301 Ky. Admin. Regs. 3:026

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 5, November 1, 2024

Section 301 KAR 3:026 - Access to Wildlife Management Areas for mobility-impaired individuals

RELATES TO: KRS 150.025(1), 150.170, 150.175, 150.620

NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS 150.025(1) authorizes the department to establish hunting seasons and to regulate bag and possession limits for, and the methods of taking and the devices used to take, wildlife. In addition, KRS 150.620 authorizes the department to regulate the use of its Wildlife Management Areas. This administrative regulation establishes requirements to simplify the process for obtaining method exemptions and special use permits for mobility-impaired individuals and promote nature-related recreational access to department-managed lands.

Section 1. Definitions.

(1) "ATV" is defined in KRS 189.010(24).

(2) "Department" is defined in KRS 150.010(8).

(3) "Mobility-impaired individual" means an individual who meets the requirements of Section 2(1) of this administrative regulation.

(4) "Motor vehicle" is defined in KRS 189.010(19)(b).

(5) "Qualified assistant" means an individual who is participating in the activity with the mobility-impaired individual and designated by the mobility-impaired individual.

(6) "WMA" means a Wildlife Management Area owned or operated by the department.

Section 2. Mobility-impaired Access Permit.

(1) A person shall qualify for a mobility-impaired access permit application if one (1) of the following requirements is met. The person:

(a) Has permanent paralysis of at least one (1) leg;

(b) Has at least one (1) foot amputated;

(c) Is permanently confined to a wheelchair or needs crutches or a walker as a means of support to pursue daily activities;

(d) Is restricted by a lung disease to an extent that the person's forced respiratory expiratory volume for one (1) second, when measured by spirometry, is less than one (1) liter, or the arterial oxygen tension is less than sixty (60) mm/hg on room air at rest;

(e) Requires portable oxygen;

(f) Has a cardiac condition to the extent that the person's functional limitations are classified in severity as Class 3 or Class 4 according to standards set by the American Heart Association; or

(g) Has a diagnosed disease which creates a severe mobility impairment.

(2) The mobility-impaired access permit shall allow the following activities by a mobility-impaired individual:

(a) Discharge of a firearm or other legal hunting device from a motor vehicle if the vehicle is motionless and has its engine turned off. The motor vehicle shall be used as a place to wait or watch for game and shall not be used to chase, pursue, or drive game.

(b) May operate electric wheelchairs, ATV's, and other passenger vehicles on or off gated, ungated, or open-gated roads otherwise closed to vehicular traffic, but the individual shall do so only on designated tracts of designated WMAs.

1. The roads may be accessed March 1 through the third Friday in August.

2. Tracts designated as mobility-impaired access areas shall be posted with signs.

3. Vehicular access shall not be permitted on fields, openings, roads, paths, or trails planted with annual grains or agricultural crops.

4. It shall be permissible to access areas that are not roads from the third Saturday of August until the end of February.

5. ATV users shall adhere to manufacturer recommendations, including wearing a helmet, wearing safety glasses, and restricting riding to one (1) person while using ATVs on WMAs.

Section 3.

(1) A mobility-impaired individual may designate one (1) qualified assistant. The qualified assistant may:

(a) Track and dispatch a wounded animal;

(b) Retrieve an animal; or

(c) Render other assistance in accordance with KRS Chapter 150 and 301 KAR Chapters 2 and 3.

(2) A qualified assistant shall not:

(a) Operate his or her own ATV; or

(b) Hunt or shoot from an ATV.

(3) Applicants for a mobility-impaired access permit shall:

(a) Fill out the required information on the Mobility-Impaired Access Permit Application; and

(b) Obtain the attestation and signature from a licensed physician describing the mobility impairment.

(4) In order to participate in activities authorized by Section 2(2) of this administrative regulation, a mobility-impaired individual shall have a completed mobility-impaired access application on his person at all times while participating in these activities.

Section 4. All method exemption cards and letters issued prior to the effective date of this administrative regulation are void.

Section 5. Incorporation by Reference.

(1) "Mobility-impaired Access Permit", revised August 2001, is incorporated by reference.

(2) This material may be inspected, copied, or obtained, subject to applicable copyright law, at the Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, #1 Sportsman's Lane, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

301 KAR 3:026

27 Ky.R. 25; Am. 756; eff. 8-24-2000; 28 Ky.R. 1912; eff. 4-15-2002; Certified to be amended, filing deadline 8-5-2021; 48 Ky.R. 894, 2205; eff. 5/3/2022.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY: KRS 150.025(1), 150.620