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Lifetime fishing license nixed

Other outdoor bills considered

It failed before and it failed again.

The North Dakota House of Representatives followed the “do no pass” recommendation of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee in voting 16-73 against passage of House Bill 1331, a bill that sought to have Game and Fish issue lifetime fishing licenses. A similar bill was voted down 22-67 in the previous legislative session held two years ago.

A bill that would have provided for the “acquisition and management of the shoreline of the Missouri River” failed on the House floor this week. House members voted 38-54 against passage of HB 1428.

Two proposed bills that deal with prohibiting entry onto private land without permission were reviewed in the House Judiciary Committee this week but the committee took no action on either bill.

HB 1290 seeks to prevent a law enforcement officer from entering private land without permission unless there is probable cause that a “violation of law has occurred, is occurring, or is about to occur”, or with a search warrant or responding to an emergency.”

HB 1503 would result in a Class B misdemeanor if an “individual enters upon another’s property and, without written permission from the owner or occupant, installs or uses any device for observing, recording or photographing wildlife.”

Lawmakers have amended SB 2342. That bill seeks to restrict noise from a boat or watercraft that results in “a loud, unnecessary, or unusual noise; or a noise that annoys, disturbs, injures, or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace, or safety of a reasonable person hearing the noise.”

The amended version of the bill specifically regulates excessive noise of airboats. It received a 4-2 “do pass” recommendation in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and will be placed on the Senate calendar for a full vote on the floor.

A trio of bills submitted for House consideration center around moose hunting. A sub-committee of the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee is tasked with scrutinizing the bills for similarities and differences before reporting to the full committee.

HB 1357 concerns who is eligible for a moose hunting gratis license. A key line in the bill reads, “an individual, corporation, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, limited partnership, partnership, trust, or life estate” that holds title to at least 150 acres of land is eligible to apply. The bill also seeks to strike the provision that a recipient of a gratis moose license “is not eligible to apply for a license to hunt moose in future year.”

The second moose hunting-related bill, HB 1423, seeks a study to determine who should be eligible for gratis licenses to hunt moose or elk and how often.

HB 1246 relates to gratis tags for hunting moose and antelope. Like HB 1357, it seeks to expand the definition of eligibility and would permit the director of Game and Fish to issue “special moose depredation management licenses” and that those receiving such a license would be “eligible to apply for a license to hunt moose in future years.”

The sub-committee agenda for Friday included work on all three bills.

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