ANNAPOLIS — The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has announced that waterfront, or riparian, property owners can now apply for offshore blind and shoreline licenses to establish sites for hunting waterfowl or prevent others from licensing their property.

After a stretch of shoreline is licensed, no other person may receive a license for the same shoreline, whether or not the original licensee establishes a blind at that location.

Riparian property owners, or anyone who has been granted written permission from the owner, may license their shoreline for one year for $20 or three years for $60. 

Applicants must submit paperwork and fees by mail, postmarked no later than May 31, 2023. The annual lottery for licensing Offshore Blind Sites will occur virtually​.​​

Riparian landowners who miss the May 31 deadline may participate in the “open” offshore blind site licensing process that begins Aug. 1, 2023.

If landowners do not choose to license their shoreline, any Maryland resident may potentially establish a blind site if certain distance requirements are met. In all cases, hunting may not take place within 150 yards of an occupied dwelling without the permission of the dwelling’s occupants.

Applications and information on laws related to shoreline licensing for riparian property owners are available at the Department of Natural Resources website or by calling the Wildlife and Heritage Service at 410-260-8538, toll free at 1-877-620-8367.