A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "AN ACT REVISING WILDLIFE CONSERVATION LICENSES; REQUIRING PURCHASE OF A WILDLIFE CONSERVATION LICENSE FOR CERTAIN LAND USE AND DECREASING ITS PRICE; requiring unspent search and rescue funds from wildlife conservation licenses revert to a general license account; AMENDING SECTIONs 87-2-201 and 87-2-202, MCA; and PROVIDING EFFECTIVE DATES."
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
Section 1. Section 87-2-201, MCA, is amended to read:
"87-2-201. Wildlife conservation license prerequisite for other licenses and certain land use -- penalty. Except (1) A person shall first obtain a wildlife conservation license pursuant to 87-2-202 in order to:
(a) except as provided in 87-2-803(6) and 87-2-815, it is unlawful for any person to purchase or apply for a hunting, fishing, or trapping license; or without first having obtained a wildlife conservation license as provided in this part
(b) except for state parks, use lands owned or controlled by the department.
(2) Subsection (1)(b) applies only to a person 17 years of age or older.
(3) A fine of $25 may be charged to a violator of subsection (1)(b)."
Section 2. Section 87-2-202, MCA, is amended to read:
"87-2-202. Application -- fee. (1) Except as provided in 87-2-817(2), a wildlife conservation license must be sold upon written application. The application must contain the applicant's name, age, [last four digits of the applicant's social security number,] occupation, street address of permanent residence, mailing address, qualifying length of time as a resident in the state of Montana, and status as a citizen of the United States or as an alien and must be signed by the applicant. The applicant shall present a valid Montana driver's license, a Montana driver's examiner's identification card, a tribal identification card, or other identification specified by the department to substantiate the required information when applying for a wildlife conservation license. It is the applicant's burden to provide documentation establishing the applicant's identity and qualifications to purchase a wildlife conservation license or to receive a free wildlife conservation license pursuant to 87-2-817(2).
(2) Hunting, fishing, or trapping licenses issued in a form determined by the department must be recorded according to rules that the department may prescribe.
(3) (a) Resident wildlife conservation licenses may be purchased for a fee of $8 $6, of which 25 cents is a search and rescue surcharge.
(b) Nonresident wildlife conservation licenses may be purchased for a fee of $10, of which 25 cents is a search and rescue surcharge.
(c) At the end of each fiscal year, any unspent search and rescue funds collected under this section and deposited in the account created pursuant to 10-3-801 must be transferred to the general license account established in 87-1-601(1).
[(4) The department shall keep the applicant's social security number confidential, except that the number may be provided to the department of public health and human services for use in administering Title IV-D of the Social Security Act.]
(5) The department shall delete the applicant's social security number in any electronic database [5 years after the date that application is made for the most recent license]. (Bracketed language terminates or is amended on occurrence of contingency--sec. 3, Ch. 321, L. 2001. The $2 wildlife conservation license fee increases in subsections (3)(a) and (3)(b) enacted by Ch. 596, L. 2003, are void on occurrence of contingency--sec. 8, Ch. 596, L. 2003.)"
NEW SECTION. Section 3. Effective dates. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), [this act] is effective July 1, 2021.
(2) [Section 1(3)] is effective March 1, 2022.