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1999 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 584
Requesting the Departments of Game and Inland Fisheries and Forestry to jointly study the feasibility of establishing a natural resources and law-enforcement training center.

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 5, 1999
Agreed to by the Senate, February 18, 1999

WHEREAS, The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) is required to train its law-enforcement personnel pursuant to state laws and Department of Criminal Justice standards and procedures in order for them to qualify as law-enforcement officers; and

WHEREAS, DGIF pays a significant amount annually to an in-state police training academy for the training of law-enforcement recruits on a space-available basis; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Forestry has training needs for its forest wardens, who have certain law-enforcement functions, as well as additional training needs for its other personnel; and

WHEREAS, both DGIF and the Department of Forestry have training needs for their professional wildlife and fisheries biologists, foresters, hydrologists, habitat ecologists, and other natural resource specialists; and

WHEREAS, training of these professional resource managers requires specialized laboratories and classrooms, and access to outdoor natural settings for real-life learning experiences; and

WHEREAS, because both agencies often have the same training needs at the same time, shared training that utilizes special instructors and carefully developed facilities would avoid costly overlap and duplication; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Departments of Game and Inland Fisheries and Forestry be requested to jointly study the feasibility of establishing a natural resources and law-enforcement training center. The study shall include, but not be limited to, examining (i) the suitability of a site located on properties owned or controlled by either of the two Departments, (ii) the costs of construction and operation of such a training center, and (iii) the opportunities for utilizing existing facilities.

All agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the Departments for this study, upon request.

The Departments shall complete their work in time to submit their findings and recommendations to the Governor and the 2000 Session of the General Assembly as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents.