Sec. 1. 12 MRSA §7076, sub-§1, as repealed and replaced by PL 1999, c. 790, Pt. A, §14, is amended to read:

1. Residents over 70 years of age. A complimentary license to hunt, trap or fish, including an archery license under section 7102-A or 7102-B, a pheasant hunting permit under section 7106-B, a muzzle-loading hunting license under section 7107-A, a migratory waterfowl permit under section 7109 and a bear hunting permit under section 7110 must be issued to any resident of Maine who is 70 years of age or older upon application to the commissioner. These complimentary licenses, upon issuance, remain valid for the remainder of the life of the license holder, provided the license holder continues to satisfy the residency requirements set out in section 7001, subsection 32 and provided the license is not revoked or suspended. Residents who apply for these complimentary licenses at any time during the calendar year of their 70th birthday must be issued a license upon application, regardless of the actual date during that calendar year in which they attain age 70. A guide license may be renewed without charge for any resident of Maine who is 70 years of age or older upon application to the commissioner. The application must be accompanied by a birth certificate or other certified evidence of the applicant's date of birth and residency. When the holder of a license issued under this subsection no longer satisfies the residency requirements set out in section 7001, subsection 32, the license is no longer valid and further use of the license for purposes of hunting, fishing or trapping constitutes a license violation under section 7371, subsection 3.

Beginning January 1, 2006, the department may not issue a complimentary license to a resident over 70 years of age.__A complimentary license issued to a resident over 70 years of age prior to January 1, 2006 is valid as long as the holder of the license satisfies the residency requirements set out in section 7001, subsection 32.

SUMMARY

This bill requires the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to discontinue issuing a complimentary license to hunt, trap or fish to a resident over 70 years of age.