SB 447: State property; permitting residents to forage for nuts, edible plants and fungi on state owned or state managed property. Effective date. - Oklahoma

Floor (House) → Floor (Senate) · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was amended to shift control from the House to the Senate, resulting in stricter foraging rules and a new committee report. The Senate version limits foraging on wildlife areas to specific days and times set by the Wildlife Conservation Commission, whereas the House version allowed foraging alongside other permitted activities. Additionally, the bill's effective date remains November 1, 2025, but the committee overseeing the report changed from Government Oversight to Agriculture and Wildlife.

Scope change

The bill's scope regarding foraging on state wildlife areas was narrowed; the Senate version imposes specific time and day restrictions managed by the Wildlife Conservation Commission, replacing the House version's allowance for foraging during any permitted activities.

REQUIREMENT

Foraging on state-owned or federal wildlife refuges and Wildlife Management Areas is now limited to specific days and times authorized by the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission, removing the previous allowance to forage alongside other permitted activities.

TIMELINE

The effective date remains November 1, 2025, but the committee submitting the report changed from the Committee on Government Oversight to the Committee on Agriculture and Wildlife.

TECHNICAL

The bill text was updated to reflect Senate floor amendments, including changes to the title page and the removal of specific exclusions regarding land along public roads and law enforcement areas found in the House version.

Committee Substitute → SB447 (3-12-25) (BOREN) FS FA1.PDF · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was reclassified from a 'Committee Substitute' to a 'Floor Substitute,' indicating it has moved from committee review to the full Senate floor for final action. The substantive text of the foraging law remains largely the same, but the document now includes a new provision requiring the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission to create specific rules for foraging on Wildlife Management Areas.

Scope change

The bill's scope regarding public foraging rights remains unchanged, but the enforcement mechanism for Wildlife Management Areas has been updated to require the creation of specific rules by the state commission.

TECHNICAL

The bill title and header were changed from 'Committee Substitute' to 'Floor Substitute,' reflecting its current stage in the legislative process.

Page numbering and reference numbers were updated to reflect the new version of the document.

REQUIREMENT

A new requirement was added mandating that the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission promulgate rules necessary to implement foraging provisions on Wildlife Management Areas.

House Committee Substitute for Senate Bill → Committee Substitute · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was renumbered and reorganized from a House Committee Substitute to a Committee Substitute, reflecting its progression through the legislative process. The substantive policy content regarding foraging rights remains largely the same, but the text was streamlined by removing redundant phrases and consolidating the list of exceptions for restricted areas into a clearer, numbered format.

Scope change

The scope of the bill remains focused on permitting residents to forage for nuts and edible plants on state property, with no changes to the fundamental rights or restrictions.

TECHNICAL

The bill title and summary were shortened and reorganized to remove redundant phrases like 'encouraging certain apparel' and 'providing exceptions' from the main summary, making the text more concise.

REQUIREMENT

The list of prohibited foraging locations was restructured from a paragraph format into a numbered list (1-4) for better readability, clarifying restrictions on certified crops, endangered plants, research farms, and restricted public areas.

A new specific time restriction was added for foraging on state or federal wildlife refuges and Wildlife Management Areas, limiting activity to between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. during hunting seasons.

The specific provision encouraging foragers to wear hunter orange was moved from a general encouragement list to a specific subsection, and the requirement to recognize safe plants was removed from the list of encouragements.

DEFINITION

Minor wording adjustments were made to definitions, such as changing 'fungi' to 'fungus' in the definition of edible plants and clarifying the definition of 'state-owned or state-managed property'.

Proposed Committee Substitute (full committee) 1 → House Committee Substitute for Senate Bill · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was completely rewritten from scratch, replacing the original 'Proposed Oversight Committee Substitute' with a new 'Committee Substitute for Engrossed' version. This revision updates the bill's title, reorganizes the text structure, and adjusts page numbering while retaining the core policy of allowing foraging on state property.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on permitting residents to forage for nuts, edible plants, and fungi on state-owned or state-managed property, but the text has been significantly restructured and renumbered.

TECHNICAL

The entire bill text was replaced, changing the version title from 'Proposed Oversight Committee Substitute' to 'Committee Substitute for Engrossed Senate Bill No. 447'.

Page numbers and internal reference numbers (e.g., Req. No. 13555 to 13566) were updated to reflect the new committee version.

The bill's effective date was changed from November 1, 2025, to July 1, 2026, for foraging on Wildlife Management Areas.

The bill number in the footer was updated from 60-1-13555 to 60-1-13566.

Enrolled (final version) → Proposed Committee Substitute (full committee) 1 · 1 edit

MINOR

The bill was replaced entirely by a committee substitute that retains the original text but adds a header indicating it is a proposed oversight committee substitute. No substantive policy changes were made to the bill's content, definitions, or effective dates.

TECHNICAL

The entire bill text was replaced with a version containing a new header identifying it as a 'Proposed Oversight Committee Substitute' and including committee amendment metadata, while the actual legislative language remains identical to the enrolled version.

Engrossed → Enrolled (final version) · 3 edits · May 21, 2025

MINOR

The bill transitioned from an 'Engrossed' draft to its final 'Enrolled' version, incorporating minor technical corrections to the sponsor list and adding standard final passage signatures. The substantive legal text, including the rules for foraging on state property, definitions, and effective dates, remained unchanged.

TECHNICAL

Updated the list of Senate sponsors to include 'McIntosh' and House sponsors to include 'Waldron' to reflect the final co-sponsors.

Added the standard 'Passed the Senate/House' and 'Office of the Governor' signature blocks required for a final enrolled bill.

Corrected a typo in the definition of 'Edible plant or fungus' to change 'fungus' to 'fungi' for grammatical consistency.

Amended And Engrossed → Engrossed · 2 edits · May 13, 2025

MINOR

The bill was renumbered and reorganized to remove a House amendment layer, resulting in a cleaner final version. The substantive policy content regarding foraging rights, safety requirements, and definitions remains identical to the previous version.

Scope change

No change in scope or applicability; the bill still permits foraging on state property with specific exceptions.

TECHNICAL

Removed House amendment headers and renumbered sections to reflect the final Engrossed Senate Bill format.

Reordered the bill text to eliminate redundant title pages and amendment markers while preserving all legislative content.

Introduced → Amended And Engrossed · 5 edits · May 13, 2025

MODERATE

The bill was amended to expand the scope of foraging to include fungi and to add specific safety requirements encouraging hunters to wear orange and identify safe food. The amendment also clarifies where foraging is prohibited, such as on roadsides and near correctional facilities, and sets a specific date for when foraging is allowed on Wildlife Management Areas.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from allowing foraging for nuts and edible plants to also include fungi. It further restricted where foraging is allowed by explicitly listing exclusions like roadsides and law enforcement areas.

SCOPE

Added 'fungi' to the list of items residents are permitted to forage on state property.

REQUIREMENT

Added a new subsection encouraging foragers to wear hunter orange clothing and recognize safe plants to prevent accidents and poisoning.

ELIGIBILITY

Expanded the definition of restricted areas to explicitly include land along roads, law enforcement training areas, and areas surrounding correctional facilities.

TIMELINE

Established that foraging on Wildlife Management Areas will only be permitted after July 1, 2026, pending the creation of rules by the Wildlife Conservation Commission.

DEFINITION

Updated the definition of 'edible plant' to 'edible plant or fungi' to match the expanded scope of the bill.

State property; permitting residents to forage for nuts, edible plants and fungi on state owned or state managed property. Effective date.

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