GregMcReynolds
Member
- Messages
- 25
The Idaho house agriculture committee passed h536 today
http://legislature.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/sessioninfo/2018/legislation/H0536.pdf
and sent it to the floor for a vote.
This bill would remove all posting requirements for private lands and make hunters criminally liable for trespass, even if the land in question is unfenced, uncultivated, and not even marked with orange-painted fence posts every 660 feet (which is a pretty minimal posting requirement to begin with.)
Furthermore, the bill would change the penalties for first-time offenders to jail times of 6 months and fines between $500 and $1,000. It increase the penalty for third time offenses to a FELONY.
This is a direct attack on Idaho sportsmen and the culture of public lands and public access that makes Idaho the place we all love. I'm a property owner too, and I'm not advocating for trespassing. I'd support increasing the penalties for willful trespassers, though not to a felony. I believe that removing even the basic requirement of posting with orange posts every 660 feet is a bad policy that will hurt hunters.
Imagine hunting a BLM piece and coming to a private inholding that is not fenced and not posted. Under this new bill, you could be prosecuted for walking across a boundary you didn't even know was there.
This is a bad bill and it passed committee 14 to 1, so it is going to move unless we stop it. Call your reps. Call your buddies. Otherwise, you better go buy a GPS and a landowner chip and pray that it's accurate.
Facts
1. It is currently ILLEGAL to hunt fenced property without permission.
2. It is currently ILLEGAL to hunt cultivated property without permission.
3. It is already ILLEGAL to hunt uncultivated, unfenced property that is posted by use of an orange fence post every 660 feet.
4. Litter, vandalism and other issues being cited as reason for this bill are already ILLEGAL.
5. Map software is not perfect. I have found lots of places where GPS mapping software was out of date, or simply incorrect.
http://legislature.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/sessioninfo/2018/legislation/H0536.pdf
and sent it to the floor for a vote.
This bill would remove all posting requirements for private lands and make hunters criminally liable for trespass, even if the land in question is unfenced, uncultivated, and not even marked with orange-painted fence posts every 660 feet (which is a pretty minimal posting requirement to begin with.)
Furthermore, the bill would change the penalties for first-time offenders to jail times of 6 months and fines between $500 and $1,000. It increase the penalty for third time offenses to a FELONY.
This is a direct attack on Idaho sportsmen and the culture of public lands and public access that makes Idaho the place we all love. I'm a property owner too, and I'm not advocating for trespassing. I'd support increasing the penalties for willful trespassers, though not to a felony. I believe that removing even the basic requirement of posting with orange posts every 660 feet is a bad policy that will hurt hunters.
Imagine hunting a BLM piece and coming to a private inholding that is not fenced and not posted. Under this new bill, you could be prosecuted for walking across a boundary you didn't even know was there.
This is a bad bill and it passed committee 14 to 1, so it is going to move unless we stop it. Call your reps. Call your buddies. Otherwise, you better go buy a GPS and a landowner chip and pray that it's accurate.
Facts
1. It is currently ILLEGAL to hunt fenced property without permission.
2. It is currently ILLEGAL to hunt cultivated property without permission.
3. It is already ILLEGAL to hunt uncultivated, unfenced property that is posted by use of an orange fence post every 660 feet.
4. Litter, vandalism and other issues being cited as reason for this bill are already ILLEGAL.
5. Map software is not perfect. I have found lots of places where GPS mapping software was out of date, or simply incorrect.
