113-270.1B. License required to hunt, fish, or trap; fees set by Commission.
(a) Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, no person may hunt, fish, trap, or participate in any other activity regulated by the Wildlife Resources Commission for which a license is provided by law without having first procured a current and valid license authorizing the activity.
(b) Except as indicated otherwise, all licenses, permits, stamps, and certifications are valid from the date of issue for a period of 12 months.
(c) As used in this section, the term "effective date" means the later of:
(1) The date of purchase of a new license.
(2) The first day after the expiration of a currently valid license of the same type held by the licensee.
(d) For those licenses sold directly through the Commission by telephone, mail, online, or at a service counter, the Commission may charge a fee of two dollars ($2.00) per transaction. A fee may not be charged by the Commission for federal Harvest Information Program (HIP) certification, big game harvest report cards for lifetime license holders, exempt landowners, persons of less than 16 years of age, or for any other license or vessel transactions for which there is no charge.
(e) The Wildlife Resources Commission shall adopt rules to establish fees for all licenses, permits, stamps, and certifications issued and administered by the Wildlife Resources Commission, except those specified in G.S. 113-173. No rule may increase a fee in excess of the total increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, rounded up to the next whole dollar, over the period of time since the last fee change.
The statutory fees for the hunting, fishing, trapping, and activity licenses issued and administered by the Wildlife Resources Commission shall expire when the rules adopted pursuant to this subsection become effective.