Whereas, in order for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to manage the State's moose resource this legislation must take effect sooner than 90 days after adjournment of this legislative session; 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 §11154, sub-§9, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 414, Pt. A, §2 and affected by c. 614, §9, is amended to read:

9. Selection procedure. Permittees are selected by a public chance drawing. The commissioner shall draw the first 1,000 permits exclusively from a pool of applicants who have 7 or more points issued under subsection 8.__After the first 1,000 permits have been drawn, applications with 7 or more points that have not been selected for a permit must be returned to the pool of all applicants for the remainder of the selection process.

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

SUMMARY

This bill is an emergency measure and requires that during the selection process for moose permits the Commissioner of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife draw the first 1,000 permits exclusively from applicants who have 7 or more points. A person can accumulate one point for each consecutive year that person applies for a moose permit but is not selected. The bill takes effect upon approval.