North Dakota access is in jeapardy please help

Fairly sure this is being set up to be ready for the Federal Government land sale / transfer ... if / when it occurs. This is an issue across the west.


That makes sense.

Here in Iowa, when land was going for $10,000 an acre and corn prices were going up, the legislature tried to pass a bill to sell off what little public hunting land we have so it could be farmed too.

Once it's gone we won't get it back.
 
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In my opinion, these two bills will dramatically affecting hunting in ND. That affect will impact conservation and small town economies.
 
I may be wrong here and I am sure someone will correct me if I am, but I believe that in Montana you used to be able to hunt upland birds if the land wasn't posted. Than they changed the law and the landowners got annoyed with all the people they had to deal with when they were trying to get the fall work done. I believe the end result was that the landowners went to the state and got the state to enact the block management program. The state put the signs up and gave you contact info, than you tracked the landowner down and got a permission slip. If I remember most of the time they would give me a slip good for 3 days so they didn't have to deal with hunters as much. I also was lead to believe that the landowner was reimbursed based on the number of hunters he gave permission to. Was cumbersome but actually opened up more land. The big benefit was a state sign with the where and when and how to contact the owner who ultimately had the say so as to whether to let you on their land.
 
So how many of you have sent an email to the politicians email addresses explaining how you feel

We need your help now!!
 
Joel Heitkamp is hosting three groups who are pushing to get this bill passed on his radio show at 0900 today. Call in comments will be taken. 701-237-5848. Call in about 10 to 9 to make sure your opposition gets registered. You know these groups will have their supporters lined up calling. KFGO 790 out of Fargo.
 
A group of us went duck hunting west of grand forks last fall. The vast majority of land is posted and it is going more so every year. A few spots we called landowners and got permission, others we were unable to get a hold of anyone. The last morning of the trip my buddy scouted a good field, loaded with mallards and a few geese. Called and got permission from a friendly land owner. We showed up the next morning and there was a large group of hunters already setting up there. They had talked to some guy who was out in the field in a pickup the night before and got permission. The actual owner we talked to lived in MN. We yielded the field to them as they had most of their spread out already. We left ND deflated and decided next year to just go through an outfitter in western MN, which won't be that much more since we'll save $$$ on licenses, gas, and the pain of trying to find who owns what and how the hell to get a hold of them. Oh, and the day before some old guy drove out screaming at us for driving on his unposted, picked field, that was dry as a bone, no ruts whatsoever. We weren't even sure if he owned the land, we just left.
 
A group of us went duck hunting west of grand forks last fall. The vast majority of land is posted and it is going more so every year. A few spots we called landowners and got permission, others we were unable to get a hold of anyone. The last morning of the trip my buddy scouted a good field, loaded with mallards and a few geese. Called and got permission from a friendly land owner. We showed up the next morning and there was a large group of hunters already setting up there. They had talked to some guy who was out in the field in a pickup the night before and got permission. The actual owner we talked to lived in MN. We yielded the field to them as they had most of their spread out already. We left ND deflated and decided next year to just go through an outfitter in western MN, which won't be that much more since we'll save $$$ on licenses, gas, and the pain of trying to find who owns what and how the hell to get a hold of them. Oh, and the day before some old guy drove out screaming at us for driving on his unposted, picked field, that was dry as a bone, no ruts whatsoever. We weren't even sure if he owned the land, we just left.

This is exactly what the outfitters driving this law hope you do. They want people to drive another nail in free lance huntings coffin.

They can’t wait to charge you to hunt the public’s game animal something they legally don’t own

It very discouraging to watch hunting become a sport for the elite.

And fwiw You are not supposed to drive on anyone’s fields without their permission
 
Rewritten bill is a bigger mess and pro guide /outfitter. It will essentially create more problems than ever before. Expected to go to Senate floor for a vote next week.
 
I am worried about the future if this passes. It is going to be a different world down the road. Farms are getting larger and people that live out of state are inheriting land that is being rented to these large farms. It will be very hard to get a hold of someone who is farming over 10,000 acres and working hard in Oct. to wrap up their harvest. They even farm land 20-30 miles away from where they live. People don't answer phones any more without knowing the number calling. Unlike SD ditches are not automatically open to hunting.

The people who I have permission to hunt from are not young. In fact one recently passed away. Without access to unposted land the future looks pretty murky as far as hunting opportunities go. I know my ONX
app shows landowners that have passed away years ago. That can't always be counted on.
That's a bs law. Montana passed it 20 years ago.Lost some great hunting over that bs law!!
 
here more info about this and where I cross posted from

it will help you understand what is at risk

http://uplandjournal.ipbhost.com/topic/68983-hunting-nd-maybe-not/


the commercialization of hunting is going to be the end of hunting for the common man, access Nation wide is rapidly being restricted by the commercialization of hunting

That is absolutely right! Pay hunting is going to ruin hunting itself.That is the point I have been so eloquently trying to make on this site for years, but nobody believes it
 
On Friday the House Ag committee gave a DO PASS recommendation to an AMENDED version of SB2315. The version that came out of the Senate wasn't a perfect bill, but it had the foundation for possible success. The version passed by the House Ag Committee carries a 100% posted provision whereby all private lands would be closed to entry without permission. It is a serious threat to hunting and fishing in North Dakota.

A summary from John Bradley of ND Wildlife Federation is attached, along with a copy of the amended version. It's not an easy read and portions appear redundant. One of the problematic areas is on page 7, lines 14-24. Basically it declares that permission is required to enter private land for any reason.

The second area of trouble is on the last page. It states that if the interim committee doesn't come up with a plan by 2020, everything will be posted ANYWAY. This means that if an agreement isn't reached, (meaning the sportsmen give in) the law would automatically become "Everything is posted". In essence, the members of the committee can easily steer the process the get their ultimate goal.

Please contact your House Reps and ask them to vote NO on SB2315 as amended by the House Ag Committee. The committee is to blame for undermining the efforts of many people who have worked countless hours this bill.

A total trespass law would be a devastating blow to ND's outdoor heritage and the small towns who rely on its' almost $1billion annual economic impact.

If this bill passes the House, it will go a conference committee where select members of the House and Senate will try to work out the differences. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that sportsmen will get fair representation on this committee, as we have not received it anywhere else in the process. We've been ignored since this bill was first presented in the Senate.

The movement to kill SB2315 in the House came after many conversations with legislators, sportsmen, wildlife clubs, wildlife professionals, and average sportsmen. It is the best decision for sportsmen right now, even though it likely means we will have to work on this issue again in the next legislative session.

Please, right now, contact your House reps and ask them to vote NO on SB2315 when it comes to House floor. The vote will take place early this week, so don't delay.

Remember to include your name, address, and phone# on all messages to Legislators.

As always, I take responsibility for the contents of this email.

Mark Mazaheri
2709 N. 10th St
Fargo
 
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