§ 20.1-01-03 — Ownership and control of wildlife is in the state - Damages - Schedule of monetary values - Civil penalty

monetary values - Civil penalty.
The ownership of and title to all wildlife within this state is in the state for the purpose of
regulating the enjoyment, use, possession, disposition, and conservation thereof, and for
maintaining action for damages as herein provided. Any person catching, killing, taking,
trapping, or possessing any wildlife protected by law at any time or in any manner is deemed to
have consented that the title thereto remains in this state for the purpose of regulating the
taking, use, possession, and disposition thereof. The state, through the office of attorney
general, may institute and maintain any action for damages against any person who unlawfully
causes, or has caused within this state, the death, destruction, or injury of wildlife, except as
may be authorized by law. The state has a property interest in all protected wildlife. This interest
supports a civil action for damages for the unlawful destruction of wildlife by willful or grossly

negligent act or omission. The director shall adopt by rule a schedule of monetary values of
various species of wildlife, the values to represent the replacement costs of the wildlife and the
value lost to the state due to the destruction or injury of the species, together with other material
elements of value. In any action brought under this section, the schedule constitutes the
measure of recovery for the wildlife killed or destroyed. Notwithstanding the director's schedule
of monetary values, an individual who unlawfully takes a bighorn sheep, elk, or moose is subject
to a civil penalty for the replacement value of the animal of five thousand dollars for a bighorn
sheep, three thousand dollars for an elk, and two thousand dollars for a moose. For a male
bighorn sheep, elk, or moose over two and one-half years of age, the civil penalty for the
replacement value of the animal is an additional fifty percent of the penalty. The funds recovered
must be deposited in the general fund, and devoted to the propagation and protection of
desirable species of wildlife.