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House committee hears competing views on easing landowner permit verification and potential conservation and fiscal impacts
Summary
House Bill 2,549 would reduce the acreage threshold for no‑cost landowner hunting permits from 20 to 5 acres and allow a one‑time, property‑specific two‑day guest permit; supporters said the change restores privileges to small landowners, while opponents and Missouri Department of Conservation staff warned of past fraud and potential fiscal and conservation tracking consequences.
House Bill 2,549, sponsored by Representative Mitch Boggs, was presented to the committee by a speaker representing the sponsor (speaker did not state a name on the record). The presenter said the bill would return the landowner no‑cost permit eligibility to 5 acres (from 20) and allow qualifying landowners to request one two‑day hunting permit for a visitor once per year. The presenter said the change would help small landowners and those near state borders who want to host friends or family.
Committee members questioned how verification and enforcement operate. Multiple members asked why land must be separately verified when county records already show ownership; the presenter said the department verification system is used by game wardens to confirm permits in the field. Representative Tim Taylor and others pressed on the fiscal implications: free permits reduce the number of paid tags and may reduce federal Pittman‑Robertson reimbursements, which are tied to tag sales.
Tyler Schwartz of the Conservation Federation of Missouri testified in opposition, citing the bill's potential to create opportunities for non‑landowners to falsely claim permits and pointing to the fiscal note that shows lost revenue to the conservation sales tax. "By eliminating that requirement for the land owners to verify their property before receiving those permits, this bill creates those opportunities for individuals ... that falsely claim ownership," Schwartz said.
Aaron Jeffries, deputy director of the Missouri Department of Conservation, provided informational testimony and offered data: the department issues about 2.7 million permits annually, roughly 500,000 are free landowner permits, an agency audit in 2018 found about 34% fraud and misuse prior to verification, and the verification system has reduced fraud to under 5%. Jeffries said the department's landowner verification system is online, quick to use and currently has more than 107,000 registered landowners who renew periodically. He also said survey data (14,000 responses) showed an average of about 21 acres among respondents, supporting the 20‑acre threshold the commission had set.
Supporters argued the bill restores an historical privilege to small landowners and helps constituents who cannot or will not purchase tags to hunt on their own land; opponents and informational witnesses warned the change could increase fraud, reduce federal reimbursements, and complicate wildlife tracking. The committee closed the hearing without a vote.
