85R8027 SMT-F     By: Murr H.B. No. 1471       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to the eligibility of land for appraisal for ad valorem tax   purposes as qualified open-space land on the basis of its use for   wildlife management.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Section 23.51, Tax Code, is amended by adding   Subdivisions (9), (10), and (11) to read as follows:                (9)  "Predator control" includes predation management   activities conducted on a landowner's land by a local predation   management organization or by Texas Wildlife Services in   cooperation with the organization. The landowner must:                      (A)  be a member in good standing of the local   predation management organization and be current in the payment of   the organization's membership dues; and                      (B)  allow the local predation management   organization or Texas Wildlife Services acting in cooperation with   the organization reasonable access to the land to conduct the   predation management activities.                (10)  "Local predation management organization" means   an organization that:                      (A)  conducts predation management activities in   a defined geographical region; and                       (B)  expends at least 70 percent of the   organization's annual budget conducting predation management   activities or making contributions to Texas Wildlife Services.                 (11)  "Texas Wildlife Services" includes any of the   Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Wildlife Services Program's   cooperative partners as authorized by Chapter 825, Health and   Safety Code, or any successor program having a substantially   similar predator control purpose.          SECTION 2.  Section 23.521, Tax Code, is amended by adding   Subsections (e), (f), and (g) to read as follows:          (e)  The Parks and Wildlife Department, with the assistance   of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, shall develop a   definition of "predation management activities" for purposes of   Section 23.51.          (f)  The Parks and Wildlife Department, with the assistance   of the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, shall develop a   membership form and instructions for using the form to be issued by   a local predation management organization to a landowner.  A   landowner may present the form to a local appraisal office to prove   membership in the organization.  The form shall include a   certification by the organization that the organization is a local   predation management organization.           (g)  The comptroller by rule shall adopt the definition   described by Subsection (e) and membership form described by   Subsection (f) and include them among the rules distributed to each   appraisal district as provided by Subsection (a).           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.