SB 2315

As many of you know, SB 2315 (the “no trespass” or “everything’s posted” bill) was introduced in the ND legislature last Thursday and is already up for a committee hearing by the Senate Ag Committee THIS FRIDAY (1/25). This is strange for two reasons:

Rarely does a bill as hotly-debated as SB 2315 get thrown to committee in just a week (I see this as an attempt to blow it past sportsmen, but draw your own conclusions);
It is being reviewed by the Senate Ag Committee, when in the past this same bill was handled by the Natural Resources Committee (I see this as an end-around, or an attempt to try a different or easier path in a “Friendly” committee to get a unanimous recommendation).

There is going to be a lot of game-playing and things are going to move fast in the next few days. In speaking with NDG&F Director Terry Steinwand, he is meeting with Governor Burgum (or his staff) on Monday (1/21) and the Governor will basically tell the G&F what position to take on the bill and how to testify (if at all). I was not optimistic from the discussion and it sounded like the best we’ll get is a “Neutral” from G&F on the bill from what appears to some downward pressure from the Governor and the special interests backing him.

That means that defeating this bill will fall to sportsmen. If you haven’t already, email your legislators and tell them to VOTE NO on SB 2315.

Email the Senate Ag Committee and urge them to issue a DO NOT PASS recommendation on SB 2315 in their hearing on Friday.

When you do email these people, give them a quick two-or-three sentence comment on how SB 2315 detrimentally impacts you, your kids, your hunting activities and provide your take on its impact on hunting and public access in ND.

Senate Ag Committee
Larry Luick – Chair – lluick@nd.gov
Jane Myrdal – Vice Chair – jmyrdal@nd.gov
Kathy Hogan – khogan@nd.gov
Jerry Klein – jklein@nd.gov
Oley Larson – olarsen@nd.gov
Arne Osland – aosland@nd.gov

Make no mistake, we as sportsmen are the away team playing in the Senate Ag Committee’s stadium, a Twins @ Yankees scenario for sure. But there’s no limit to the number of people we can use on our team, and each sportsman’s voice matters in this issue.