Bill would let landowners transfer surplus preference tags to people with disabilities

Senator Logie introduced Senate Bill 148 to allow landowners who receive a landowner preference tag or a free tag under block-management or other programs to transfer that tag to a person with a developmental or physical disability.

Logie told the House Fish, Wildlife and Parks Committee the bill “opens up the option” for a landowner to give an already-allocated tag to a disabled person instead of a family member or employee. He said the proposal does not create an additional tag or change the overall licensing pool — it simply authorizes a different eligible recipient for a tag the landowner already holds.

There were no proponents or opponents who signed up to testify in the hearing transcript; Ron Howell, FWP Chief of Law Enforcement, appeared as an informational witness and answered procedural questions about how landowner-preference tags are allocated and used. Howell explained that acreage thresholds and existing residency/ownership rules for landowner tags would still apply and that some ranches can receive multiple tags depending on how land and ownership entities are arranged.

Committee members asked whether the bill required purchase of a license (it does not) and how many tags a landowner might be eligible to receive; FWP said eligibility rules remain unchanged and that some ranches divide ownership to obtain multiple entitlements under current statute. Sponsor Logie pointed the committee to the bill’s definitions (noted in transcript as being on page 7) that clarify who is eligible for those tags.

Ending: The hearing closed with no recorded opposition and questions focused on how existing landowner-preference rules would apply to transfers to persons with disabilities.