House Study Bill 628
HOUSE FILE
BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON
NATURAL RESOURCES BILL
BY CHAIRPERSON FREEMAN)
Passed House, Date Passed Senate, Date
Vote: Ayes Nays Vote: Ayes Nays
Approved
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to the issuance of free deer and wild turkey
2 hunting licenses to certain landowners and other persons.
3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
4 TLSB 6265HC 80
5 av/sh/8
PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. Section 483A.24, subsection 2, Code 2003, is
1 2 amended to read as follows:
1 3 2. a. As used in this subsection:
1 4 (1) "Agricultural land" means land in tracts of ten acres
1 5 or more, excluding any buildings or structures, that has in
1 6 the aggregate more than one=half of the acres devoted to the
1 7 production of crops or livestock or that is enrolled in a
1 8 long=term agricultural land retirement program of the federal
1 9 government.
1 10 (1) (2) "Family member" means a resident of Iowa who is
1 11 the spouse or child of the owner or tenant and who resides
1 12 with the owner or tenant.
1 13 (2) "Farm unit" means all parcels of land, not necessarily
1 14 contiguous, which are operated as a unit for agricultural
1 15 purposes and which are under the lawful control of the owner
1 16 or tenant.
1 17 (3) "Owner" means an owner of a farm unit a person who is
1 18 a resident of Iowa and who is one of the following:
1 19 (a) Is the sole operator of the farm unit A person who
1 20 holds fee simple title to agricultural land.
1 21 (b) Makes all of the farm operation decisions but
1 22 contracts for custom farming or hires labor for all or part of
1 23 the work on the farm unit. A person who owns agricultural
1 24 land under a contract of purchase that has been recorded in
1 25 the office of the county recorder of the county in which the
1 26 agricultural land is located.
1 27 (c) Participates annually in farm operation decisions or
1 28 cropping practices on specific fields of the farm unit that
1 29 are rented to a tenant. A person who is a shareholder,
1 30 partner, member, or beneficiary of a person who holds fee
1 31 simple title to agricultural land or owns agricultural land
1 32 under a contract of purchase that has been recorded in the
1 33 office of the county recorder of the county in which the
1 34 agricultural land is located.
1 35 (d) Raises specialty crops on the farm unit including, but
2 1 not limited to, orchards, nurseries, or tree farms that do not
2 2 always produce annual income but require annual operating
2 3 decisions about maintenance or improvement.
2 4 (e) Has all or part of the farm unit enrolled in a long=
2 5 term agricultural land retirement program of the federal
2 6 government.
2 7 An "owner" does not mean a person who owns a farm unit and
2 8 who employs a farm manager or third party to operate the farm
2 9 unit, or a person who owns a farm unit and who rents the
2 10 entire farm unit to a tenant who is responsible for all farm
2 11 operations. However, this paragraph does not apply to an
2 12 owner who is a parent of the tenant and who resides in this
2 13 state.
2 14 (4) "Tenant" means a person who is a resident of Iowa and
2 15 who rents and actively farms a farm unit agricultural land
2 16 owned by another person. A member of the owner's family may
2 17 be a tenant. A person who works on the farm agricultural land
2 18 for a wage and is not a family member does not qualify as a
2 19 tenant.
2 20 b. Upon written application on forms furnished by the
2 21 department, the department shall issue annually without fee
2 22 one up to two deer or licenses and one wild turkey license, or
2 23 both, to the an owner of a farm unit or to a member of the
2 24 owner's family, but not to both, and to the tenant or to a
2 25 member of the tenant's family, but not to both. The deer
2 26 hunting license licenses or wild turkey hunting license issued
2 27 shall be valid only on the farm unit agricultural land for
2 28 which an applicant qualifies pursuant to this subsection and
2 29 shall be equivalent to the least restrictive license issued
2 30 under section 481A.38. The owner or the tenant need not
2 31 reside on the farm unit agricultural land to qualify for a
2 32 free license to hunt on that farm unit agricultural land. A
2 33 free deer hunting license issued pursuant to this subsection
2 34 shall be valid during all shotgun deer seasons.
2 35 c. In addition to the free deer hunting license licenses
3 1 received, an owner of a farm unit or a member of the owner's
3 2 family and the tenant or a member of the tenant's family may
3 3 purchase a deer hunting license for any option offered to
3 4 paying deer hunting licensees. An owner of a farm unit or a
3 5 member of the owner's family and the tenant or a member of the
3 6 tenant's family may also purchase two additional antlerless
3 7 deer hunting licenses which are valid only on the farm unit
3 8 agricultural land for which the applicant qualifies pursuant
3 9 to this subsection, for a fee of ten dollars each.
3 10 d. If the commission establishes a deer hunting season to
3 11 occur in the first quarter of a calendar year that is separate
3 12 from a deer hunting season that continues from the last
3 13 quarter of the preceding calendar year, each owner and each
3 14 tenant of a farm unit agricultural land located within a zone
3 15 where a deer hunting season is established, upon application,
3 16 shall be issued a free deer hunting license for each of the
3 17 two calendar quarters. Each license is valid only for hunting
3 18 on the farm unit of the owner and tenant agricultural land for
3 19 which the applicant qualifies pursuant to this subsection.
3 20 EXPLANATION
3 21 This bill relates to the issuance of special free deer and
3 22 wild turkey hunting licenses to certain landowners and tenants
3 23 and their families, by redefining who is an owner and what
3 24 type of land qualifies owners, tenants, and their families for
3 25 the special free licenses.
3 26 The bill provides that "owner" means a person who is a
3 27 resident of Iowa and who holds fee simple title to
3 28 agricultural land, owns agricultural land under a contract of
3 29 purchase that has been recorded in the office of the county
3 30 recorder of the county in which the agricultural land is
3 31 located, or is a shareholder, partner, member, or beneficiary
3 32 of a person who holds fee simple title to agricultural land or
3 33 owns agricultural land under a contract of purchase that has
3 34 been recorded in the office of the county recorder of the
3 35 county in which the agricultural land is located. The bill
4 1 provides that a "tenant" is a person who rents and actively
4 2 farms agricultural land owned by another person.
4 3 The bill provides that "agricultural land" means land in
4 4 tracts of 10 acres or more, excluding any buildings or
4 5 structures, that has in the aggregate more than one=half of
4 6 the acres devoted to the production of crops or livestock, or
4 7 that is enrolled in a long=term agricultural land retirement
4 8 program of the federal government.
4 9 The bill provides that an owner or a member of the owner's
4 10 family and a tenant or a member of the tenant's family may
4 11 upon application receive two free deer licenses and one free
4 12 wild turkey license that are valid only on the agricultural
4 13 land for which the applicant qualifies under the bill.
4 14 Currently, an owner or a member of the owner's family and a
4 15 tenant or a member of the tenant's family may each receive one
4 16 free deer license and one free wild turkey license.
4 17 LSB 6265HC 80
4 18 av/sh/8