chapter 236; Session Laws 1963, Chapter 271.
Chowan: Session Laws 1979, Chapter 184; Session Laws 1979, Chapter 582.
(See Editor's note) Cleveland:  Session Laws 1979, Chapter 587.
Columbus: Session Laws 1951, Chapter 492, as amended by Session Laws 1955, Chapter 506 (as applied to trapping of wildlife other than  red fox, gray fox, or coyote).
Craven: Session Laws 1971, Chapter 273, as amended by Session Laws 1971, Chapter 629.
Cumberland: Session Laws 1975, Chapter 748; Session Laws 1977, Chapter 471 (as applied to Session Laws 1975, Chapter 95 (as applied to trapping of wildlife other than  red fox, gray fox, or coyote).
Dare: Session Laws 1973, Chapter 259.

Duplin: Session Laws 1973 (Second Session 1974), Chapter 1266; Session Laws 1979, Chapter 466.
Edgecombe: Session Laws 1961, Chapter 408.
Gates: Session Laws 1959, Chapter 298; Session Laws 1975, Chapter 269; Session Laws 1975, Chapter 748.

(See Editor's note) Greene: Session Laws 1975, Chapter 219 (as it relates to the taking of deer with firearms); Session Laws 1979, Chapter 360.
Halifax: Session Laws 1947, Chapter 954; Session Laws 1955, Chapter 1376.

Hertford: Session Laws 1959, Chapter 298; Session Laws 1975, Chapter 269; Session Laws 1975, Chapter 748; Session Laws 1977, Chapter 67.
Hoke: Session Laws 1963, Chapter 267.
Hyde: Public‑Local Laws 1929, Chapter 354, Section 1 (as it relates to foxes); Session Laws 1951, Chapter 932.
Iredell: Session Laws 1979, Chapter 577.
Jackson: Session Laws 1965, Chapter 765.
Johnston: Session Laws 1975, Chapter 342.
Jones: Session Laws 1979, Chapter 441.
Lee: Session Laws 1963, Chapter 271.
Lenoir: Session Laws 1979, Chapter 441.

Martin: Session Laws 1955, Chapter 1376.

Nash: Session Laws 1961, Chapter 408.
New Hanover: Session Laws 1975, Chapter 95 (as applied to trapping of wildlife other than red fox, gray fox, or coyote).
Northampton: Session Laws 1955, Chapter 1376; Session Laws 1975, Chapter 269; Session Laws 1975, Chapter 748; Session Laws 1977, Chapter 67; Session Laws 1979, Chapter 548.
Orange: Public‑Local Laws 1913, Chapter 547.
Pamlico: Session Laws 1977, Chapter 636.
Pender: Session Laws 1961, Chapter 333; Session Laws 1967, Chapter 229; Session Laws 1969, Chapter 258, as amended by Session Laws 1973, Chapter 420; Session Laws 1977, Chapter 585, as amended by Session Laws 1985, Chapter 421; Session Laws 1977, Chapter 805; Session Laws 1979, Chapter 546.
Perquimans: Session Laws 1973, Chapter 160; Session Laws 1973, Chapter 264.
(See Editor's note) Polk: Session Laws 1975, Chapter 269, as amended by Session Laws 1977, Chapter 167.
Randolph: Public‑Local Laws 1941, Chapter 246; Session Laws 1947, Chapter 920.
Robeson: Public‑Local Laws 1924 (Extra Session), Chapter 92; Session Laws 1961, Chapter 348.
Rockingham: Public‑Local Laws 1933, Chapter 310.
Rowan: Session Laws 1975, Chapter 269, as amended by Session Laws 1977, Chapter 106, and Session Laws 1977, Chapter 500; Session Laws 1979, Chapter 556.

Sampson: Session Laws 1979, Chapter 373.
Scotland: Session Laws 1959, Chapter 1143; Session Laws 1977, Chapter 436.
Stokes: Former G.S. 113‑111; Public‑Local Laws 1933, Chapter 310; Session Laws 1979, Chapter 556.
Surry: Session Laws 1975, Chapter 269, as amended by Session Laws 1977, Chapter 167.
Swain: Public‑Local Laws 1935, Chapter 52; Session Laws 1953, Chapter 270; Session Laws 1965, Chapter 765.
Transylvania: Public Laws 1935, Chapter 107, Section 2, as amended by Public Laws 1935, Chapter 238.
Tyrrell: Session Laws 1953, Chapter 685.
Wake: Session Laws 1973 (Second Session 1974), Chapter 1382.
Washington: Session Laws 1947, Chapter 620.
Wayne: Session Laws 1975, Chapter 269; Session Laws 1975, Chapter 342, as amended by Session Laws 1977, Chapter 43; Session Laws 1975, Chapter 343, as amended by Session Laws 1977, Chapter 45; Session Laws 1977, Chapter 695 (as applied to trapping of wildlife other than red fox, gray fox, or coyote).
Wilkes: Session Laws 1951, Chapter 665; Session Laws 1973, Chapter 106; Session Laws 1979, Chapter 507.
Yadkin: Session Laws 1979, Chapter 507.
"
SECTION 4.(e)  G.S. 113‑291.4(c) reads as rewritten:
"(c)	Foxes may not be taken with firearms except:
(1)	As provided in subsection (f) or (i) of this section.
(2)	As an incidental method of humanely killing them following any lawful method of taking that does not result in death.
(3)	When they are lawfully shot under laws and rules pertaining to the destruction of animals committing depredations to property."
SECTION 4.(f)  The Wildlife Resources Commission may adopt temporary rules in accordance with Chapter 150B of the General Statutes to implement the provisions of this section. Subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e) of this section become effective when the Wildlife Resources Commission notifies the Revisor of Statutes that it has issued temporary rules implementing subsection (a) of this section.
SECTION 5.  Except as otherwise provided, this act becomes effective October 1, 2017.