Hunter access dispute raised
By Jeff Zent
[email protected]
The Forum - 05/28/2003
The North Dakota Farm Bureau is challenging a state law that gives hunters access to private property without permission.
State law holds that if private landowners don't post signs prohibiting access, hunters can legally assume they have permission to enter, North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said.
The Farm Bureau hopes to change that by financing a civil lawsuit filed Tuesday in state district court in Fort Yates, N.D.
"The Game and Fish Department has said publicly that all land is open to trespass unless posted. We believe the constitution of North Dakota would say otherwise," said Herb Manig, executive vice president of the state Farm Bureau.
The suit names Gov. John Hoeven and Game and Fish Director Dean Hildebrand as defendants.
The debate could rest with the North Dakota Supreme Court, Hoeven said.
"Really it's an issue for the attorney general to defend the existing state law," he said.
Hildebrand referred questions about the lawsuit to Stenehjem.
State Rep. Rodney Froelich, R-Selfridge, N.D., and his wife, Kathryn, filed the suit. The Froelichs own about 7,500 acres in Sioux County, the lawsuit says.
The Froelichs could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
The Farm Bureau is paying the costs of the lawsuit through its newly formed Northern Plains Public Interest Firm.
The Farm Bureau created the legal defense foundation to help protect landowners' rights, Manig said.
State officials have erroneously interpreted the law and the Game and Fish Department wrongfully advises hunters, the suit says.
"A failure to post a notice warning the public against trespass is not an expression of consent to the intrusion …," the suit says.
The state's interpretation creates an "unconstitutional taking" of landowners' property, said Doug Goulding, a Devils Lake attorney hired by the legal defense foundation to represent the Froelichs.
Land access laws in South Dakota and Minnesota are much different.
In both of the neighboring states, hunters must get landowners' permission regardless if the property is posted, officials in both states said.
The Farm Bureau is taking the property rights debate to court because the Legislature failed to address the issue, said John Mittleider, the Farm Bureau's vice president of public policy.
"People have been urging us to do something," Manig said. "There's pressure to resolve this thing so we're taking steps to do it."
The debate is not just about hunters' access to private lands. Uncontrolled access could also undermine efforts to safeguard against bioterrorism, Manig said.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is urging farmers to secure their property, but the state is making it difficult, he said.
Jim Weight of Jamestown has hunted in North Dakota for 48 years. And as long as he can remember, private land that isn't posted has been fair game for hunters.
The law shouldn't be changed now, said Weight, chairman of the United Sportsmen of North Dakota.
"Maybe all of us have just taken it for granted over the years that you're hunting on private land that just isn't posted," he said. "But I also believe that if the landowners don't want you on there, they'll tell you in one fashion or another."
Readers can reach Forum reporter Jeff Zent at (701) 241-5526
By Jeff Zent
[email protected]
The Forum - 05/28/2003
The North Dakota Farm Bureau is challenging a state law that gives hunters access to private property without permission.
State law holds that if private landowners don't post signs prohibiting access, hunters can legally assume they have permission to enter, North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said.
The Farm Bureau hopes to change that by financing a civil lawsuit filed Tuesday in state district court in Fort Yates, N.D.
"The Game and Fish Department has said publicly that all land is open to trespass unless posted. We believe the constitution of North Dakota would say otherwise," said Herb Manig, executive vice president of the state Farm Bureau.
The suit names Gov. John Hoeven and Game and Fish Director Dean Hildebrand as defendants.
The debate could rest with the North Dakota Supreme Court, Hoeven said.
"Really it's an issue for the attorney general to defend the existing state law," he said.
Hildebrand referred questions about the lawsuit to Stenehjem.
State Rep. Rodney Froelich, R-Selfridge, N.D., and his wife, Kathryn, filed the suit. The Froelichs own about 7,500 acres in Sioux County, the lawsuit says.
The Froelichs could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
The Farm Bureau is paying the costs of the lawsuit through its newly formed Northern Plains Public Interest Firm.
The Farm Bureau created the legal defense foundation to help protect landowners' rights, Manig said.
State officials have erroneously interpreted the law and the Game and Fish Department wrongfully advises hunters, the suit says.
"A failure to post a notice warning the public against trespass is not an expression of consent to the intrusion …," the suit says.
The state's interpretation creates an "unconstitutional taking" of landowners' property, said Doug Goulding, a Devils Lake attorney hired by the legal defense foundation to represent the Froelichs.
Land access laws in South Dakota and Minnesota are much different.
In both of the neighboring states, hunters must get landowners' permission regardless if the property is posted, officials in both states said.
The Farm Bureau is taking the property rights debate to court because the Legislature failed to address the issue, said John Mittleider, the Farm Bureau's vice president of public policy.
"People have been urging us to do something," Manig said. "There's pressure to resolve this thing so we're taking steps to do it."
The debate is not just about hunters' access to private lands. Uncontrolled access could also undermine efforts to safeguard against bioterrorism, Manig said.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is urging farmers to secure their property, but the state is making it difficult, he said.
Jim Weight of Jamestown has hunted in North Dakota for 48 years. And as long as he can remember, private land that isn't posted has been fair game for hunters.
The law shouldn't be changed now, said Weight, chairman of the United Sportsmen of North Dakota.
"Maybe all of us have just taken it for granted over the years that you're hunting on private land that just isn't posted," he said. "But I also believe that if the landowners don't want you on there, they'll tell you in one fashion or another."
Readers can reach Forum reporter Jeff Zent at (701) 241-5526
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