Minot legislators seek access answers for hunters, landowners
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Minot legislators are hoping for an acceptable resolution in a contentious debate between hunters and landowners over property access.
At a Minot Area Chamber of Commerce forum Saturday, legislators had mixed opinions about Senate Bill 2315. The bill would presume private land is closed to access, regardless of whether it is posted to that effect. Hunters would be required to contact landowners for permission. However, landowners could post their land's status and their contact information in an online database to make the process easier for hunters.
"I look at this bill as a modernization, being good for both the landowner and the hunter," Sen. Karen Krebsbach said.
"There's concerns about access to technology for landowners, not just if they're out of state but accessing the internet from remote places," Rep. Scott Louser said. "This is one we're getting lobbied on both sides probably as much as any bill that's come out of the Senate."
The bill is scheduled for a hearing Thursday before the joint House Energy and Natural Resources and Agriculture committees. The bill drew six hours of strong testimony from both sides during its Senate hearing.
Rep. Jay Fisher said he feels strongly about landowner rights, but almost all his calls from constituents have been hunters opposed to the bill.
"I will have to vote no for my constituency," he said.
"I've gotten a ton of emails - more in favor of this bill than against," Rep. Matt Ruby said. He said sometimes land is posted with signage that excludes contact information for a landowner. With a virtual posting, there will be name and contact information, he said.
"I think you are going to see a lot more knowledge of who owns the land and you're going to be able to build that relationship," Ruby said.
Sen. Oley Larsen said a positive aspect of the bill is physical land postings don't go away. If someone doesn't have access to the database technology, physical posting of the land still works.
He explained he voted against the bill in committee so he could be on the conference committee to ensure the concept is not turned into a study and that the teeth aren't taken out of any penalties for bad behavior by trespassers.
"Hopefully it will pass the House, and we'll be able to continue the discussion in the conference committee, and if we still don't like it and there's still resistance to it, then we can kill it. I am taking the stance on voting for good legislation, and that's why I'm going to continue to support the bill," he said.
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Legislature nears budget crunch time
A bill to create an infrastructure revolving loan fund for local government could face a tough battle in the Legislature, according to Rep. Scott Louser, R-Minot.
At a legislative forum Saturday, Louser said his concern is there are bills containing more than $1.1 billion in bonding still pending in the Legislature.
"It's going to be very difficult to sell the idea of another billion dollar debt," Louser said. The infrastructure bill being looked at as a source of additional funding for flood protection projects is scheduled for a House Appropriations Committee hearing Tuesday, the same day as new state revenue forecasts are released.
Louser said the Legislature will face difficult financial decisions in coming days. House appropriation bills sent to the Senate were about $200 million overspent, he estimated.
"I'm not sure what their numbers were," he said of the Senate, "but that has to reconcile with a balanced budget before we leave, so that revenue forecast and that bill hearing on Tuesday are going to set the tone for the rest of session."