reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 58 - Shooting Upon or Across Highway; Hunting Near Dwelling

Section 58. A person shall not discharge any firearm or release any arrow upon or across any state or hard surfaced highway, or within one hundred and fifty feet, of any such highway, or possess a loaded firearm or hunt by any means on the land of another within five hundred feet of any dwelling in use, except as authorized by the owner or occupant thereof.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 59 - Reservations, Parks, Public Lands; Hunting; State Forests

Section 59. A person shall not hunt, or in any manner molest or destroy, any bird or mammal within the boundaries of any reservation, park or common, or any land owned or leased by the commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof, or any land held in trust for public use; except that the authorities or persons having the control and charge of such reservations, parks, commons or other lands, may, with such limitations as they deem advisable, permit the hunting, within said boundaries during the applicable open season of any birds or mammals. The authorities or persons having the control and charge of such reservations, parks, commons or land owned or leased or held for public use, the director of law enforcement, his deputy directors of enforcement, chiefs of enforcement, deputy chiefs of enforcement, environmental police officers, deputy environmental police officers, wardens and members of the state police in areas over which they have jurisdiction and all officers qualified to serve criminal process shall enforce this section.
This section shall not apply to state forests acquired under section thirty or section thirty-three of chapter one hundred and thirty-two or any other provision of law, or to state parks and reservations under the control of the division of forests and parks of the department of environmental management. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to prohibit any agency of the commonwealth or any political subdivision of the commonwealth from permitting the hunting, during the applicable open season, in any area owned or leased by it, of any bird or mammal, or from entering into agreements with the director for the establishment of wildlife management areas.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 60 - Weapons; Careless or Negligent Use Causing Injury or Death to Another; Report

Section 60. A person shall not use any firearm, bow and arrow or other weapon or article in a careless or negligent manner so as to cause bodily injury or death to another while engaged in hunting or target shooting. Any person, while so engaged, who causes injury or death to any other person by reason of the use of any firearm, bow and arrow or other weapon or article and any person having knowledge of such injury or death shall immediately report the same to the state or local police who shall in turn submit a copy of such report to the director of law enforcement.
Any person found guilty of, or convicted of, any violation of the first sentence of this section or any person failing to make the report required by this section who is the holder of any hunting or sporting license issued under the provisions of this chapter shall forthwith lose any rights thereunder, and said license shall be surrendered to any officer empowered to enforce the provisions of this chapter and no other hunting or sporting license shall be granted to him for a period of five years.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 61 - Weapons; Careless or Negligent Use Causing Damage to Property or Livestock; Tort Liability

Section 61. A person shall not use any firearm, bow and arrow or other weapon or article in a careless or negligent manner so as to cause damage to property or livestock of another while engaged in hunting, fishing, trapping or target shooting. Whoever violates any provision of this section shall be liable in tort to the owner for the loss of such property or livestock for the amount of the damage, which shall be in addition to any other penalty imposed by any other provision of law.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 62 - Weapons; Intoxicating Liquor or Drugs

Section 62. A person, while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or of drugs shall not hunt or carry a firearm, bow and arrow or other weapon while engaged in hunting or target shooting.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 63 - Loaded Shotgun or Rifle in Motor Vehicle, Aircraft or Motorboat

Section 63. A person, other than the director of law enforcement, his deputy directors of enforcement, chiefs of enforcement, deputy chiefs of enforcement, environmental police officers, deputy environmental police officers, warden and members of the state or local police in areas over which they have jurisdiction, special officers or persons charged with the protection of persons or property while acting in the discharge of their respective duties, as such, and paraplegics as provided in section sixty-five, shall not, except upon land owned or occupied by him, have in his possession or under his control in or on any motor vehicle or aircraft a loaded shotgun or rifle, nor shall he have in his possession or under his control in any motor boat a loaded shotgun or rifle unless authorized by the director in regulations relating to the hunting of migratory waterfowl; and any person shall, upon the demand of any officer authorized to enforce this chapter, display for inspection any shotgun or rifle in his possession or under his control in a motor vehicle, aircraft or motorboat while not on property owned or occupied by him.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 64 - Automatic Firearms, Machine Guns or Bows; Use of Tracer Ammunition

Section 64. A person shall not use for hunting purposes any type of full automatic firearm, machine gun or submachine gun, or any crossbow, except as provided in section 69, nor use any tracer or incendiary ammunition for hunting or outdoor target shooting purposes except on a skeet, trap, or target range.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 65 - Hunting From Motor Vehicle, Snowmobile, Aircraft or Watercraft

Section 65. Except as otherwise provided by law, a person shall not hunt any bird or mammal by the aid or use of any motor vehicle, including a snowmobile, helicopter or other aircraft, or any bird by the aid or use of any boat or floating device propelled by sail, steam, naphtha, gasoline, electricity, compressed air or similar motive power, unless such boat or floating device is beached, resting at anchor, or fastened within or tied immediately alongside of any type of fixed hunting blind; nor shall he, for the purpose of taking or killing a wild bird, place or cause to be placed upon the shores or foreshores of or in or upon any waters within the commonwealth, grain of any kind.
Nothing in this section shall prohibit the shooting of wounded or crippled migratory game birds from a powered craft in coastal waters seaward of the first upstream bridge, or the picking up or retrieving of dead or injured migratory game birds by means of a motorboat, sailboat or other water craft.
Paraplegics issued a hunting license under the provisions of section eleven may use a motor vehicle, or a recreational vehicle or snow vehicle as defined in section twenty of chapter ninety B, as an aid to hunting birds or mammals, provided that said person shall not shoot or have in his possession or under his control a loaded rifle or shotgun while said vehicle is in motion.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 65a - Online Shooting or Spearing

Section 65A. (a) For the purposes of this section, ''online shooting or spearing'' means the use of a computer or any other device, equipment, software or technology, to remotely control the aiming and discharge of any weapon including, but not limited to, any firearm, bow and arrow, spear, slingshot, harpoon or any other projectile device or any other weapon capable of killing or capable of inflicting injury capable of killing any bird, mammal, reptile or fish.
(b) Whoever:
(1) engages in online shooting or spearing of any bird, mammal, reptile or fish;
(2) owns or operates a shooting range, site, gallery or other facility in the commonwealth utilized for online shooting or spearing;
(3) creates, maintains or utilizes an Internet Web site, or a service or business via any other means, from any location within the commonwealth for the operation of online shooting or spearing;
(4) possesses or confines any bird, mammal, reptile or fish to promote or for use in online shooting or spearing; or
(5) imports into or exports out of the commonwealth any bird, mammal, reptile or fish, or the remains thereof, injured or killed by online shooting or spearing, shall be punished by imprisonment in the house of correction for not more than 2 1/2 years or by a fine of not more than $2,500, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
(c) The department shall revoke any license issued pursuant to section 12 to any person who violates this section. The department shall not issue nor renew a license under said section 12 to any person who violates this section for not less than 3 years nor more than 5 years from the date of such violation.
(d) This section shall apply to any person, firm, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, association or other business entity.
(e) Any bird, mammal, reptile or fish, or the remains thereof, possessed in violation of this section shall be subject to seizure by the department.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 66 - Shotgun Shells, Load

Section 66. A person shall not, except during the prescribed open season when deer may be hunted lawfully with a shotgun, have in his possession a shotgun shell loaded with a rifled slug, single ball, buckshot of any size, BB shot or air rifle shot in any place where birds or mammals might be found, except on a skeet, trap or target range between sunrise and sunset; provided, however, that the director shall promulgate rules and regulations prescribing the type and size of such BB shot.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 67 - Rifles, Revolvers and Pistols; Caliber

Section 67. A person shall not use or possess, where birds or mammals may be found, any rifle chambered to take larger than twenty-two long rifle ammunition, or any revolver or pistol chambered to take larger than thirty-eight caliber ammunition between the hours of one half hour after sunset to one half hour before sunrise of any day throughout the year.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 68 - Hunting With Artificial Light; Swivel or Pivot Gun

Section 68. A person shall not hunt any bird or mammal except raccoon or opossum by the aid or use of any artificial light, or hunt any bird with a swivel or pivot gun. Any weapon or equipment used in such hunting by any person convicted of a violation of this section shall be confiscated and forfeited to the use of the commonwealth and disposed of by the director of law enforcement for the best interest of the commonwealth; and any motor vehicle, as defined in section one of chapter ninety, or other vehicle, boat or canoe so used may be seized and libeled in accordance with the provisions of chapter two hundred and fifty-seven.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 69 - Bows and Arrows for Hunting

Section 69. A person shall not carry or use a bow and arrow while hunting unless said bow and arrow meet such requirements as may be set by rules and regulations which the director is hereby authorized to promulgate. Such rules and regulations shall prescribe general design, weight of pull, and type of bows and arrows, and shall conform to standards generally accepted for bows and arrows used for hunting purposes. Nothing in this paragraph shall permit the use of crossbows by any person other than a person who is permanently disabled such that the person cannot operate a conventional bow and arrow, as certified by a licensed physician. Any costs associated with obtaining the medical documentation, re-evaluation of the information or a second medical opinion are the responsibility of the applicant claiming a permanent disability. The issuance of a crossbow permit under this section shall be subject to rules and regulations promulgated by the director.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 70 - Hunting With Rifle, Revolver or Pistol, or by the Aid of a Dog; Primitive Firearms

Section 70. A person shall not, during the open season when deer may be hunted lawfully with a shotgun, hunt a bird or mammal with a rifle, revolver or pistol or by the aid of a dog, or have in his possession or under his control in any wood or field, a rifle, revolver or pistol, or a dog. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to prohibit the use of dogs to hunt waterfowl in coastal waters and salt marshes during the open season on migratory waterfowl.
Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the director may authorize the use of primitive firearms or shotguns with a rifled bore for hunting during any period when deer may be hunted by means of a firearm under rules and regulations promulgated in accordance with section five.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 71 - Orange Clothing While Hunting

Section 71. A person shall not, during the open season when deer may be hunted lawfully with a shotgun, hunt or enter the woodlands of the commonwealth for the purpose of hunting unless he wears in a conspicuous manner or his chest, back and head a minimum of five hundred square inches of clothing or material of a hunter orange color which meets such requirements as the director may by rules and regulations establish. This section shall not apply to any person engaged in waterfowl hunting from within a blind or from a boat.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 72 - Deer Tags

Section 72. To each resident and nonresident hunting or sporting license shall be attached a deer tag in a form prescribed by the director. Such deer tag shall remain attached to said license until removed for the purpose of affixing to a deer as provided herein and shall be void if detached for any other purpose. A person possessing a detached deer tag not affixed to a deer shall surrender the same to any officer empowered to enforce the provisions of this chapter. Immediately upon taking a deer into possession by hunting in open season, said tag shall be affixed to the deer in such manner and for such time as may be prescribed by rules and regulations of the director. This section shall not apply to a deer taken by a person hunting lawfully without a license. A person shall not have in his possession or under his control in any motor vehicle or transport the carcass of a deer except as provided in rules and regulations promulgated by the director. Possession of the carcass of a deer except as tagged or authorized herein shall be prima facie evidence that the same was unlawfully taken. Proceedings under any rule or regulation made under authority of this section or of section five and which pertains to the tagging or reporting of any deer killed may be begun in the district court within the judicial district of which the deer is found or the defendant lives.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 74 - Bird Nests and Eggs

Section 74. A person shall not take, disturb or destroy a nest or eggs of any bird except an English sparrow, crow, jay or starling. A city, town, county or private organization shall not offer or pay bounties for the killing or taking of any bird.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 75a - Birds of Prey

Section 75A. A person, unless he holds a special permit or license issued by the director, shall not hunt or have in his possession a bird of prey. No person shall take, molest, disturb, destroy or have in his possession the nest or eggs of any such bird, unless otherwise authorized by the director. For the purposes of this section, the term ''bird of prey'' shall mean and include any of the following birds:— eagle, osprey, hawk, owl, kite, falcon or vulture.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 76 - Removal of Mammal From Hole, or From Under Ledge, Stone or Log

Section 76. Except as otherwise provided in sections four and thirty-seven, a person shall not remove or attempt to remove any mammal from any hole in a tree or in the ground, stonewall, or from within or under any ledge, stone or log; provided, that, anyone authorized by the owner of lands may so remove a chipmunk, fox, flying squirrel, red squirrel, porcupine, skunk, weasel, wildcat or woodchuck.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 77a - Wild Canid and Felid Hybrids

Section 77A. No person shall possess, sell, trade, breed, import, export or release a wild canid hybrid or wild felid hybrid, except as otherwise provided by rules and regulations of the division. Any mammal which is the offspring of the reproduction between any species of wild canid or hybrid wild canid and a domestic dog or hybrid wild canid, or is represented by its owner to be a wolf hybrid, coyote hybrid, coy dog or any other kind of wild canid hybrid, or which is the offspring of the reproduction between any species of wild felid or hybrid wild felid and a domestic cat or hybrid wild felid or is represented by its owner to be a wild felid hybrid. All mammals shall be considered to be wild mammals and subject to the provisions of this chapter.
The provisions of this act shall not apply to an owner or other person possessing any such animal as of January first, nineteen hundred and ninety-four who has received a permit from the director; provided, however, that such permit has been acquired on or before July thirty-first, nineteen hundred and ninety-four. Such owner or other person shall be subject to the rules and regulations promulgated by the division. Such rules and regulations may include, but shall not be limited to, provisions for the housing of such animals.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to an owner or person possessing a domesticated show or pet cat registered with a nationally or internationally recognized breeding association or registry which certifies the pedigree and registration of such cat to be without any wild felid parentage for a minimum of three generations.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 78 - Protection of Property by Owner or Tenant; Transportation of Firearms to or From Range

Section 78. Nothing in section sixty-six or sixty-seven shall be construed to prohibit an owner or tenant of land or his authorized agent, as provided in section thirty-seven from protecting his property nor prohibit a person from transporting firearms or ammunition to or from the commonwealth or to or from any range.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 79 - Trap, Net or Snare; Use Restricted

Section 79. Except as provided in sections four, five, thirty-seven, thirty-eight and eighty-three, a person shall not erect, set, use, locate, repair, tend or maintain any trap, net or snare for the purpose of taking or killing any bird or mammal, nor shall a person, except as provided above, take any bird or mammal by any such means.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 80 - Registration and Identification of Traps

Section 80. A person shall not place, set, maintain, possess, or tend on the land of another, any trap, unless the same is registered in accordance with the provisions of this section. For the purpose of providing for the registration and identification of traps, the director shall provide application forms, renewal forms, registration certificates and other forms necessary for the registration of traps as hereinafter provided. The director shall require the applicant for registration or renewal to supply necessary information and shall charge a fee for the original certificate, which shall be valid for two years unless suspended or revoked, and a fee for a renewal for a similar period of time, the amounts of which shall be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section three B of chapter seven, which shall cover and apply to all traps then and thereafter owned by the applicant. The director shall provide by regulation, approved by the fisheries and wildlife board, that the registration number of any certificate issued by him and the name of the owner of a trap shall be affixed to each trap.
Upon the sale of any registered trap, the owner and purchaser shall send a joint notice of such transfer to the director, and thereupon the seller's registered number, as appearing upon each trap so transferred, shall have the letter ''T'' added to it to indicate that said transfer has been so registered with the director, and in addition the buyer's registered number shall forthwith be stamped upon each such trap.
Upon the request of two or more persons, stating that they have entered into a partnership and are willing that all members of the partnership shall trap with the registered traps of any partner, each member of the partnership shall be furnished by the director with a special certification, written upon his registration certificate, that he is authorized to use traps belonging to the other members thereof, and it shall be unnecessary for any trap used by such partnership to bear any registration number other than that of its owner.
The director shall from time to time furnish to the director of law enforcement a list of all holders of registration certificates issued hereunder, including the registration number assigned to each such holder.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 81 - Suspension of Open Seasons Because of Fire Hazard

Section 81. Whenever it shall appear to the governor that by reason of extreme drought there is danger of fire resulting from hunting, trapping, fishing or other cause, he may, by proclamation suspend the opening or continuance of any or all open seasons established by or under the authority of this chapter, or any authorized extension thereof, and proclaim a closed season on any or all birds, fish or mammals, for such time as he may therein designate, and may therein prohibit hunting, trapping, fishing and the possession of firearms on property of another during the same time, and he may, by the same or another proclamation, proclaim that any or all sections of the woodlands in the commonwealth where danger of fire might exist shall be closed for such time as he may therein designate to hunters, trappers, fishermen and such other persons as he deems proper under the circumstances except the owners or tenants of such property and their agents and employees, or persons holding written permission from any such owner or tenant to enter thereon for any lawful purpose other than hunting, trapping or fishing. As soon as the fire hazard is deemed to be over, the governor, for the purpose of providing just and reasonable facilities for hunting, trapping and fishing, in like manner may extend any such open season for a period or periods not exceeding, in the aggregate, the time of such suspension, and if, by reason of any such extension such open season in whole or in part coincides with any other open season in such manner as to cause any conflict in the laws relating thereto, he may, in like manner, postpone such other open season for such time as may be necessary to avoid such conflict.
Every such proclamation shall take effect as therein stated. A proclamation issued under this section shall be published in such newspapers or posted in such places and in such manner under the direction of the department as the governor may order; but failure to comply with this paragraph shall not in any way invalidate any proclamation made under authority of this section.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 82 - Dogs, Running at Large; Protection of Deer

Section 82. A person owning, keeping or possessing a dog shall not allow, permit or consent to such dog chasing, hunting, molesting, attacking or killing a deer. The director is hereby authorized to issue an order to restrain all dogs from running at large in any city or town where, in his opinion, such a restraining order is necessary to prevent dogs from chasing, hunting, molesting, attacking or killing deer. Any such order shall be in effect forty-eight hours after publication in one or more newspapers circulated in such city or town. When, in his opinion, the director determines that such restraining order is no longer necessary, he shall, by like publication, rescind such order. A person owning, keeping or possessing a dog shall restrain it from running at large in any city or town in which such a restraining order is in effect. The director of law enforcement, his deputy directors of enforcement, chiefs of enforcement, deputy chiefs of enforcement, environmental police officers and members of the state police in areas over which they have jurisdiction may destroy any such dog found chasing, hunting, molesting, attacking or killing a deer, without any liability on his part. During any period when no such order is in force, the director of law enforcement, his deputy directors of enforcement, chiefs of enforcement, deputy chiefs of enforcement, environmental police officers and members of the state police in areas over which they have jurisdiction may destroy any dog found chasing or hunting a deer if the dog is so chasing or hunting with the knowledge or consent of the owner. Whenever a dog has been found chasing, hunting, molesting, attacking or killing a deer and the owner or keeper of the dog has been so notified by the director, and the same dog is thereafter found so chasing, hunting, molesting, attacking or killing, it shall be prima facie evidence that such chasing, hunting, molesting, attacking or killing was with the knowledge or consent of the owner or keeper.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 83 - Sparrows and Starlings

Section 83. Officers in charge of public buildings in cities and such officers as the selectmen designate and appoint in towns may take such reasonable means and use such appliances, except poison, as in their judgment will effectively exterminate Engligh sparrows and starlings in such cities and towns, but nothing herein shall authorize an officer to enter on private property without the consent of the owner or occupant thereof. A person shall not willfully resist such officers while engaged in such duties or knowingly interfere with the means used by them for such purpose.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 85 - Transportation of Fish or Other Animals Into or Out of Commonwealth

Section 85. Except as prohibited or limited by federal legislation or regulation, any person who holds a sporting, hunting, fishing or trapping license issued to him as a nonresident may carry from the commonwealth such fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds or mammals as have been lawfully taken within the commonwealth, but no person shall transport or cause to be transported into or out of the commonwealth any fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds or mammals protected by this chapter which have been unlawfully taken or killed therein, nor shall any person transport or cause to be transported into the commonwealth any fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds or mammals which have been taken or killed or are possessed contrary to the laws of any state or of any foreign nation.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 86 - Property Used for Scientific Experiments or Investigations or for Propagation

Section 86. A person shall not without right enter in or upon any building or other structure, or any area of land, flats or water, set apart and used by or under authority of the director for conducting scientific experiments or investigations or for propagation, or fish in waters so set apart and used, after the director has caused printed notices of such occupation and use and the purposes thereof to be placed in a conspicuous position upon any such building or other structure or adjacent to any such area of land, flats or water, and shall not injure or deface any such building or other structure or any notice posted as aforesaid, or injure or destroy any property used in such experiments or investigations or for such purposes, or otherwise interfere therewith.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 87 - Arrest Without Warrant; Seizures; Forfeitures

Section 87. The director of law enforcement, his deputy directors of enforcement, chiefs of enforcement, deputy chiefs of enforcement, environmental police officers and deputy environmental police officers, wardens and members of the state police in areas over which they have jurisdiction and all other officers qualified to serve criminal process may arrest without a warrant any person found violating any provision of this chapter or of any ordinance, rule or regulation made under authority thereof, or other general or special law relating to fish, birds, mammals or dogs, and may seize any fish, birds or mammals unlawfully taken or held, which shall be forfeited to the commonwealth and disposed of by the said director for the best interest of the commonwealth. Wardens shall enforce the laws relating to fish, birds and mammals. Any of the foregoing persons authorized to arrest without a warrant may, in the performance of their duties, enter upon and pass over private lands, whether or not covered by water.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 88 - Display of Fish, Game, and Equipment for Inspection

Section 88. The director, his deputy directors of enforcement, chiefs of enforcement, deputy chiefs of enforcement, environmental police officers and deputy environmental police officers, wardens and members of the state police in areas over which they have jurisdiction may request any person whom he reasonably believes to be engaged in hunting, fishing, or trapping, or to be unlawfully in possession of fish, birds or mammals, or to be in possession of fish, birds or mammals unlawfully taken, or in possession of unlawful equipment or ammunition, to forthwith display for inspection all fish, birds, mammals, equipment or ammunition then in his possession, and may arrest without a warrant a person refusing or failing to comply with such request.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 89 - Search Warrants; Seizures and Forfeitures

Section 89. Fish, birds or mammals unlawfully taken or held, or any equipment, the possession or use of which is prohibited by any law relating to inland fisheries and game, may be the subject of a search warrant as provided in chapter two hundred and seventy-six. Any boat, vessel, bag, locker, package, crate, any building or other dwelling house, any motor vehicle as defined in section one of chapter ninety, or other vehicle, or anything else used to take, hold, keep, possess, transport or hold for transport fish or wildlife taken in violation of a law relating to inland fisheries and game may also be subject of a search warrant as provided in chapter two hundred and seventy-six. Persons authorized to arrest without a warrant may seize any boat, vessel, fish car, bag, box, locker, package, crate, any motor vehicle as defined in section one of chapter ninety, or other vehicle, or any other personal property used in violation of a law relating to inland fisheries and game and hold the same for forfeiture by the commonwealth. Any fish, birds, mammals, equipment, and property, as specified herein, described in such warrant, may be seized and shall be forfeited to the commonwealth; provided, however, that this section shall not apply to fish, birds, mammals, equipment, or property, as specified above, passing through the commonwealth under the authority of the laws of the United States. Such search warrants may be issued to the director of law enforcement, his deputy directors of enforcement, chiefs of enforcement, deputy chiefs of enforcement, environmental police officers and members of the state police in areas over which they have jurisdiction. Any fish, birds, mammals and equipment described in such warrant may be seized and shall be forfeited to the commonwealth; provided, that this section shall not apply to fish, birds, mammals or equipment passing through the commonwealth under authority of the laws of the United States. Fish, birds or mammals so seized shall be preserved whenever in the opinion of the said director, or his agent thereunto duly authorized, proper facilities therefor exist, until, in the opinion of said director, the necessity for further preservation thereof ceases, at which time said fish, birds or mammals or equipment may be disposed of by the said director for the best interest of the commonwealth. Whenever seizure, and confiscation or forfeiture is authorized by any provision of this chapter, unless another procedure is therein indicated, such seizure, confiscation or forfeiture shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of chapter two hundred and fifty-seven.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 90a - Suspended or Revoked Foreign Licenses; Penalties for Hunting, Trapping or Fishing or Failing to Return License Upon Suspension or Revocation of License

Section 90A. A person whose privilege to hunt, trap or fish has been suspended or revoked in any other jurisdiction in the United States or Canada for an offense in that jurisdiction shall not be issued a license for such activity in the commonwealth, or, if such a license has been issued in the commonwealth at the time, such license shall be suspended and not renewed during the period of the suspension or revocation in the other jurisdiction if, after notice and an opportunity for a hearing, the director determines that the offense carrying the suspension or revocation would constitute a violation of section 5, 10, 13, 21A, 22, 61, 62, 64, 65, 68, 69, 73, to 75A, inclusive, 79 to 80A, inclusive, or 82.
Upon the suspension of a license pursuant to this section, the director shall send prompt notice of such suspension to the person's last known address. A person whose license is suspended shall immediately return the license to the division.
A person who hunts, traps or fishes in the commonwealth after suspension of a license pursuant to this section shall be punished in accordance with the penalties assessed under section 90 for hunting, trapping or fishing without a license in violation of section 11. A person who fails to immediately return a license in violation of this section shall be punished by a fine of not less than $200 but not more than $500.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 90b - Penalties for Subsequent Violations

Section 90B. Whoever is convicted of a third or subsequent violation of section 5, 22, 65 or 68, within a 10-year period shall be punished by a fine of not less than $1,000 but not more than $15,000, by imprisonment for not more than 5 years in a state prison or by both such fine and imprisonment.
The penalties in this section shall apply to persons whose total violations within the 10-year period involve 3 or more animals and shall also apply to each violation thereafter.
The species covered by this section shall only include deer, moose, fisher, bobcat, bear, any bird of prey as defined in section 75A and any endangered, threatened or species of special concern included on the official list maintained pursuant to section 4 of chapter 131A.
A person penalized pursuant to this section shall immediately surrender any license, permit or certificate issued pursuant to this chapter to an environmental police officer, deputy or other officer authorized to enforce this chapter, except a license issued under clause (3), (4) or (6) of the seventh paragraph of section 23. The surrendered license, permit or certificate shall be void. No person or a person acting on that person's behalf shall be given or apply for a license, permit or certificate that was voided due to a violation of this section for not less than 10 years from the date that such person was found guilty or penalized and any license, permit or certificate wrongfully issued shall be void and shall be surrendered to an officer authorized to enforce this chapter.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131 - Inland Fisheries and Game and Other Natural Resources › Section 92 - Severability

Section 92. If any part, section or subdivision of this chapter, or the application thereof, shall be held invalid, unconstitutional or inoperative as to any particular person, persons or conditions, the remainder hereof, or the application of any such part, section or subdivision to other persons and conditions, shall not be affected thereby.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131a - Massachusetts Endangered Species Act › Section 2 - Possession; Alteration of Habitat; Exempt Artifacts

Section 2. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, no person may take, possess, transport, export, process, sell or offer for sale, buy or offer to buy, nor shall a common or contract carrier knowingly transport or receive for shipment, any plant or animal species listed as endangered, threatened or of special concern or listed under the Federal Endangered Species Act.
Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, no person may alter significant habitat.
Possession, transfer, sale or exchange of scrimshaw, curios, collectibles, antiques or artifacts of endangered species, mounted or unmounted, which items can be reasonably determined to pre-date January first, nineteen hundred and seventy-three, shall be exempt from the provisions of this chapter.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131a - Massachusetts Endangered Species Act › Section 3 - Exceptions

Section 3. Any person may transport, possess, or sell, in accordance with the terms of any necessary state and federal permit, any species appearing on any of the lists prepared in accordance with section four which enters the commonwealth from another state or from a point outside the territorial limits of the United States. A person may possess or propagate all plants listed as endangered, threatened or special concern; provided, however, that the sources for such propagation or possession shall not be taken from the wild. All nurserymen may sell all plants listed as endangered, threatened or of special concern; provided, however, that the sources for such sale shall not be taken from the wild.
The director may permit the taking, possession, purchase, sale, transportation, exportation or shipment of any species appearing on the list of endangered or threatened species or species of special concern developed by the director pursuant to section four for scientific, conservation, management or educational purposes, or for or from propagation in captivity and may permit the taking of special concern species for the purposes of falconry pursuant to regulations promulgated by the director.
The director may permit the removal, capture, or destruction of any species appearing on the list of endangered or threatened species or species of special concern developed by the director pursuant to section four to protect human health, when a public health hazard exists as certified by the department of public health.
A landowner may construct a single family house covering no more than three thousand square feet of ground and install any necessary utilities to service said house and construct in a reasonable fashion a single access driveway to the nearest public or private way on a lot having an area of at least three acres; provided, however, that the lot on which said construction takes place was owned by said landowner and in existence on January first, nineteen hundred and ninety; and provided, further, that said lot was not held in common ownership with any adjoining land as of said date. For purposes of this paragraph, the phrase ''in existence'' shall mean a lot shown on a definitive plan that has received final approval under chapter forty-one or shown on a plan that has been endorsed under section eighty-one P of said chapter.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131a - Massachusetts Endangered Species Act › Section 6 - Penalties; Disposition of Fines Received

Section 6. (a) Any person who violates the provisions of the first paragraph of section two or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, shall be punished by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars or imprisonment for not more than ninety days or both such fine and imprisonment. Upon a second or subsequent conviction such person shall be punished by a fine of not less than five thousand dollars nor more than ten thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one hundred and eighty days or both such fine and imprisonment.
(b) Any person who violates the provisions of the second paragraph of section two or rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, shall be punished by a fine of not less than one thousand dollars nor more than ten thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than ninety days or both such fine and imprisonment. Upon a subsequent conviction, such person shall be punished by a fine of not less than ten thousand dollars nor more than twenty thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one hundred and eighty days or both such fine and imprisonment. In addition or as an alternative to such penalties, any such person may be ordered to restore the significant habitat to its prior condition.
(c) Any person who violates section 2 or any rule or regulation adopted under this chapter shall be subject to a civil assessment not to exceed $10,000 for each such violation. The civil assessment may be asserted in an action brought on behalf of the commonwealth in a court of competent jurisdiction.
The superior court shall have jurisdiction to enjoin violations of, or to grant such additional relief as it deems necessary or appropriate to secure compliance with this chapter upon petition of the director or the attorney general.
(d) The commission of a prohibited act with respect to each individual animal or plant, or part thereof, shall constitute a separate violation.
(e) All fines and assessments received on account of litigation or settlement thereof for a violation of this chapter or the regulations promulgated thereunder shall be paid to the commonwealth and shall be deposited into the Natural Heritage Endangered Species Fund established pursuant to section 35D of chapter 10 for the purpose of aiding in the protection and enhancement of rare, threatened and endangered species in the commonwealth.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIX - Agriculture and Conservation › Chapter 131a - Massachusetts Endangered Species Act › Section 7 - Fees

Section 7. The director may establish fees for environmental review and assessment pursuant to this chapter, the amount of which shall be determined in accordance with section 3B of chapter 7. Monies received by the commonwealth from fees collected under this chapter shall be credited to the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Fund, established by section 35D of chapter 10.