I think we as sportsman have to concede that the time has come to accept the overhaul to our trespassing/private access laws.
Let's accept it is PRIVATE land that someone else is paying taxes on. The fact that the burden is on landowners to restrict access as opposed to placing the burden on sportsman to gain access seems unbalanced.
Any of these proposals that dictate the need to create committees, force expenditures down state departments throats, and place our state government as the conduit to which we have to check with in order to confirm the access status of private lands are downright ludicrous. Any change should be black and white so that it doesn't take a bunch of government management to execute. No buying signs for landowners, no state run databases, and no useless oversight committees.
It does not mean the end to hunting in our state, nor does it equate to the closure of access to all private lands. Yes, things will change and perhaps it will get more difficult, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to look down the road and see where this is going. Unlike the day's of plat books 30 years ago, I can find out who owns just about any parcel of land in the state on my cell phone in minutes. I can then find a phone number to start tracking down who grants access in nearly no time at all. I simply don't see good reasons anymore to make any part of the process more cumbersome for the landowner or the state when it is we, the sportsmen, who are getting the benefit. The more we fight battles on grounds that are shaky at best, the more we will turn groups away from conservation and from reasonable compromise. The more we fight the inevitable, the more likely we are going to end up with one of these BS "compromise" bills that doesn't address the problem and will only cost money that will have to come from somewhere.
I think the sportsmen groups and the sportsmen as individuals have a golden opportunity to be the champions for this change. I want trespassers to get their asses handed to them because of the lengths that I go to to ensure that I myself am not trespassing. Every time an a-hat gets away with trespassing, it hurts us all. Even though I believe that the constant tearing down of posted signs is a bit of a myth, we can prevent that by not even requiring them. If we can accept to work through a little bit of change on our side, we can make the system a whole lot better for everyone.
