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HB 1827

City of Oxford; clarify earnings component definition and authorized contributions under municipal reserve and trust fund.

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Clay Deweese and 1 co-sponsor

The act modernizes hunting land rules by updating definitions, shifting the net-habitat baseline to 2025, and tightening replacement and reporting to preserve public hunting access

Approved by Governor
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Bill Summary · HB 1827

Summary — HB 1827 (As Engrossed S4/7/25)

Subject: Amendments to the Arkansas Hunting Heritage Protection Act (A.C.A. § 15-41-303 and § 15-41-304)

Status
- Passed both chambers, amended in the Senate (Amendment S1 by Sen. Irvin), enrolled and transmitted to the Governor, and approved (listed as Act 817).
- Introduced by Rep. Wardlaw (Sen. Irvin as Senate sponsor).

Purpose and intent
- To clarify and update statutory definitions and management/reporting requirements in the Arkansas Hunting Heritage Protection Act so that commission land classifications, baseline acreage calculations, reporting deadlines, and replacement-land obligations are modernized and made more explicit.

Key provisions and changes
- Definitions (A.C.A. § 15-41-303, amended)
- Adds/clarifies terms:
- "Commission-leased lands": lands where the Arkansas State Game and Fish Commission (the Commission) holds a possessory interest under a written lease/agreement with a term of at least one (1) year and that include public recreational hunting rights.
- "Commission-owned lands": lands to which the Commission holds title in fee simple.
- "Commission-managed lands": now defined to include both commission-owned and commission-leased lands that the Commission manages or over which it holds management authority.
- Clarifies "Hunting" to include lawful pursuit/trapping/shooting/capture/collection/killing of wildlife and attempts to do so.

  • Recreational hunting access and management (A.C.A. § 15-41-304, amended)

    • Affirms commission-managed lands are to be open to recreational hunting subject to valid existing rights and limits for public safety, homeland security, fish/wildlife management, or other statutory authority.
    • Explicitly states the Commission should support, promote, and enhance recreational hunting opportunities "to the extent authorized by law" but is not required to prefer hunting over other authorized land/water uses.
    • Changes the baseline date used in calculating "net loss" of habitat acreage available for hunting from August 12, 2005 to January 1, 2025 — i.e., management actions should not result in any net loss relative to acreage existing on Jan 1, 2025.
    • Clarifies that acreage lost solely due to expiration or termination of leases on commission‑leased lands shall NOT be counted in the "net loss" calculation.
    • Requires the Commission, when closures eliminate existing hunting land, to expeditiously find replacement acreage; replacement land should, to the greatest extent possible, be within a reasonable distance of the closed land and be consistent with the hunting discipline permitted on the closed land.
    • Reporting changes:
    • Annual reporting deadline moved earlier — from October 1 to July 1 of each year.
    • Reports must describe acres of commission-managed lands closed to recreational hunting during the prior fiscal year and acres opened to compensate for those closures; the named recipients of the report are specified legislative committee cochairs.
    • Reiterates exceptions:
    • The subchapter does not compel opening national parks or national monuments managed by the National Park Service.
    • Private landowners retain authority to control access to privately owned lands, even if those lands are classified as commission-managed under certain arrangements.

  • Initial report deadline

    • Section 3 directs that the initial report required by the amended statute be submitted by July 1, 2025 (language indicates "DO NOT CODIFY" for Section 3, i.e., a transitional directive rather than a permanent code provision).

Who is affected
- Arkansas State Game and Fish Commission: definitional clarifications affect how the Commission classifies, manages, reports on, and offsets losses of hunting-access acreage.
- Hunters and outdoor recreationists: baseline protection and replacement requirements are intended to preserve hunting opportunities on commission-managed lands.
- Private landowners under agreement or lease with the Commission: clarifies that lease expirations are not counted against the Commission's net-loss calculations and preserves private-owner control over access.
- Arkansas Legislature: receives the revised annual report by the earlier July 1 deadline.

Procedural/timing notes
- Amendment S1 (Sen. Irvin) was adopted; bill was enrolled and approved by the Governor (Act 817 per legislative actions).
- Initial, noncodified report on acreage changes is required by July 1, 2025.
- The public record attached to the document contains extraneous material (text of an unrelated Illinois HB 1827), which appears to be included in error and is not part of the Arkansas amendments summarized above.

Effect
- The act updates definitions, shifts the baseline for protected hunting acreage to a 2025 baseline, tightens reporting timing, and clarifies when lease expirations are excluded from net‑loss calculations — collectively aiming to preserve hunting access while clarifying Commission obligations and authorities.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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