SB 2315 / Lockout

fireone

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[h=1]North Dakota hunters, landowners clash as pheasant season approaches[/h]One of the most contentious subjects during the recent legislative session, SB2315 sought to deal with the issue of whether landowners should have to post to prevent hunters and others from entering it, or whether hunters should be required to request permission from every landowner before entering private property
Written By: James Miller | Sep 26th 2020 - 8pm.






Fence dividing public and private land. (Dickinson Press file photo)



Across the prairies, farmland and badlands of North Dakota, a new crop is growing in surprising abundance. It is not spring wheat, canola, barley, soybeans or corn, but rather a crop of unique signage reading, “ND LOCK OUT” and “#IAmNDLockOut.”

The signage which began appearing in late 2019 comes from a group that took the mantle in an old fight in North Dakota. The group, North Dakota Lock Out, says that they are focused on protecting the property rights of North Dakotans as property owners -- primarily agricultural producers -- and have been seeking changes to North Dakota's private property laws.
The signage is only the latest effort in a struggle pitting landowners and hunters in a battle that has raged for more than a decade as North Dakota remains the only state in the region permitting hunters to enter private property, without permission, unless the land is posted for no trespassing or no hunting — putting the onus on the landowner.


Signage began appearing in late 2019 across western North Dakota from a group that took the mantle in an old fight. The group, North Dakota Lock Out, says that they are focused on protecting the property rights of North Dakotans as property owners. (Dickinson Press file photo)



One of the most contentious subjects during the recent legislative session, SB2315 sought to deal with the issue of whether landowners should have to post to prevent hunters and others from entering it, or whether hunters should be required to request permission from every landowner before entering private property. The amendments and subsequent watering down of the verbiage in SB2315 became the impetus for a reinvigorated debate in North Dakota and is one that will certainly be felt as pheasant season approaches this fall.


Rep. Luke Simons, R-District 36, spoke on the House floor on the topic, siding with landowners in what he said was a clear violation of property rights.
“Our land is being violated, our rights are being violated and as landowners, we are being violated,” Simons said. “Landowners would like people to ask for permission before they come on private land. It’s not a lot to ask. No one is saying, ‘no hunting here’, most welcome hunters. I welcome hunters. We just ask that they ask to come on private land.”
Simons said that hunters are failing to understand a simple concept, saying “It’s not your right, it’s a privilege” to hunt on private property.
Craig Armstrong, a North Dakota landowner and avid hunter, said he understood both sides of the argument.
“When I started hunting it was commonplace to not have posted land, so we had access to all this private land because of the laws and the way things were. It was honestly wonderful growing up that way,” Armstrong said. “In the few times that we came across land that was posted, we’d find the landowner and talk to them. It was always better to be hunting posted land with permission because not as many people were hunting there because a lot of people won’t knock on doors or make that phone call. I wouldn’t hunt on land if there was even half a sign that maybe blew away, I think it’s better to just be on the side of caution and respect.”




Armstrong detailed how challenging it was to hunt before cellphones were invented and how the innovation makes the old ways of doing things much easier.
“Back before cellphones I would write the name and phone number on the signs, come home and make the calls to the landowners to ask permission for the next time I would go out hunting,” Armstrong said. “When cellphones came out that was one of the things I was most excited about, being able to call right there. I’ve done that many times, I still do that all the time because I like doing that.”
Today, Armstrong said that he understands the concerns raised by landowners.
“It’s been great having access to all this private land that I can just hunt, it’s been wonderful. As a hunter I love our posting laws, but as an American citizen and proponent of property rights and land ownership, I don’t believe that landowners should have to post signs to keep people off the land,” he said. “Here in town if someone comes onto my property, I don’t have to post it. If people come on my land they are trespassing. Really, what is the difference?”
Armstrong added, “I don’t blame landowners who are fighting for their rights on this. As a hunter, it’ll be a little more difficult for me and it’s a tradition being lost — which is a hard thing to lose — but in today’s age with technology it’s just not that hard. You have to do your homework and go find the landowner and get permission and everyone is more comfortable. They know who is out there and you know whose land you’re hunting.”




Just southwest of Belfield, hidden in those rolling pastures of ranchland and protected by buttes and valleys, lies a patch of land that is, according to local property owners, under attack.
Evidence of the coarseness that so rattles these landowners can be found all throughout the neighboring patches of land: battered and beaten land, trash and spent shells, grass patches turned to mudholes and pronounced ruts in the shape of truck tires, some up to 10 inches deep, criss-crossing the mud chaotically, all but destroying a generations-old dirt trail used for work, not play.
The main suspects? According to the landowners, irreverent hunters.
Beginning in early 2019, farmers and ranchers along the Western Edge became more and more vocal about the apparent increase in flippant maltreatment of the land they work. Some have said that the age of hunting without permission is dying at the hands of those who benefit the most — hunters.
The grievances of these ranchers and farmers doesn’t appear to be with hunting or all hunters in general, but rather a blatant disregard by a few bad apples for the land on which they stand. Many of these same landowners are proud, but concerned hunters themselves.
“More and more people are wanting landowner rights back because of bad hunters,” Armstrong said. “There are bad hunters out there and they give all of us good hunters a bad name. They have a lot of ways that they piss off landowners by not following the rules, the law, shooting too close to their house, etc.”
Armstrong added, “It seems to me, and really is, that we’ve become more of a hunting destination state for our neighbors. Most of the bad hunters are coming from the east, places like Minnesota and Fargo. They’re from the city and don’t know the ethics and think this land is theirs to use and abuse — it’s not.”
Armstrong said that he believes that it wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing should posting laws become a thing of the past.
“I think that passing those laws would weed out the bad hunters because they’ll have to put some work and effort into it that they don’t want to do,” he said. “I think that my quality of hunting, I believe, will be better because not everyone is going to do their homework. Maybe then our relationship with landowners will become better. Then and probably only then.”
For more information about the rules and regulations governing hunting on private property, visit https://gf.nd.gov/




POSTED1.jpg

Signage began appearing in late 2019 across western North Dakota from a group that took the mantle in an old fight. The group, North Dakota Lock Out, says that they are focused on protecting the property rights of North Dakotans as property owners. (Dickinson Press file photo)
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The same people that pushed this bill in 2019 are going to bring it back in 2021. Election for ND legislators is a month away. These are the YES votes from 2019. Vote them out. The ones marked also voted against public land along the Missouri River.

[FONT=&quot]YEAS: Anderson, B.; Anderson, D.; Becker*; Bellew*; Blum*; Boe; Brandenburg*; Damschen; Delzer; Devlin; Dobervich; Ertelt; Fegley; Hatlestad; Headland; Hoverson; Howe; Johnson, C*.; Johnson, D.; Jones*; Kempenich; Kreidt; Laning*; Longmuir; Magrum*; Nelson, J.; Owens; Paulson; Pollert; Pyle*; Richter*; Schmidt*; Schneider; Schobinger; Schreiber-Beck*; Simons*; Skroch*; Trottier*; Tveit; Vetter*; Vigesaa; Weisz; Westlind*; Zubke



[/FONT]
 


Rowdie

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I would argue that 99.9% of acres posted with these signs was posted anyway.
 

Migrator Man

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It’s not hunters that are the main problem but they are the first to get blamed! Changing the law won’t make those problems go away and it may get worse!

Getting permission on posted land has not been that successful for me, granted if this law changes I might get some luck on otherwise unposted land
 

eyexer

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The negatives of this far outweigh the positives hoped to be gained from it
 


SLE

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.........................................
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The same people that pushed this bill in 2019 are going to bring it back in 2021. Election for ND legislators is a month away. These are the YES votes from 2019. Vote them out. The ones marked also voted against public land along the Missouri River.

YEAS: Anderson, B.; Anderson, D.; Becker*; Bellew*; Blum*; Boe; Brandenburg*; Damschen; Delzer; Devlin; Dobervich; Ertelt; Fegley; Hatlestad; Headland; Hoverson; Howe; Johnson, C*.; Johnson, D.; Jones*; Kempenich; Kreidt; Laning*; Longmuir; Magrum*; Nelson, J.; Owens; Paulson; Pollert; Pyle*; Richter*; Schmidt*; Schneider; Schobinger; Schreiber-Beck*; Simons*; Skroch*; Trottier*; Tveit; Vetter*; Vigesaa; Weisz; Westlind*; Zubke



Those look to be the Representatives, don't forget about the senators that voted for it also!
 

fireone

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Good point made above. Senate members who voted for the no-trespass bill: YEAS: Clemens; Davison; Dotzenrod; Elkin; Erbele; Heckaman; Hogan; Hogue; Kannianen;Klein; Krebsbach; Kreun; Larsen, O.; Lee, G.; Lee, J.; Luick; Meyer; Myrdal; Oehlke;Osland; Patten; Roers, J.; Rust; Schaible; Unruh; Vedaa; Wanzek; Wardner

The Senate sponsors of 2315 are Erbele, Patten, Unruh
The House sponsors of 2315n are ​Boe, Schmidt, Westlind
 

zoops

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I have little luck getting farmers to answer phone calls - can't blame them; I don't normally answer unfamiliar numbers either. Plus just finding a number is often difficult. The comment in the article about cell phones being a magic bullet doesn't resonate for me.

This weekend - found an unposted field with some sloughs ducks were using just before sunset Friday night. Walked out and hunted it Saturday morning. Landowner's address on Onix was Tennessee. Probably would have been a complete nightmare to contact a landowner just to walk out and sit on a pothole, no thanks. Definitely will change things once this passes, unfortunate stuff.
 

Rowdie

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Yeah, who answers their phone anymore?? FKN telemarketers and scammers 90% of the time.
 

Maverick

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Anyone notice they Hide behind the words "HUNTING HERITAGE", yet every time they talk about it they say it has nothing to do with hunting?
 


johnr

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I have a few acres in North West MN. I sure as shitsoup don't want to get calls from anyone wanting to hunt it. The land is a quarter of crop land, and would have little to no game to hunt anyway, but sure would not want to be getting called to hunt it, not ever. Nor would I want to have to take the 6 hour drive to head that way and put signs up saying hunt this shit, its wide open.

ND lock out, and the queers that are all for it, need to think about the non land owning part of our society. The ones who carry the burden just as much as they do, and maybe have a weekend or two to partake in an outing here and there. These guys are not shooting your signs, leaving gates open, or littering your land up. They are guys that pay their taxes, help small communities survive, and enjoy your wives when you are out in your tractor all day.
Lets get past this lock up nonsense.
 

SDMF

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Those yellow "Lock Out" signs are the same color as PLOTS signs, I hope nobody gets confused this fall..........
 

fireone

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It wouldn't hurt a bit to email your legislators now before the election and ask how they are going to vote on No Trespass when it comes up again. Because it will be back for sure with worse amendments.
 

Speck

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I say put in this on the the same bill.If this bill passes then the all ditches are open to hunting.
 

Kentucky Windage

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Can someone please explain to me what “supporting our agricultural and hunting heritage by protecting our inherent private property rights”
even means? How does putting up a padlock on a fence support agriculture and hunting?
 


eyexer

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It’s all lip service and drivel. The ag community knows it’s going to get it in the ass for this. They’re just trying to get ahead of the reamer. Support of ag will crash if this ever passes.
 

eyexer

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You should see GST on some of the Facebook groups for and against certain measures. It’s comical as hell. He’s a complete moron. One thing you can be sure of is you want to vote the opposite way he wants you to lol.
 

Reprobait

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If this passes we need to get something. More public lands? Bigger and better PLOTS? With the direction farming is taking of larger and larger farms, this would be the end of hunting as we know it.

They tell us to establish relationships. How is that supposed to happen when the guy is farming 25,000 acres using foreign hired help?

They also tell us that they are trying to mend the relationship between hunters and landowners. It has been going downhill fast since this started. Is it now broken? I sure don't feel like asking anymore unless I at least somewhat know the person.
 
Last edited:

guywhofishes

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If this passes we need to get something. More public lands? Bigger and better PLOTS? With the direction farming is taking of larger and larger farms, this would be the end of hunting as we know it.

They tell us to establish relationships. How is that supposed to happen when the guy is farming 25,000 acres using foreign hired help?

you'll get nothing in return - except that glowing feeling that the GST types are happier than clams


the guy farming with foreign help likely doesn't give two $hits about hunting/tradition - like everything it comes down to $ and control

I like how Armstrong points out the nasty people come from Fargo - Go Bison

Craig Armstrong, a North Dakota landowner and avid hunter, said he understood both sides of the argument.

“More and more people are wanting landowner rights back because of bad hunters,” Armstrong said. “There are bad hunters out there and they give all of us good hunters a bad name. They have a lot of ways that they piss off landowners by not following the rules, the law, shooting too close to their house, etc.”
Armstrong added, “It seems to me, and really is, that we’ve become more of a hunting destination state for our neighbors. Most of the bad hunters are coming from the east, places like Minnesota and Fargo. They’re from the city and don’t know the ethics and think this land is theirs to use and abuse — it’s not.”

Armstrong said that he believes that it wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing should posting laws become a thing of the past.

- - - Updated - - -

:;:rockitFargo hunters are the problem. Run them out of the state!

- - - Updated - - -

Evidence of the coarseness that so rattles these landowners can be found all throughout the neighboring patches of land: battered and beaten land, trash and spent shells, grass patches turned to mudholes and pronounced ruts in the shape of truck tires, some up to 10 inches deep, criss-crossing the mud chaotically, all but destroying a generations-old dirt trail used for work, not play.
The main suspects? According to the landowners, irreverent hunters.

- - - Updated - - -

^^^^ Pretty sure that was me. I like to drive 5 hours and then raise some hell and then turn around and drive back home.
 


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