An Act to Amend and Simplify Certain Inland Fisheries and
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 0027
Sponsors: CARNEY
Amends: 12 MRSA §11108, 12 MRSA §11154, 12 MRSA §12202, 12 MRSA §12503

Legislative Document
No. 27
S.P. 42
In Senate, January 8, 2025
An Act to Amend and Simplify Certain Inland Fisheries and 
Wildlife Licensing and Permitting Laws
Submitted by the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife pursuant to Joint Rule 204.
Received by the Secretary of the Senate on January 6, 2025.  Referred to the Committee on 
Inland Fisheries and Wildlife pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator CARNEY of Cumberland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  12 MRSA §11108, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2023, c. 239, §16, is further 
amended to read:
1.  On certain land.  Notwithstanding section 11109, subsection 1 as it applies to this 
subchapter, and subject to all other applicable laws and rules, a resident and a member of 
the resident's immediate family, as long as the hunter's license to hunt is not under 
suspension or revocation, may hunt without a license, including, but not limited to, a license 
to hunt with a firearm, an archery hunting license and a muzzle-loading permit, on a single 
plot of land:
A.  To which they are legally entitled to possession;
B.  On which they are actually domiciled; and
C.  That is used exclusively for agricultural purposes; and
D.  That is in excess of 10 or more contiguous acres in size.
Sec. 2.  12 MRSA §11154, sub-§15, as corrected by RR 2021, c. 2, Pt. B, §75, is 
amended to read:
15.  Moose permit transfer; family members.  The commissioner, in cases involving 
exceptional extenuating circumstances as determined by the commissioner, may authorize 
a person who holds a valid moose permit to transfer that permit to a family member who 
meets the eligibility and permit requirements under this section and who is not otherwise 
prohibited from holding the moose permit, except that the commissioner shall transfer a 
moose permit to a family member who meets the eligibility and permit requirements under 
this section and who is not otherwise prohibited from holding the moose permit if the 
permit holder dies at any time prior to or during the moose hunting season if a moose has 
not yet been harvested under that permit.  A transferor and a transferee are subject to the 
elimination of any accumulated points under subsection 8 and the 3-year ineligibility period 
under subsection 5.  For purposes of this subsection, "family member" means the 
transferor's spouse, child, stepchild, grandchild, parent, grandparent, stepparent, sibling, 
half-sibling or adopted child; the transferor's sibling's child; the transferor's spouse's 
sibling's child; or the transferor's parent's sibling or that sibling's spouse.
The commissioner shall adopt rules to implement this subsection and may establish a 
transfer fee to recover administrative costs associated with transferring moose permits.  
Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, 
chapter 375, subchapter 2‑A.
Sec. 3.  12 MRSA §11154, sub-§18, as enacted by PL 2023, c. 127, §1, is amended 
to read:
18.  Moose permit deferment; multiple permits in single household.  The 
commissioner may authorize a person who holds a valid moose permit to defer the permit 
until the next moose hunting season in circumstances in which a member of that permit 
holder's household also holds a valid moose permit for the same hunting season. For the 
purposes of this subsection, members of a household are limited to a spouse, grandparent, 
parent, stepparent, child, stepchild, grandchild, sibling and stepgrandchild sharing the same 
legal address. Under this subsection, the person is ineligible to be selected for another 
moose permit in accordance with subsection 5 beginning in the calendar year that the 
person uses a permit deferred.
For the purposes of this subsection, "next moose hunting season" means the moose hunting 
season in the calendar year immediately following a person's selection under subsection 9.
Sec. 4.  12 MRSA §12202, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 414, Pt. A, §2 and 
affected by c. 614, §9, is repealed.
Sec. 5.  12 MRSA §12202, sub-§4 is enacted to read:
4.  Minimum acreage.  That is 10 or more contiguous acres in size.
Sec. 6.  12 MRSA §12503, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2023, c. 405, Pt. A, §31, is 
further amended to read:
2.  Land used for agricultural purposes legally possessed by resident; domicile; 10 
or more contiguous acres in size.  Notwithstanding section 12501, subsection 1 and 
subject to all other applicable laws and rules, any resident and any member of the resident's 
immediate family, as long as the angler's license to fish is not under suspension or 
revocation, may fish without a license in open inland waters from land:
A.  To which they are legally entitled to possession;
B.  On which they are actually domiciled; and
C.  That is used exclusively for agricultural purposes.
D.  That is 10 or more contiguous acres in size.
SUMMARY
This bill changes the provisions of law governing a resident and the resident's 
immediate family hunting, trapping or fishing without a license on land on which they are 
legally domiciled so that all of the provisions require the land to be 10 or more contiguous 
acres in size. The bill also repeals the provisions requiring that the land be used exclusively 
for agricultural purposes in order for the resident and the resident's immediate family to 
hunt, trap or fish on the land without a license. 
The bill also amends the provision of law governing hunting without a license to clarify 
that the provision applies to a license to hunt with a firearm.
The bill also amends the definition of "family member" in the provision governing 
transfers of moose permits to family members to include the transferor's sibling's child; the 
transferor's spouse's sibling's child; and the transferor's parent's sibling or that sibling's 
spouse. The bill removes half-siblings as eligible persons under this provision. 
The bill also amends the provision governing deferment of moose permits to the next 
moose hunting season when a member of the permit holder's household also holds a valid 
moose permit for that same hunting season to provide that spouses and siblings of the 
permit holder sharing the same legal address as the permit holder are considered members 
of the permit holder's household.