29.597 Trapper education program.

(1) Establishment; program requirements.

(a) The department shall establish and supervise the administration of a trapper education program funded from the appropriations under s. 20.370 (1) (Lq) and (ma). Except with respect to the online course of instruction under sub. (1m), the department shall enter into an agreement with an organization that has demonstrated ability and experience in the field of trapper education to assist in the establishment and administration of the program.

(b) The trapper education program shall provide classroom instruction and instruction by correspondence and shall provide a course of instruction that includes all of the following:

1. Principles of wildlife management.

2. Responsibilities of trappers to landowners.

3. Interrelationships between trapping activities and the conservation of natural resources.

4. Techniques for the trapping of fur-bearing animals.

(c) The trapper education program shall use certified instructors when providing the instruction on techniques of trapping fur-bearing animals. The department shall establish criteria and standards for certifying these instructors. This paragraph does not apply to the online course of instruction under sub. (1m).

(1m) Online course of instruction. The department shall offer an online course of instruction under the trapper education program.

(2) Administration.

(a) The department and the organization with which the department enters into an agreement under sub. (1) (a) shall jointly do all of the following:

1. Contract with a qualified individual, who may not be an employee of the department, to operate the trapper education program.

2. Prescribe the duties and responsibilities of the individual contracted with under subd. 1.

(b) The individual contracted with under par. (a) 1. shall operate the trapper education program and shall do all of the following:

1. Supervise the recruitment and training of qualified trapper education instructors.

2. Coordinate the scheduling of classes.

3. Maintain the records for the trapper education program.

(c)

1. If the online course of instruction under the trapper education program requires field testing for a person to demonstrate successful completion of the course, the department shall make field testing available through each department service center at least once every 2 months.

2. If the online course of instruction under the trapper education program requires a written test for a person to demonstrate successful completion of the course, the department shall offer the test at each department service center at least once every 2 months.

(d) Paragraphs (a) and (b) do not apply to the online course of instruction under the trapper education program.

(3) Instruction fee.

(a) The department shall establish by rule the fee for the course of instruction under the trapper education program.

(b) An instructor conducting the course of instruction under the trapper education program shall collect the fee established under par. (a) from each person receiving instruction. The department may authorize an instructor to retain up to 50 percent of the fee to defray expenses incurred by the instructor conducting the course. The instructor shall remit the remaining portion of the fee or, if nothing is retained, the entire fee to the department.

(4) Course and promotional materials. The department may reimburse the organization with which it enters into an agreement under sub. (1) (a) for the organization's costs of producing promotional and course materials for the program.

(5) Certificate of accomplishment.

(a) The department shall issue a certificate of accomplishment without charge to a person who successfully completes the course of instruction under the trapper education program and who pays the instruction fee. The certificate may be used by a resident to whom issued in place of a trapping license for the period specified by the department.

(b) The department shall issue a duplicate certificate of accomplishment to a person who is entitled to a duplicate certificate of accomplishment. The department shall establish by rule the fee for a duplicate certificate.

(6) Requirement of certificate of accomplishment to obtain trapping approval.

(a) No person may be issued an approval authorizing trapping unless he or she holds a valid certificate of accomplishment issued under this section.

(b) The following persons are exempt from the requirement under par. (a):

1. A resident who held on May 12, 1992, a valid approval authorizing trapping.

2. A resident who is a farmer, as defined in s. 102.04 (3).

3. A resident who has held a valid approval authorizing trapping that expired before May 12, 1992, and that was not suspended or revoked.

4. A person who holds a valid certificate, license or other evidence indicating that he or she has successfully completed a trapper education course in another state if the department determines that the course has substantially the same content as the course of instruction under the program established under this section.

(7) Proceeds from the sale of skins. The department may sell, either directly or by an agent under supervision of the department, skins that are prepared as a part of the course of instruction under the trapper education program. Any proceeds that the department receives from the sale of these skins shall be credited to the appropriation account under s. 20.370 (1) (Lq).

History: 1991 a. 254; 1997 a. 248 ss. 416 to 419, 644; Stats. 1997 s. 29.597; 2005 a. 284, 394; 2011 a. 168.