clearwater150
Member
- Messages
- 75
I noticed the recent State Congressional session managed to pass a new trespass law. Essentially, it allows landowners to put up a sign where a public road enters their property notifying the public that it is private land for the next X miles. They can even post a map on the sign showing the extent of the private land on either side of road. The law exempts landowners from posting their land every 660 ft as current law requires.
I like the law in some ways but I can also see how it might be abused too. One good outcome may be to remove all the ugly paint we see along the roads on rocks, trees and what have you. However, I can see some drawbacks too. What if you are hunting public land and unknowingly enter onto pvt land that is noted on one of these entry signs 1/2 mile down in the canyon? Does the sign 1/2 mile away on the county road satisfy the law of posting on the back acres away from a road? How does this affect the unfenced private lands that are intermingled with public lands? I called the Boise Office of Fish and Game to discuss and get some answers to my questions. I talked to Brad Compton. Surprisingly, my call alerted them to the law. Evidently the legislature did not bother to talk to the F&G about the new law, even though it targets hunters and fishers. Mr. Compton looked the law up as we spoke over the phone and we discussed it and we concluded that time will tell what the ramifications/impact on hunting and fishing. To my way of thinking, this is just one more mid-night assault by our current State government on the hunting and fishing privileges we have enjoyed here in Idaho since Statehood. Did anyone even see or hear about this being debated in the State?
I like the law in some ways but I can also see how it might be abused too. One good outcome may be to remove all the ugly paint we see along the roads on rocks, trees and what have you. However, I can see some drawbacks too. What if you are hunting public land and unknowingly enter onto pvt land that is noted on one of these entry signs 1/2 mile down in the canyon? Does the sign 1/2 mile away on the county road satisfy the law of posting on the back acres away from a road? How does this affect the unfenced private lands that are intermingled with public lands? I called the Boise Office of Fish and Game to discuss and get some answers to my questions. I talked to Brad Compton. Surprisingly, my call alerted them to the law. Evidently the legislature did not bother to talk to the F&G about the new law, even though it targets hunters and fishers. Mr. Compton looked the law up as we spoke over the phone and we discussed it and we concluded that time will tell what the ramifications/impact on hunting and fishing. To my way of thinking, this is just one more mid-night assault by our current State government on the hunting and fishing privileges we have enjoyed here in Idaho since Statehood. Did anyone even see or hear about this being debated in the State?