946                                   LAWS OF MARYLAND                               Ch. 172

passed by a yea and nay vote supported by three-fifths of
all the members elected to each of the two Houses of the
General Assembly, the same shall take effect from the date
of passage.

Approved April 22, 1980.

CHAPTER 173

(House Bill 663)

AN ACT concerning

Tree Cutting - Private Property

FOR the purpose of requiring persons to obtain the written
permission of an owner before cutting or damaging
certain trees; providing certain exceptions from
certain requirements of this Act; increasing the amount
of certain damages recoverable; and requiring that the
written permission be displayed at the request of law
enforcement officers.

BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments,

Article - Natural Resources

Section 5-409

Annotated Code of Maryland

(1974 Volume and 1979 Supplement)

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
MARYLAND, That section(s) of the Annotated Code of Maryland
be repealed, amended, or enacted to read as follows:

Article - Natural Resources

5-409.

(A)  Any person, his aiders, abettors, and counsellors,
who willfully, negligently, recklessly, wrongfully, or
maliciously enters upon lands or premises of another without
WRITTEN permission of the owner of the lands or premises, in
order to cut, burn, or otherwise injure or destroy, or cause
to be cut, burned, or otherwise injured, or destroyed, any
merchantable trees or timber on the land is liable to the
party injured or aggrieved in an amount double TRIPLE the
value of the trees or timber cut, burned, or otherwise
injured or destroyed. The damages are recoverable in a civil
action, as in any other case.

(B)  AT THE REQUEST OF A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER, A
PERSON ON THE LANDS AND PREMISES OF ANOTHER ENGAGED IN ANY
ACT SPECIFIED IN SUBSECTION (A) OF THIS SECTION SHALL
DISPLAY THE WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE OWNER.