An Act To Amend Certain Provisions of the Fish and Wildlife Laws
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 1982
Committee: Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
Sponsors: BRYANT, JACKSON, RICHARDSON, SA VIELLO, WHEELER
Amends: 12 MRSA §10757-A, 12 MRSA §10851, 12 MRSA §13155, 17 MRSA §2264-B

Legislative Document 
No. 1982 
S.P.776 
December 18, 2007 
An Act To Amend Certain Provisions of the Fish and Wildlife Laws 
Submitted by the Department ofInland Fisheries and Wildlife pursuant to Joint Rille 204. 
Received by the Secretary of the Senate on December 18, 2007. Referred to the Committee 
on Inland Fisheries and Wildlife pursuant to Joint Rille 308.2 and ordered printed. 
Presented by Senator BRYANT of Oxford. 
JOY J. O'BRIEN 
Secretary of the Senate 
Cosponsored by Representative JACKSON of Allagash and Representatives: BRYANT of 
Windham, RICHARDSON of Carmel, SA VIELLO of Wilton, WHEELER of Kittery. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 12 MRS A §10001, sub-§53, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 414, Pt. A, §2 and 
affected by c. 614, §9, is amended to read: 
53. Resident. "Resident" For the purposes of this subsection, "resident" means a 
citizen of the United States who has been domieiled in this State eontinuously during the 
months next prior to the date on 'Nhieh the person applies for any lieense or permit 
under this Part, or an alien ",,'ho has been so domieiled for one ~'ear. l\ person ma~' not be 
eonsidered a resident if the person has not: 
A. If registered to vote, .@ registered in this State; 
lOB. If licensed to drive a motor vehicle, has made application for or possesses a motor 
vehicle operator's license issued by the State; 
C. 
If owning a motor vehicle located within the State, has registered each such 
vehicle in the State; and 
D. Complied Is in compliance with the state income tax laws. 
A person who is a full-time student at a college or university in the State, .,,'ho has resided 
in the State eontinuously for 3 months and has satisfied the requirements of paragraphs A 
to D is rebuttably presumed to have been domieiled be a resident in the State during that 
period. 
Sec. 2. 12 MRSA §10757-A is enacted to read: 
§10757-A. Failure to pay fees 
The commissioner may revoke all licenses, permits or registrations issued to any 
person under this Part who has failed to pay the license, permit or registration fees due to 
either a license agent or the department. In addition, any fees associated with insufficient 
funds may be recovered by the agent or the department. 
Sec. 3. 12 MRSA §10851, sub-§I, ~, as amended by PL 2007, c. 433, § 1, is 
further amended to read: 
D. 
For a resident 70 years of age or older. A person who holds a valid senior 
lifetime license under this section upon turning 70 years of age may obtain at no cost 
a hunting lieense, fishing lieense, trapping lieense, arehery lieense under seetion 
11109, subseetion 7, a pheasant hunting peFmit under seetion 11156, a muzzle 
loading hunting lieense under seetion 11109, subseetion 4, a migrato~' waterfowl 
permit under seetion 11157, a spring and fall 'Nild turkey hunting permit under 
seetion 11155 and a bear hunting permit under seetion 11151 all hunting permits and 
34' 
licenses authorized in this Part and may renew at no cost a guide license under 
section 12853. A person who is 70 years of age or older may purchase a senior 
lifetime license that entitles the holder to all the privileges described in this paragraph 
for a one-time $8 fee. 
Page I - t23LR2852(Ot)-t 
I 
II 
Sec. 4. 12 MRSA §13155, sub-§7, ~, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 414, Pt. A, §2 
and affected by c. 614, §9, is amended to read: 
B. 
An all-terrain vehicle owner who transfers ownership or discontinues its use 
may, within 10 days from the date of transfer or discontinuance, apply to the 
commissioner for registration of another all-terrain vehicle. The fee for the transfer is 
~ $4, and the registration is valid for the remainder of the registration year for which 
the previous all-terrain vehicle had been registered. 
Sec. 5. 17 MRSA §2264-B, sub-§5, as amended by PL 2003, c. 452, Pt. I, §39 
and affected by Pt. X, §2, is further amended to read: 
5. License suspension. Surrender the person's motor vehicle operator's license for a 
period not exceeding 30 days and the person's hunting and fishing licenses issued by the 
Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife for a period of up to one year if the violation 
occurred in a state-owned wildlife management area as designated in Title 12, section 
12708 or a wildlife sanctuary as designated in Title 12, section 12706. The court may 
suspend an operator's license for any violation of section 2264-A tHat involves the use of 
a motor vehicle. 
SUMMARY 
This bill changes the residency requirements in regards to obtaining hunting, fishing 
and trapping licenses and registering recreational vehicles to make the requirements 
consistent with other provisions of law. The current 3-month waiting period, which is 
removed by this bill, makes it more difficult to obtain these licenses and registrations than 
it is to register a vehicle and results in lost revenue. 
The bill allows the issuance of one lifetime license that covers all licenses and 
permits, rather than requiring the person to go in annually for the permits. 
The bill assists the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in recovering lost 
revenue and it makes a registration fee change that was inadvertently omitted during 
recent fee adjustments. This makes the all-terrain vehicle transfer fee consistent with 
those for snowmobiles and watercraft. 
The bill gives the courts the ability to revoke hunting and fishing licenses of persons 
found guilty of dumping litter in wildlife management areas and sanctuaries.