Introduced:
01/20/2017
Sponsor:
Senator Edwin A. Gomes
Issue Brief:
Fresh Water Angling Access
Summary:
Requires a study of opportunities for public access and enjoyment to waterways for land-constrained municipalities.
Status:
Reported out of Legislative Commissioner's Office on May 30
Introduced:
05/16/2017
Sponsor:
Representative John Mitchell
Issue Brief:
National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)
Summary:
Raises the first offense of purchasing or obtaining a firearm for someone not legally qualified to own, possess or purchase one from a Class F to a Class E Felony; changes is to deter such "straw purchases" by making jail time more likely for the offender, and consequently, to reduce the number of people who cannot legally possess firearms but obtain them in this manner.
Status:
To House Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security on May 16
Introduced:
01/04/2017
Sponsor: Representative Patrick Corey, Member, Maine Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus
Issue Brief:
Guns (General)
Summary:
Prohibits the creation of a firearms owner registry.
Status:
From Joint Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety: with divided report on April 26
Introduced:
01/27/2017
Sponsor:
Representative Jonathan L. Kinney
Issue Brief:
Seniors, Veterans, and Active Duty Military Hunting and Angling Privileges
Summary:
This bill expands eligibility for complimentary hunting, trapping and fishing licenses, including permits, stamps and other permissions necessary to hunt, trap and fish in Maine, to include nonresident disabled veterans who hold valid hunting or fishing licenses in the states in which they are residents.
Status:
Became law without Governor's signature on May 30
Introduced:
02/03/2017
Sponsor:
Representative David Harold McCrea
Issue Brief:
General
Summary:
Allows a hunter whose religion prohibits the wearing of hunter orange to instead wear red. It also directs the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to amend its rules to reflect this exemption.
Status:
Signed by Governor on May 26
Introduced:
02/08/2017
Sponsor:
Representative Craig Hickman
Issue Brief:
Forest Management
Summary:
Requires the State Tax Assessor to annually calculate and determine the rate of the excise tax imposed upon owners of land used for commercial forestry using information provided by the Commissioner of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry regarding expenditures and revenue for forest fire protection for the current and preceding year; simplifies the process and provides greater predictability by establishing an excise tax per acre of commercial forest land.
Status:
From Joint Committee on Taxation: with divided report on May 24
Introduced:
02/10/2017
Sponsor: Representative Gary L. Hilliard, Member, Maine Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus
Issue Brief:
General
Summary:
Specifies that hunters under a specified age may not hunt moose but may purchase applications for moose hunting permits in order to accrue points in the public chance drawing for moose permits; prohibits a person under a specified age on the opening day of the open moose season from being a subpermittee designate or alternate subpermittee designate.
Status:
Became law without Governor's signature on May 28
Introduced:
02/15/2017
Sponsor: Representative Roland Danny Martin, Member, Maine Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus
Issue Brief:
General
Summary:
Repeals the prohibition on the exchange for consideration of a moose permit in a designated hunting area, zone or season for another moose permit in a different designated hunting area, zone or season; requires the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to establish an online transfer system for moose permits through which transfers of designated hunting areas, zones or seasons may be accomplished.
Status:
In House. Passed to be engrossed on May 30
Introduced:
02/24/2017
Sponsor:
Representative Joel R. Stetkis
Issue Brief:
General
Summary:
This bill explicitly restricts the application of the law prohibiting shooting from motor vehicles and motorboats to shooting while hunting.
Status:
From Joint Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife: Ought to Pass as Amended on May 31
Introduced:
02/24/2017
Sponsor:
Representative Kent Ackley
Issue Brief:
Sunday Hunting Restrictions
Summary:
This bill allows a person who possesses a valid hunting license to possess hunting equipment and to hunt deer during the regular deer hunting season described under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 12, section 11401, subsection 1, paragraph A, when hunters hunt with rifles, on Sunday on property that is located in a municipality, a plantation or the unorganized territory of a county that has successfully petitioned the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to allow hunting on Sunday as long as the person has obtained and is carrying the property owner's written consent to hunt with a map of the property. The bill allows a municipality, plantation or county with regard to its unorganized territory to petition the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to allow hunting on Sunday in its territory. The bill also repeals these provisions on December 1, 2021.
Status:
In Senate. Placed in Legislative File (dead) on May 31
Introduced:
03/01/2017
Sponsor:
Representative Lance Evans Harvell
Issue Brief:
White-tailed Deer Management - Hunting as a Preferred Management Tool
Summary:
This bill prohibits the feeding of deer from August 15th to December 15th.
Status:
In Senate. Passed to be engrossed in concurrence on May 31
Introduced:
03/02/2017
Sponsor:
Representative Stephen S. Stanley
Issue Brief:
General
Summary:
Amends the law regarding the number of moose permits made available through a chance drawing to hunting outfitters, which is currently calculated as 10% of the number of permits made available in the public chance drawing above 3,140; sets the number of moose permits made available to hunting outfitters at 10% of the number of permits in excess of the average number of permits made available in the public chance drawing per year since 1982 or 100, whichever is greater.
Status:
In House. Passed to be enacted on May 30
Introduced:
03/03/2017
Sponsor:
Representative Dustin Michael White
Issue Brief:
General
Summary:
This bill allows a person who has legally harvested an animal to keep the unregistered animal until a registration station within a reasonable distance of the person is open if no registration stations within a reasonable distance of the person are open due to a holiday or other legitimate reason.
Status:
In Senate. Passed to be engrossed in concurrence on May 31
Introduced:
03/10/2017
Sponsor: Representative Russell Black, Member, Maine Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus
Issue Brief:
General
Summary:
This bill exempts from the archery hunting license requirements a person over 16 years of age who hunts for bear under a valid bear hunting permit.
Status:
In House. Passed to be enacted on May 30
Introduced:
03/10/2017
Sponsor: Representative Russell Black, Member, Maine Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus
Issue Brief:
White-tailed Deer Management - Hunting as a Preferred Management Tool
Summary:
Current law allows the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to open to deer hunting certain coastal and island communities currently closed to hunting, subject to local approval, and to establish a youth deer hunting day. This bill requires the commissioner to open these communities to deer hunting as long as local restrictions are imposed. It requires, while current law permits, the commissioner to create special hunting seasons to control deer populations. It requires the commissioner to create special zones for deer hunting. It allows special hunting seasons and special zones to be created to minimize crop or property damage. It also requires the commissioner to establish a youth deer hunting day.
Status:
In Senate. Placed in Legislative File (dead) on May 30
Introduced:
03/22/2017
Sponsor:
Representative Karen A. Gerrish
Issue Brief:
Crossbows
Summary:
Expands crossbow hunting for deer into the regular archery-only season on deer. It removes the requirement that a person must have a valid hunting or archery hunting license or an apprenticeship hunter license or archery hunting license in order to hunt with a crossbow. It also lowers from 70 years of age to 65 years of age the age at which a person may hunt a wild bird or wild animal with a crossbow during any open season on that wild bird or wild animal, hunt in an expanded archery zone and hunt during muzzle-loading-only deer hunting season.
Status:
From Joint Committee on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife: with divided report on May 31
Introduced:
04/04/2017
Sponsor:
Representative Lloyd C. Herrick
Issue Brief:
Guns (General)
Summary:
Currently, the only nonconcealed firearm permit that the Commissioner of Public Safety grants to a person convicted of certain crimes, formerly known as felonies, is a permit to possess a black powder weapon, also known as a muzzle-loading firearm. This bill repeals the provisions in law allowing a person convicted of certain crimes that involve the use of a firearm against a person or any other dangerous person to obtain a permit to carry a nonconcealed firearm 5 years after the discharge of the person's sentence through an application process with the commissioner.
Status:
In House. Passed to be engrossed on May 31
Introduced:
04/06/2017
Sponsor: Representative Ellie Espling, Member, Maine Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus
Issue Brief:
Public Access to Private Lands
Summary:
Ensures the continuation of the landowner relations program.
Status:
House accepts Committee Report on May 31
Introduced:
04/19/2017
Sponsor: Representative Stephen J. Wood, Co-Chair, Maine Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus
Issue Brief:
Modern Restraining Animal Traps; Apprentice Hunting License; Off Highway Vehicles (OHV); Hunter Recruitment, Retention, Reactivation; Seniors, Veterans, and Active Duty Military Hunting and Angling Privileges
Summary:
This bill replaces the Hooked on Fishing Not on Drugs program with youth and family outdoor recreational programs and activities to encourage hunting and fishing activities as well as shooting sports. It amends language regarding certain licenses to provide that certain permits are included in the licenses. It allows the spouse and children of a member of the Armed Forces of the United States on active duty who is permanently stationed outside of the State to purchase trapping licenses at a reduced rate. It simplifies language regarding a person 70 years of age or older hunting with a crossbow. It repeals a provision allowing a person under 16 years of age holding a valid junior hunting license to obtain a muzzle-loading permit from the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. It adds a wild turkey hunting permit to the nonresident small game apprenticeship hunter license. It repeals law establishing a youth bear hunting day. It changes the law regarding unlawful possession of wild turkeys to reflect the increase of the bag limit from one to 2. It prohibits placing bait for wild turkeys and hunting over that bait for 30 days prior to the spring wild turkey hunting season. It adds firearms using a caliber cartridge smaller than the .22 caliber cartridge to the exceptions from the law prohibiting hunting with any automatic firearm. It amends the provision of a residents-only day in the law regarding open and closed seasons for deer to account for an exception for certain nonresident landowners. It repeals a provision making nonresident aliens ineligible to purchase a trapping license, as they are eligible to purchase a license to trap beaver when their state or province of residency allows residents of the State to trap beaver in that state or province and removes language requiring clerks or agents appointed by the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to charge $2 for each trapping license issued. It raises the fee for a resident and nonresident apprentice trapper license by $1, consistent with changes to fees in Public Law 2015, chapter 245. It makes it a Class E crime for a licensee to receive, possess for resale, sell or offer to sell gift baitfish or gift smelts. It amends the law describing how the Open Water and Ice Fishing Regulations are distributed. It updates the name of an endangered species of bird. It changes the expiration date of a taxidermy license so that licenses expire 3 years from their date of issuance. It corrects a cross-reference. It allows ATVs, including 2-wheel off-road motorcycles, without headlights or taillights to be operated between sunrise and sunset.
Status:
In House. Passed to be engrossed on May 31
Introduced:
05/10/2017
Sponsor:
Representative Stephen S. Stanley
Issue Brief:
Forest Management
Summary:
This bill makes the following changes to the Maine Tree Growth Tax Law. 1. It includes harvesting as an expressly stated purpose for land in the Maine Tree Growth Tax Law program. 2. It removes certain items from the definition of forest products that have commercial value under the Maine Tree Growth Tax Law program. 3. It increases the minimum parcel size from 10 acres to 25 acres for the Maine Tree Growth Tax Law program for parcels enrolled on or after April 1, 2018. 4. It authorizes the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, Bureau of Forestry to audit parcels of land enrolled in the Maine Tree Growth Tax Law program to ensure compliance of the landowner with the requirements of the program and that the parcel is being managed in substantial compliance with the forest management and harvest plan for that parcel. The bureau is required to order the removal from the program of any parcel that is not substantially compliant with the requirements of the program. The owner of that removed parcel may apply to reclassify the parcel under the farm and open space tax law in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 36, chapter 105, subchapter 10. The audit provisions are repealed January 1, 2020. 5. It requires the State Tax Assessor to deny reimbursement to a municipality if any parcel of land enrolled in the Maine Tree Growth Tax Law program is not compliant with the program.
Status:
Work Session held on May 18
Introduced:
01/12/2017
Sponsor: Senator Paul T. Davis, Member, Maine Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus
Issue Brief:
General
Summary:
Eliminates the requirement that a person obtain a permit to hunt wild turkeys. This bill increases the number of wild turkeys a person may take during the spring open season for hunting wild turkeys from 2 wild turkeys of either sex to 3 male wild turkeys. This bill increases the number of wild turkeys a person may take during the fall open seasons for hunting wild turkeys from 2 to 3 of either sex over both seasons. This bill allows a person to register wild turkeys electronically or by telephone.
Status:
Signed by Governor on May 26
Introduced:
02/15/2017
Sponsor: Senator Thomas B. Saviello, Co-Chair, Maine Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus
Issue Brief:
Forest Management
Summary:
This bill implements the recommendations of the Commission To Study the Public Reserved Lands Management Fund.
Status:
Work Session held on May 11
