Further regulating the enforcement of illegal hunting practices

What it means

Rewrites the penalties for breaking state hunting, fishing and wildlife laws. It sets new fine and jail ranges by offense, including per-animal fines for illegally killing deer, bear or turkey (for example, $1,000 to $10,000 per bear for some violations), raises one penalty from $300-$1,000 to $1,000-$5,000, and sets how long a person who loses a hunting, fishing or trapping license must wait to get it back (1 year up to 10 or more years for repeat violations). It updates the set fines payable to a court clerk for minor violations, requires wildlife sanctuary borders to be posted at least every 300 feet (with a defense if they are not), and has Massachusetts join the Wildlife Violator Compact with other states, under which violations in other member states can count here; the state wildlife division must write rules for the compact within 1 year.

Source: official text and history of S.2248 on malegislature.gov. This describes the bill text posted there; amendments may have changed the version that was voted on.