Selected Articles from the LAND Newsletter

President's Report

By Richard Volk, LAND President

This is a letter to the Editor sent to North Dakota daily papers on March 14, 2003.

Dear Editor:

The Landowners Association of North Dakota (LAND) urges your readers to oppose Senate Bill 2048 - the “hunter pressure concept.”

This measure limits the number of non-resident waterfowl hunters. LAND believes such legislation is detrimental to good relations between local hunters and landowners because it uses the force of government to control an income-producing activity for farmers and local communities.

When raising wildlife has economic benefit to the landowner, he is more likely to encourage wildlife production. Putting a cap on non-resident hunters alienates landowners. We believe a cap will result in landowners barring resident hunters from their property. (Over 900 landowners have signed pledges to that effect within the past two weeks.)

Landowners have a vested interest in making their property as productive as possible. We spend money in rural communities and help keep those communities viable all year round. Privately owned land generates revenue for local government through its productivity and taxes. Landowners raise over 90 percent of the wildlife in North Dakota which makes abundant hunting possible.

A basic tenet of property ownership is that a landowner has control of his property, including the right to limit or allow hunting. Many LAND members enjoy hunting and welcome fellow sportsmen who respect our rights. However, hunters have never had the right to control other people’s property. LAND believes special interest groups should not have the right to control a landowner’s ability to generate legal revenue.

Instead of spending weeks at the Legislature to restrict other’s incomes, local sportsmen would be better off to use that time to develop personal relationships with local landowners.