23:3-56.1 Limited deer license, fees; exemption.

1. a. When the Fish and Game Council has established a season for deer of either sex and has fixed a certain number of permits to be issued for that harvest, the division is authorized to charge a fee of $26.00, or as adjusted by the Fish and Game Council pursuant to section 12 of P.L.1982, c.180 (C.23:3-1a), except that a person under 16 years of age shall be charged a fee of $10.00, for each permit so issued, which fee shall be in addition to any other fees authorized by law.

b. (1) No such fee charged pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall be required of a qualified farmer or the spouse or children of that farmer who reside in the farmer's household, provided that the person or persons are otherwise authorized to participate in the limited harvest.

The exemption provided under this subsection:

(a) shall not apply to a person residing on the farm or in a tenant house thereon who is not the spouse or a child of the qualified farmer, nor to an employee of the qualified farmer;

(b) shall be limited to one permit each for the qualified farmer who owns or leases a farm on which the farmer resides as described in subparagraph (a) of paragraph (3) of this subsection, and the spouse and children of that farmer; and

(c) shall be limited to one permit each for the qualified farmer or farmers who owns or leases a farm or farms on which that farmer or farmers does not reside as described in subparagraph (b) of paragraph (3) of this subsection, and their spouses and children, but in no case shall more than five permits in total be issued for such property pursuant to this subparagraph.

(2) An application for a permit issued to a qualified farmer or the spouse or a child of that farmer pursuant to this subsection shall be made on a form supplied by the division and shall include, in the case of leased land, a copy of all leases authorizing the agricultural and hunting uses of the land.

(3) For purposes of this subsection, "qualified farmer" means a person who:

(a) owns or leases a farm on which that person resides that is valued, assessed and taxed as land actively devoted to agricultural or horticultural use pursuant to the "Farmland Assessment Act of 1964," P.L.1964, c.48 (C.54:4-23.1 et seq.); or

(b) owns or leases a farm on which that person does not reside, provided that: (i) the person actively farms at least 30 tilled, non-woodland acres, which may be noncontiguous; and (ii) the farm, or each parcel in the case of noncontiguous parcels, is valued, assessed and taxed as land actively devoted to agricultural or horticultural use pursuant to the "Farmland Assessment Act of 1964," P.L.1964, c.48 (C.54:4-23.1 et seq.).

c. The division may adopt, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), such rules and regulations as may be necessary to implement the provisions of this section.

L.1959,c.37,s.1; amended 1971, c.180, s.1;1979, c.239, s.3;1982, c.180, s.6;1986, c.198, s.3;1991, c.286, s.9;1999, c.93;1999, c.282, s.17.