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Subcommittee tables bill creating trout-access registry and $2,000 tax credit for landowners
Summary
House Bill 1813 would have required the Board of Wildlife Resources to create a trout fishing access-site registry and make participating landowners eligible for a $2,000 tax credit capped at $1 million annually; the subcommittee gently laid the bill on the table.
Delegate Campbell told the Chesapeake subcommittee that House Bill 1813 responds to lost informal access to trout waters by creating a voluntary trout fishing access‑site registry administered by the Board of Wildlife Resources. Under the bill’s proposal, landowners who register qualifying access would be eligible for a $2,000 annual tax credit; the proposal includes a $1,000,000 annual cap and would be awarded on a first‑come, first‑served basis.
The sponsor said the idea grew out of a desire to preserve access that historically relied on handshake agreements, which frequently disappear when property changes hands. A virtual witness described the credit as an incentive to retain public access and said registered access can encourage habitat restoration projects by environmental groups.
Department of Wildlife Resources Director Ryan Brown testified that the department estimates the administrative cost to establish and maintain the registry at about $50,000 (to develop regulations, program criteria and maintain an inventory). Committee members asked whether other states offer similar programs and where the $2,000 figure came from; the sponsor said he was not aware of other states offering an identical credit and that $2,000 was chosen as a reasonable incentive while keeping the program subject to a $1 million annual cap.
Committee discussion raised questions about what specific access parameters (seasonality, extent of stream access) would look like; the sponsor indicated the Board of Wildlife Resources would establish those rules if the bill passes. Delegate Blockson asked whether landowners could lease access; department staff said landowners can lease access to their land (they do not ‘lease the stream bottom’ where rights differ by location). A motion to lay the bill on the table passed; the committee recorded the measure as tabled (tally not specified in the transcript).
Provenance: See transcript beginning at the sponsor’s introduction (block starting 1070.81) and committee action to table the bill (block starting 1684.32).
