Whereas, the 90-day period may not terminate until after the beginning of the wild turkey hunting season; and

Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, therefore,

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §7468, sub-§13 is enacted to read:

13.__Landowner; wild turkey permit.__A wild turkey permit system adopted by the commissioner pursuant to this section may include a provision giving special consideration to landowners who keep their lands open to hunting by the public.__Any 2 or more areas of land owned by the same person that are open for hunting and that would be contiguous except for being divided by one or more roads are considered contiguous for the purposes of determining landowner eligibility for special consideration under this subsection.

Emergency clause. In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this Act takes effect when approved.

SUMMARY

This bill allows the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to issue turkey hunting permits to landowners who keep their land open to the public for hunting.