Hunting in Maryland is “Saved” and an Historic “First” is Achieved
Why was hunting in Maryland “saved” by the 2022 General Assembly?
Because landowners who allow hunting on their lands, among other recreational uses, were stripped of their statutory liability protection, courtesy of a decision by the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, aka Martinez vs Ross. What right minded landowner would allow hunting on his/her property if not for such liability protection guaranteed under State law?
Below is the link to the actual court decision which invalidated what was thought to be perpetual protection from injurious litigation for those landowners affording individuals to hunt on their lands.
https://law.justia.com/cases/maryland/court-of-special-appeals/2020/2374-18.html
The HUNTERS OF MARYLAND approached the bi-partisan Maryland Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus in January 2022 with a legislative proposal to remedy the dilemma. It took until the last day of the 2022 Session for the Senate and the House to agree on the language. Talk about a nail biter! The “Enrolled Bill” – a bill that means both the Senate and the House took different actions initially, but ultimately ended up agreeing on the final language – now awaits the Governor’s signature into law, aka “Enacted Bill.”
Below is the link to Senate Bill 582 (Natural Resources – Recreation on Private Land – Hunting) which reinstates such liability protection to landowners.
https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2022RS/bills/sb/sb0582E.pdf
“Historic First” via Approval of a $250,000 General Fund Appropriation to DNR’s Wildlife & Heritage Service (WHS): This is an historic first b/c Maryland hunters – not taxpayers – have always paid 100% of the costs attendant to wildlife research/management, aka the AMERICAN SYSTEM OF CONSERVATION FUNDING. The HUNTERS OF MARYLAND worked tirelessly all Session to secure Gubernatorial inclusion of this $250,000 in the State’s fiscal year 2023 Budget Bill. The proposed funding amount finally was included in a Supplemental Budget request – an amendment to the Budget Bill as submitted by the Governor – courtesy of supportive lawmakers who convinced the Governor to do so. The funds have been approved for WHS effective July 1, 2022, aka the beginning of Maryland’s fiscal year (July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023).
How will these tax dollars be spent? §10–209 of the Natural Resources Article (Maryland Annotated Code) establishes the STATE WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION FUND whose singular purpose is the “scientific investigation, protection, propagation, and management of wildlife”.
Important to keep in mind: there has not been an increase in the regular Maryland hunting license fee since 1989 despite the escalating costs attendant to wildlife management/research/habitat improvement. Imagine the loss of federal $2 to $1 matching dollars (Pittman/Robertson) had there been some level of increase during this previous 33 year period?
Sparing from the Budget Knife Funding for NRP’s Helicopter: Maryland’s Natural Resources Police (NRP) finally received funding in the fiscal year 2023 budget to purchase its own helicopter for conservation law enforcement purposes. Previously, the NRP were at the mercy of the Maryland State Police for access to helicopter use; but, timely access was always problematic.
With $6.2 million included in the fiscal year 2023 Budget Bill for an NRP helicopter, the General Assembly’s staff agency (Department of Legislative Services, aka DLS) recommended the funding be deleted as explained below.
Funding for The fiscal 2023 allowance includes $6,229,000 in general funds to replace the NRP’s 50-year-old Bell OH-58 helicopter with an Airbus H125M helicopter. DNR notes that it uses the helicopter as a force multiplier for maritime homeland security, conservation enforcement, and search and rescue operations. In addition, DNR notes that there are substantial cost savings between the $6,000 per hour it takes to operate the Maryland State Police’s aviation unit and the $510 per hour to operate the NRP’s aviation unit. However, the NRP aviation unit was effectively abolished by BPW cost containment actions in July 2020. In addition, DNR notes that the Bell OH-58 helicopter was down for six months and no adverse impacts appear to have occurred. The Department of Legislative Services (DLS) recommends that the Bell OH-58 helicopter be decommissioned and the funding for the NRP replacement helicopter be deleted.
The HUNTERS OF MARYLAND – we serve as the eyes and ears of the bi-partisan Maryland Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus – worked with the Caucus in opposing the DLS recommendation. The first link below is the signed statement to the Senate/House Chairs of the Capital Budget Subcommittees, respectively, requesting they reject the DLS recommendation. The second link is the capital budget analysis prepared by DLS for DNR which, among other things, speaks to the proposed deletion of funding for the NRP helicopter.
Local Sunday Hunting Bills: No local Sunday hunting bills passed the 2021 Maryland General Assembly b/c the Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee “kept in the drawer” – Annapolis vernacular for not even bringing a bill up for a committee vote -- all the local Sunday hunting bills having passed the House of Delegates. The same scenario almost played out again in 2022; but, advocates prevailed, albeit in the final hours of the 2022 Session and with a restrictive caveat: expanded Sunday hunting, via regulations promulgated by DNR, is limited to 30 minutes before sunrise to 10:30 a.m. Notably, however, existing Sunday hunting hours by county – meaning 30 minutes before sunrise to sunset -- was not subjected to this time restriction.
Below are links to all the local Sunday hunting bills that did pass the 2022 General Assembly and now await the Governor’s signature into law.
https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2022RS/bills/hb/hb0051E.pdf
https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2022RS/bills/hb/hb0143E.pdf
https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2022RS/bills/hb/hb0170E.pdf
https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2022RS/bills/hb/hb0485T.pdf
https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2022RS/bills/hb/hb0514E.pdf
https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2022RS/bills/hb/hb0556T.pdf
Nighttime Deer Killing Bill: This bill would have ended DNR’s broad regulatory authority to allow certain permitted individuals – aka, Deer Cooperators and Agricultural Deer Cooperators – to kill deer at night for purported management purposes. A careful reading of this bill – see link below – makes clear the proposal was not taking away anything from the farming community but capping their ability to kill deer all night long 365 days per year. Truly outrageous. Well, this one did not make it. The farming community prevailed.
https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2022RS/bills/hb/hb1067F.pdf
For those who believe that nighttime killing of deer – for purposes other than public safety – is wrong, take heart in the fact the HUNTERS OF MARYLAND will not abandon this righteous cause.
Right to Ride: Envious of the enactment of the Right to Fish and Hunt (first link below) in 2021, the equine community sought comparable recognition by the 2022 General Assembly via Senate Bill 345 (second link below). The bill did not pass, meaning only those who fish and hunt have a statutory declared right to do so.
https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2021RS/chapters_noln/Ch_296_sb0318T.pdf
https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2022RS/bills/sb/sb0345F.pdf
Issues Failed to Re-Appear in 2022: Sometimes the best legislative achievements are those in which an issue is not even presented b/c of fear of losing again. This is the case with (1) the venison commercialization bill – advanced for 3 consecutive years by the farming community (2019, 2020 and 2021); and (2) the deer killing bounty bill approved by the Anne Arundel County Executive in 2021, despite having been advised his actions were illegal by the Attorney General.
Thankfully, these two issues -- having been previously defeated with the help of the HUNTERS OF MARYLAND – did not appear on the 2022 legislative agenda.
IN THE FINAL ANALYSIS, any first-time observer to the legislative process comes away with a less than clear understanding of the personnel and process. In short, its awe inspiring on one hand and yet most distressful on the other. Annapolis is the General Assembly’s playground, meaning their marbles and their rules. Any individual, group or organization seeking to influence policy must have knowledge of these rules and a means of working with both sides of the political aisle. The HUNTERS OF MARYLAND has established itself as the voice of Maryland’s hunting community and our impressive legislative/budgetary successes will only continue to grow.
