RCW 76.04.021 Department must accommodate livestock owner's request to retrieve or care for animals at risk due to a wildfire—Liability.
(1)(a) The department must make every reasonable effort to accommodate a livestock owner's request to retrieve or care for animals in his or her charge that are at risk due to a wildfire.
(b) The department may only prohibit livestock owners, or the owner's employees or agents, from retrieving or caring for livestock that are lawfully present on the public lands during any fire suppression response if doing so is reasonably necessary to prevent interference with a direct, active fire response.
(2) The department must incorporate the implementation of this section into any prefire season training or coordination conducted in local communities that contain active grazing areas.
(3)(a) The owner of livestock lawfully present on public lands assumes full liability for any damages incurred to himself or herself, and any employees or agents in his or her charge, if public lands are accessed to retrieve or care for livestock during the time of a fire suppression response by the department affecting the public lands in question.
(b) No civil liability may be imposed by any court on the state, the department, or another political subdivision of the state for any direct or indirect adverse impacts, including injury or death, resulting from:
(i) The department's reasonable efforts under this section to accommodate a livestock owner, or the owner's employees or agents, to retrieve or care for animals in his or her charge that are at risk due to a wildfire; or
(ii) A livestock owner, or the owner's employees or agents, accessing public lands to retrieve or care for livestock during the time of a fire suppression response by the department affecting the public lands in question.
[ 2016 c 109 § 2.]
Copyright ©2024 LegalFix. All rights reserved. LegalFix is not a law firm, is not licensed to practice law, and does not provide legal advice, services, or representation. The information on this website is an overview of the legal plans you can purchase—or that may be provided by your employer as an employee benefit or by your credit union or other membership group as a membership benefit.
LegalFix provides its members with easy access to affordable legal services through a network of independent law firms. LegalFix, its corporate entity, and its officers, directors, employees, agents, and contractors do not provide legal advice, services, or representation—directly or indirectly.
The articles and information on the site are not legal advice and should not be relied upon—they are for information purposes only. You should become a LegalFix member to get legal services from one of our network law firms.
You should not disclose confidential or potentially incriminating information to LegalFix—you should only communicate such information to your network law firm.
The benefits and legal services described in the LegalFix legal plans are not always available in all states or with all plans. See the legal plan Benefit Overview and the more comprehensive legal plan contract during checkout for coverage details in your state.
Use of this website, the purchase of legal plans, and access to the LegalFix networks of law firms are subject to the LegalFix Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.