Addressing foreign ownership of agricultural lands.

2023-2024 Regular Session Introduced by Debra Lekanoff and 1 co-sponsor

Unsuccessful ND deer lottery applicants may donate their license refund to the PLOTS program; funds go to the Game and Fish Private Land Habitat and Access Improvement Fund.

By resolution, reintroduced and retained in present status.

Summary — HB 1412 (North Dakota, 69th Legislative Assembly, 2025)

Title: An Act to amend and reenact section 20.1‑03‑11.4 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to donations to the private land open to sportsmen program

Status / Timeline
- Introduced: November 19, 2024 (Representative Porter).
- Passed both chambers (House vote: Yeas 91, Nays 0; Senate vote: Yeas 47, Nays 0).
- Enrolled and transmitted to the Governor; signed and recorded as Public Law 168 (May 1, 2025). (Legislative action dates in bill record show readings and passage in early 2025.)

Purpose and intent
- To allow unsuccessful deer lottery applicants the option to donate the refund (the license refund fee they would otherwise receive) to the state’s Private Land Open to Sportsmen (PLOTS) program, thereby channeling unclaimed refund fees into private‑land habitat and access improvements.

Key provisions / statutory change
- Amends NDCC § 20.1‑03‑11.4 to require the Director (of the Fish and Game Department) to include on every deer lottery license application an option for an unsuccessful applicant to donate the refund (license fee refund) they would be entitled to.
- All moneys collected under this provision are required to be deposited in the Game and Fish Private Land Habitat and Access Improvement Fund and allocated to the Private Land Open to Sportsmen program.

Who is affected
- Unsuccessful applicants in the state deer lottery: they will be offered a voluntary choice to forgo a refund and donate that amount.
- North Dakota Game and Fish Department (administration of the lottery and collection of donated refunds).
- Private Land Open to Sportsmen (PLOTS) program and recipients of the fund: will receive additional revenue dedicated to private‑land habitat and access improvements.
- No changes to eligibility for the refund itself — only adds donation option.

Fiscal and operational impact
- The bill directs that donated refund fees be dedicated to the Game and Fish Private Land Habitat and Access Improvement Fund. The amount generated depends on the number of unsuccessful applicants who choose to donate their refunds; no appropriation or spending change beyond directing those moneys to the designated fund is specified.
- Administrative impact is minimal: the Department must add the donation option to the deer lottery application and remit any collected donations to the specified fund.

Other notes
- The statutory text as enrolled places collected donations explicitly into the named fund and earmarks them for allocation to the PLOTS program.
- Implementation will be carried out through the department’s application materials and fund accounting processes.