An owner of a cave and the owner's authorized agents acting within the scope of their authority are not liable for injuries sustained by any person using the cave for a recreational or scientific purpose if the prior written permission of the owner was obtained and if no charge was made for the use of the cave.__ Using a cave for a recreational or scientific purpose is a recreational or harvesting activity for purposes of Title 14, section 159-A.

§544-N.__Prohibited acts

1.__Defacing or damaging cave prohibited.__A person may not deface or damage a cave.__A person defaces or damages a cave if the person, without the prior written permission of the owner:

A.__Breaks, breaks off, cracks, carves upon, writes or otherwise marks upon or in any manner destroys, mutilates, injures, defaces, removes, displaces, mars or harms any natural material found in a cave;

B.__Kills, harms or disturbs plant or animal life found in a cave, except for safety reasons;

C.__Disturbs or alters the natural condition of a cave or takes into a cave any aerosol or other container containing paints, dyes or other coloring agents;

D.__Stores, dumps, litters, disposes of or otherwise places any refuse, garbage, dead animal, sewage or toxic substance harmful to cave life or humans in a cave;

E.__Burns within a cave any material that produces smoke or gas that is harmful to any organism in the cave; or

F.__Breaks, forces, tampers with, removes or otherwise disturbs a lock, gate, door, sign or other structure or obstruction designed to prevent entrance to a cave, whether or not entrance is gained.

2.__Penalty.__A person who violates subsection 1 commits a Class E crime.

SUMMARY

This bill establishes the Maine Cave Protection Act. It requires a person to receive consent prior to excavating in a cave and to undertake investigations and explorations in a manner

that will not impede the recovery of historic and scientific information. The bill also limits the liability of cave owners and classifies the defacing or damaging of a cave as a Class E crime.