HB1285: restricting owners of land in current use and land acquired with public funds from posting for no hunting.

HB 1285 - AS INTRODUCED

2003 SESSION

03-2218

10/01

HOUSE BILL 1285

AN ACT restricting owners of land in current use and land acquired with public funds from posting for no hunting.

SPONSORS: Rep. L. Christiansen, Hills 66

COMMITTEE: Environment and Agriculture

ANALYSIS

This bill prohibits owners of land assessed on the basis of current use, and land or an interest in land acquired using any public funds, from posting their land as "no hunting allowed" except for certain instances.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

03-2218

10/01

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Three

AN ACT restricting owners of land in current use and land acquired with public funds from posting for no hunting.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Current Use Taxation; Posting Restricted. Amend RSA 79-A:4, II to read as follows:

II. No owner of land who posts any part of his or her land pursuant to RSA 635:4 to limit access for hunting shall qualify for current use assessment as provided in this chapter, except for that portion of the owner's land that is primarily used as a domestic animal pasture including a farm house, barns, or outbuildings. In addition, the board shall reduce by 20 percent the current use value of land which is open 12 months a year to all reasonable public recreational use, without entrance fee, and which also qualifies for current use assessment under an open space category. There shall be no prohibition of skiing, snowshoeing, fishing, hunting, hiking or nature observation on such open space land, unless these activities would be detrimental to a specific agricultural or forest crop or activity. The owner of land who opens his or her land to public recreational use as provided in this paragraph shall not be liable for personal injury or property damage to any person, and shall be subject to the same duty of care as provided in RSA 212:34.

2 New Section; Unauthorized Entries; Posting for No Hunting. Amend RSA 635 by inserting after section 4 the following new section:

635:4-a Posting for No Hunting; Limitation. No owner of land or of any interest in land which was acquired in any part using public funds may post the land for "no hunting allowed" under RSA 635:4.

3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.