Chap. 421.—An ACT to amend the Code of Virginia by adding thereto a new
chapter, numbered 126-a, and nine new Code sections, 3165-a, 3165-b, 3165-c,
3165-d, 3165-e, 3165-f, 3165-g, 3165-h, and 3165-i, providing for the creation
of forest, game, fish and recreation reserves; providing for their care;
deferring the payment of taxes thereon; providing for the accrual of such
taxes making all taxes assessed against such areas liens thereon; prescribing
the duties of purchasers of the timber; the duties of the department of
conservation and development, and the various commissions in that depart-
ment, and the commission of game and inland fisheries, and their officers
and employees; authorizing boards of supervisors to accept the provisions
of this act, and providing for all things necessary or incident to the estab-
lishment of such forest, game, fish and recreation reserves. [S B 316]

Approved March 25, 1930

I. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the
Code of Virginia be amended by adding thereto a new chapter, num-
bered one hundred and twenty-six-a, and nine new sections, numbered
thirty-one hundred and sixty-five-a to thirty-one hundred and sixty-
five-i, inclusive, reading as follows:

Section 3165-a. Subject to the approval hereinafter provided for,
the owner of any forest land, or land suited to the growth of timber
desiring to do so may offer the same, subject to pasturage, to the
department of conservation and development, as a forest, game, fish
and recreation reserve, to be dealt with in accordance with the pro-
visions of this. chapter.

Section 3165-b. Whenever such land is tendered the department
on conservation and development as a forest, game, fish and recrea-
tion reserve, it shall be the duty of the State forester or his assistant,
and the commission of game and inland fisheries, or its delegated em-
ployee, to examine same and report to the commission on conservation
and development, and the commission of game and inland fisheries,
whether or not said land shall be accepted as a forest, game, fish and
recreation reserve in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

Section 3165-c. In the event that such land is accepted as a forest,
game, fish and recreation reserve, the owner of said land shall deliver
to the commission on conservation and development, a written lease
thereof, under seal, leasing said land to the commission until such time
as the timber thereon shall become suitable for marketing as lumber,
and to the commission of game and inland fisheries, a written lease
thereof, under seal, leasing the exclusive hunting, fishing and recrea-
tion rights or privileges on said land, so long as it may remain in said
reserve. Thereafter it shall be the duty of the State forester and his
employees to aid in the development and the increase of the forest
resources of such land, and it shall be the duty of all employees of the
several divisions in the department of conservation and development
to protect, so far as it is possible, said forest, game, fish and recrea-
tion reserve from fires and trespasses, and the duty of the commission
of game and inland fisheries to propagate and protect game and fish,
and promote recreation therein, and issue rules and regulations there-
for. From the time said land is leased as authorized by this section,
the State shall possess exclusive hunting, fishing and recreational rights
on the land included in such leases; except that owners of land en-
tered in said reserve, their families and tenants, actually residing on
said land shall be allowed, without cost to themselves, such rights and
privileges as the commission of game and inland fisheries is herein
authorized to sell; however, such rights and privileges shall be limited
to the land of said owner, and in case of tenants, to land on which
they actually reside.

Section 3165-d. The commission of game and inland fisheries is
authorized to sell hunting, fishing and limited recreational privileges
on any forest, game, fish and recreation reserve created under the
provisions of this act for an annual fee of not less than five dollars
nor more than fifteen dollars per person, except that non-residents of
the State of Virginia shall be charged not less than ten dollars, nor
more than fifteen dollars for these privileges, and also the commission
of game and inland fisheries may in its discretion issue a limited recrea-
tion privilege, which shall not entitle the purchaser thereof to hunting
or fishing privileges, and charge therefor, whatever fee it may deem
proper, the above charges are to be in addition to the present hunting
and fishing licenses prescribed by law. The license issued for said
fee shall entitle the holder thereof to hunt and fish, except in the case
of holders of limited recreation privilege, on all forest, fish and recrea-
tion reserves created under the provisions of this chapter during the
regular hunting and fishing seasons prescribed by law and to camp
thereon at any time, all under such rules and regulations as the com-
mission of game and inland fisheries may prescribe. The commission
of game and inland fisheries may in its discretion at any time close
any area in said preserve against all hunting, fishing and recreation,
for the purpose of establishing sanctuaries thereon.

Section 3165-e. All funds accrued from the sale of hunting, fish-
ing and camping, and limited recreation privileges on State forest,
game, fish and recreation reserves shall be paid into a fund in the
State treasury to be designated as the forest, game, fish and recreation
reserve fund, and used for the payment of taxes on the real estate
embraced in such areas hereinafter provided, and for the benefit and
administration thereof, and for the purchase of State owned forest
demonstration, and game and fish propagation and recreation areas.
It shall be the duty of the commission on game and inland fisheries
to protect and propagate fish and game in said forest, game, fish and
recreation areas and to prevent trespass and violations of the game
and fish laws. It shall be the duty of the game and forest wardens to
extinguish and prevent fires and to protect the area from timber or
other pillage and trespass, but the State shall not be liable for the
failure of any of its officers or employees to discharge the duties im-
posed upon them by law, nor shall the Commonwealth be liable for
any injury or destruction of the timber growing on such area. When
any area has been accepted by the Commonwealth as a forest, game,
fish and recreation reserve, the buildings, improvements and _ tillable
land therein, are to be assessed separate from the forest land and land
suited to the growth of timber, thereafter on forest land or land suited
to the growth of timber, no tax or local levies thereon shall be paid,
unless owner desires so to do, or the collection thereof be enforced,
but the taxes or levies imposed thereon shall be entered by the county
clerk in a book specially kept for the purpose, designated as the “forest,
game, fish and recreation reserve deferred tax book,’ each year, and
the said accrued taxes shall carry an annual interest rate of six per
centum per annum and shall be a lien upon the land or lands embraced
in said reserve, and shall be payable, if not sooner paid, at such time
as the timber on said reserve is marketed, or is matured for marketing,
which maturity shall be determined by the sole judgment of the State
forester or his delegated employee; however, in no event shall any
taxes be deferred for a period longer than forty years.

Any purchaser of timber on said reserve shall be charged with
notice of all taxes that have accrued against said land, and shall be
personally required to see to the payment of all such taxes before any
part of the timber on such area is removed therefrom. So far as it
is possible, the funds derived from sale of hunting, fishing, and recrea-
tional privileges herein provided for shall be used in advancing to the
several counties the taxes or levies which have accrued on such forest,
game, fish and recreation reserves, and for the purposes set forth in
section thirty-one hundred and sixty-five-e. When and as said liens
are paid to the county by the Commonwealth, the county’s lien for the
taxes paid shall pass to and become the property of the Commonwealth
and thereafter the amount thereof so paid, with accrued interest there-
on, shall be paid to the Commonwealth as a prerequisite to the re-
moval of any timber from said area as provided in this section. Neither
this section nor any portion of this act shall prevent any owner of
land entered in this reserve from paying taxes thereon at any time, nor
will such payment relieve such owner from any other provisions of
this act.

Section 3165-f. Any person leasing his land for a forest, game,
fish and recreation reserve may withdraw the same from such area
at any time after three months’ notice to the commission on conserva-
tion and development of his intention to do so, but as a prerequisite
to withdraw therefrom, he shall pay to the county or to the Common-
wealth, as the case may be, the amount of all tax liens thereon, to-
gether with accrued interest, at the rate of six per centum per annum
from the first of December of the year in which such taxes were
assessed or were levied. However, in the event of such withdrawal
during the first ten years of entry, the State may retain its lease of
the hunting, fishing and recreation rights and privileges for a term of
five years from expiration of withdrawal notice, unless a fee of not
less than five cents nor more than fifteen cents per acre for land with-
drawn be paid to the State, in which event the State will surrender
such rights and privileges at the expiration of notice period. The
amount of this fee, within the limits above named, is to be determined
by the commission of game and inland fisheries.

Section 3165-g. The provisions of this chapter shall not become
operative in any county, except as hereinafter provided, unless and
until, on petition of the board of supervisors of the county, the circuit
court, or the judge thereof in vacation, in its or his discretion, by
order entered of record, require the judges of election on the day fixed
in said order, not less than sixty days from the date of such order,
to open a poll and take a sense of the qualified voters of the county
on the question whether the provisions of this chapter shall be accepted
by said county or not. In the calling and holding of said election, the
same procedure shall be followed as is provided in section twenty-
seven hundred and thirty-nine of the Code, except that the tickets or
ballots shall have written or printed thereon the words, “For the ac-
ceptance by .............-.- ... county of chapter one hundred and twenty-
six-a of the Code of Virginia, relating to the creation of forests, game,
fish and recreational preserves and postponing the payment of all taxes
thereon, and against the acceptance by .......-......2--------- county of chap-
ter one hundred and twenty-six-a of the Code of Virginia, relating to
the creation of forests, game, fish and recreational reserves and post-
poning the payment of all taxes thereon.” If it shall appear by the
report of the commissioners of election that a majority of qualified
voters of the county voting on the question are in favor of accepting
the provisions of this chapter, the circuit court, at its next term, shall
enter of record such fact and thereafter the provisions of this chapter
shall be in full force and effect in such county. Copies of the court
order shall be forwarded to the commission on conservation and de-
velopment, the commission of game and inland fisheries, and State
forester. A county once accepting the provisions of this chapter shall
not be permitted to withdraw its acceptance as to land which has been
leased prior thereto to the commission on conservation and develop-
ment, in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, but the Com-
monwealth shall have the right at any time, acting through the general
assembly, to repeal the provisions of this chapter or to abolish any
reserve or reserves created under the provisions thereof. In the event
that the reserve is abolished by act of general assembly after acceptance
by any county, tax liens accruing on any real estate entered in said
reserve shall not be enforced against the same for a period of five
years from the date such reserve was abolished, except as otherwise
provided in this chapter. The Commonwealth shall have the right at
any time on three months’ notice to the owner thereof, to eliminate
from said reserve any lands entered thereon when, in the opinion of
the State forester and commission of game and inland fisheries, such
land is deemed not suited for the purposes for which the reserve is
created. ,

Section 3165-h. Should the board of supervisors of any county
fail to adopt the provisions of this chapter, as set forth in the pre-
ceding section, then the owners of any land in said county, suited to
entry in said reserve may enter same in the reserve, in which event
said lands shall not be subject to the provisions of this act providing
for the assessments thereof and the deferment of taxes, and in leu
thereof, each of said owners shall receive annually, one-half of such
a sum as may result from dividing the total receipts from the sale of
all hunting, fishing, and recreation privileges on said reserve, by the
total number of acres of land entered in said reserve, and multiplying
the same by the number of acres owned by said owner; and the State
is to retain the other half of such sum, the same to be used for the
purposes set forth in section thirty-one hundred and sixty-five-e. The
provisions of this section are also to apply to all persons entering lands
in the reserve and paying taxes annually thereon as at present. The
commission on game and inland fisheries is also authorized under this
section and subject to the provisions thereof, to lease the hunting, fish-
ing, and recreation rights and privileges on any lands not eligible to
entry under section thirty-one hundred and sixty-five-a.

Section 3165-1. When tax liens acquired under the provisions of
this act are owned by the State, the State forester is authorized, and
when such liens are owned by the counties, the State forester, together
with the board of supervisors, axe authorized to issue permits to cut
and remove portions of timber from lands in said reserve, when in
their opinion a sufficient amount of the deferred taxes have been paid,
as would justify the release of said portions of timber, without jeopard-
izing the interests of the State or county. Such cutting or removal
of timber to be done under the rules and regulations of the forestry
department. The State forester is authorized to issue, promulgate
and enforce rules and regulations pertaining to the administration
of forestry on said reserve; and the commission of game and inland
fisheries is authorized to issue, promulgate and enforce rules and
regulations pertaining to hunting, fishing and recreation on said re-
serve.