§ 143-250.1.  Wildlife Endowment Fund.

(a) Recognizing the inestimable importance to the State and its people of conserving the wildlife resources of North Carolina, and for the purpose of providing the opportunity for citizens and residents of the State to invest in the future of its wildlife resources, there is created the North Carolina Wildlife Endowment Fund, the income and principal of which shall be used only for the purpose of supporting wildlife conservation programs of the State in accordance with this section. This fund shall also be known as the Eddie Bridges Fund.

(b) There is created the Board of Trustees of the Wildlife Endowment Fund of the Wildlife Resources Commission, with full authority over the administration of the Wildlife Endowment Fund, whose ex officio chairman, vice-chairman, and members shall be the chairman, vice-chairman, and members of the Wildlife Resources Commission. The State Treasurer shall be the custodian of the Wildlife Endowment Fund and shall invest its assets in accordance with the provisions of G.S. 147-69.2 and 147-69.3.

(c) The assets of the Wildlife Endowment Fund shall be derived from the following:

(1) The proceeds of any gifts, grants and contributions to the State which are specifically designated for inclusion in the fund.

(2) The proceeds from the sale of lifetime sportsman combination licenses issued pursuant to G.S. 113-270.1D.

(3) The proceeds from the sale of lifetime hunting and lifetime fishing licenses pursuant to G.S. 113-270.2 and G.S. 113-271.

(3a) The proceeds from the sale of lifetime trapping licenses pursuant to G.S. 113-270.5(b).

(4) The proceeds of lifetime subscriptions to the magazine Wildlife in North Carolina at such rates as may be established from time to time by the Wildlife Resources Commission.

(5) Any amount in excess of the statutory fee for a particular lifetime license or lifetime subscription shall become an asset of the fund and shall qualify as a tax exempt donation to the State.

(5a) The proceeds from the sale of lifetime combination hunting and fishing licenses for disabled residents pursuant to G.S. 113-270.1C.

(5b) The Wildlife Resources Commission's portion of the proceeds from the sale of lifetime unified licenses pursuant to G.S. 113-351.

(6) Such other sources as may be specified by law.

(d) The Wildlife Endowment Fund is declared to constitute a special trust derived from a contractual relationship between the State and the members of the public whose investments contribute to the fund. In recognition of such special trust, the following limitations and restrictions are placed on expenditures from the funds:

(1) Any limitations or restrictions specified by the donors on the uses of the income derived from gifts, grants and voluntary contributions shall be respected but shall not be binding.

(2) No expenditures or disbursements from the income from the proceeds derived from the sale of Infant Lifetime Sportsman or Youth Lifetime Sportsman Licenses pursuant to G.S. 113-270.1D(b)(1) or (2) shall be made for any purpose until the respective holders of such licenses attain the age of 16 years. The State Treasurer, as custodian of the fund, shall determine actuarially from time to time the amount of income within the fund which remains encumbered by and which is free of this restriction. For such purpose, the executive director shall cause deposits of proceeds and related investment income from Infant Lifetime Sportsman Licenses and Youth Lifetime Sportsman Licenses to be accompanied by information as to the ages of the license recipients.

(3) No expenditure or disbursement shall be made from the principal of the Wildlife Endowment Fund except as otherwise provided by law.

(4) The income received and accruing from the investments of the Wildlife Endowment Fund must be spent only in furthering the conservation of wildlife resources and the efficient operation of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission in accomplishing the purposes of the agency as set forth in G.S. 143-239.

(e) The Board of Trustees of the Wildlife Endowment Fund may accumulate the investment income of the fund until the income, in the sole judgment of the trustees, can provide a significant supplement to the budget of the Wildlife Resources Commission. After that time the trustees, in their sole discretion and authority, may direct expenditures from the investment income of the fund for the purposes set out in division (4) of subsection (d).

(f) Expenditure of the investment income derived from the Wildlife Endowment Fund shall be made through the State budget accounts of the Wildlife Resources Commission in accordance with the provisions of the Executive Budget Act. The Wildlife Endowment Fund is subject to the oversight of the State Auditor pursuant to Article 5A of Chapter 147 of the General Statutes.

(f1) At all times during which the cash balance in the Wildlife Endowment Fund is equal to or greater than the sum of one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000), the Wildlife Resources Commission shall budget at least twenty-five percent (25%) of the annual expendable investment income from the Fund, as determined by the Board of Trustees of the Fund, to implement the conservation goals set forth in the Wildlife Resource Commission's strategic plan.

(g) The Wildlife Endowment Fund and the investment income therefrom shall not take the place of State appropriations or agency receipts placed in the Wildlife Resources Fund, or any part thereof, but any portion of the income of the Wildlife Endowment Fund available for the purpose set out in subdivision (4) of subsection (d) shall be used to supplement other income of and appropriations to the Wildlife Resources Commission to the end that the Commission may improve and increase its services and become more useful to a greater number of people.

(h) In the event of a future dissolution of the Wildlife Resources Commission, such State agency as shall succeed to its budgetary authority shall, ex officio, assume the trusteeship of the Wildlife Endowment Fund and shall be bound by all the limitations and restrictions placed by this section on expenditures from the fund. No repeal or modification of this section or of G.S. 143-239 shall alter the fundamental purposes to which the Wildlife Endowment Fund may be applied. No future dissolution of the Wildlife Resources Commission or substitution of any agency in its stead shall invalidate any lifetime license issued in accordance with G.S. 113-270.1D(b), 113-270.2(c)(2), 113-271(d)(3), or 113-351(c). (1981, c. 482, s. 1; 1993, c. 257, s. 15; 1993 (Reg. Sess., 1994), c. 684, ss. 10-12; 1997-326, s. 4; 2013-283, s. 19; 2017-57, s. 13A.2(a); 2019-204, s. 5.)