WVFB 2014 LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
Agriculture and Agricultural Funding
* Promote strategies/activities
to confront the ongoing regulatory
challenges posed by an ever aggressive
EPA to ensure strength and continued
growth in West Virginia’s agricultural
economy.
* Maintain adequate funding for the
predator control program.
* Promote legislation to establish/
define veterinary technician
responsibilities.
* Promote strategies and/or legislation
to establish Captive Cervid farming as an
agriculture enterprise, regulated by the
West Virginia Department of Agriculture.
legislation to strengthen and protect
longstanding liability rules.
* Promote legislation to protect
landowner from civil liability for injuries
that may occur to a person or property on
the landowner’s property or surrounding
property caused while hunting.
* Ensure that antidegradation
implementation procedures follow the
interpretative rule set forth by DEP.
[With the exception of streams in state
and national parks and the limited
number identified by the Wild and Scenic
Rivers Act, any stream nominated for
Tier 3 status must follow procedure –
individual notification of landowner(s),
current scientific data, appeal process
via EQB, etc.]
Property Rights
Rural Values/Public Issues
* Promote reasonable and responsible
legislation regulating oil and gas
exploration that will protect private
property/surface owners’ rights and the
environment, while encouraging the
development of our resources. Farm
Bureau supports negotiations between
the mineral rights owner and those
requesting a lease. We regard forced
pooling to be a violation of private
property rights and are opposed to
any language in legislation that would
promote such activity. Farm Bureau
recommends a Joint Select Committee
be appointed to afford thorough
discussion on stakeholder needs and
concerns before seriously considering
any legislation to build upon existing law.
* Promote trespasser responsibility
* Agricultural representation on the
DEP Advisory Council.
* Support legislation that recognizes
English as the official language of
West Virginia.
Taxes/Tax Reform
* Maintain current farm use
valuation status for real property in
production agriculture, including the
$ 1,000 production standard, while
eliminating non-farmer access to this tax
classification.
* Support tax reform measures that
have a positive effect on agriculture and
oppose those measures that have a
negative effect.
West Virginia Farm Bureau News 5