The Legislature finds that:

Terms Used In West Virginia Code 29-29-2

  • permit: means a permit issued to an applicant pursuant to the provisions of this article. See West Virginia Code 29-29-3
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10

(1) Adventure and recreational activities attractive to nonprofit youth organizations interested in training and inspiring young people from other parts of the United States and throughout the world will contribute significantly to the economy of West Virginia, and enhance the state's reputation as a place to visit and transact business; and

(2) Nonprofit youth organizations must rely on volunteers to staff and support their events and programs and that some of the volunteers are medical, nursing, emergency medical service and law-enforcement professionals authorized to practice in other states. Because of the large number of volunteers required to support those events and programs, the benefits these events and programs provide to youth, the multicounty areas those events and programs may cover and the number of agencies potentially involved in granting authorizations to practice for those volunteers to provide those services in this state, it is in the state's best interest to provide a streamlined system to permit those volunteers to practice for the periods of time they engage in volunteer work at those events and programs.