Idaho Bill HO536 - Changing Trespass Law

House Bill 536 is a whopping 15 pager that turns trespass law on its head. The bill would increase fines for trespassing, which most sportsmen would support. It goes a step further however and carries a felony charge for trespassing three times in 10 years. That may just be a step too far. Especially when the bill simultaneously removes requirements for private landowners to post private land. Yes, you read that right. It is akin to making speeding a felony and then removing all the speed limit signs.
Since the 80s, landowners have had to mark their private property with “NO TRESPASSING” signs or orange paint every so often so a passerby would understand that ignoring such signs would mean the risk of a criminal and civil violation. The “Orange Paint Law” was the result of collaboration and consensus among sportsmen, landowners, and agricultural interests as the best way to prevent trespassing. It’s pretty simple: You see a posted tree, behind that tree is private land. You cross that line, you risk jail time, fines, and loss of hunting privileges.

HB 536 would make it hard, if not impossible in some situations, to know the exact location of property lines by removing this long standing requirement.

The bill states that any reasonable person will determine that an unmarked fence means the other side is private. As you know, fenced and cultivated lands are off limits. But in Idaho, there are thousands of miles of fencing across public grazing ground, which do not delineate private property lines. Eliminating posting requirements will cause undo confusion and worsen relationships among Idahoans. Many landowners for example, have no objection to hunters being on some or all of their property. This bill places the burden on sportsmen to guess as to whether they are on public or private ground and further speculate whether the potential private landowner will come after them with a civil lawsuit or criminal charges for something as innocent as retrieving and dispatching a wounded animal.

But here is probably the most important aspect of this bill- there was no formal invitation to collaborate and formulate a bill to address trespass problems. It’s easy to understand how troublesome trespassing can be for a landowner, which is why an increase in fines isn’t necessarily a bad thing- honest sportsmen will still avoid trespassing, close gates, and respect livestock. Sportsmen are willing to come to the table and resolve such issues. But legislation that makes such broad strokes without public input is not the Idaho way of resolving issues.

For these reasons HB 536 needs to be defeated. It is currently sitting on the 3rd reading calendar in the House chambers and could receive a vote as early as Monday, February 19th.

We need your help! Contact your House Representatives today and ask them to vote NO on HB 536!

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dbusta said:

I hope it will pass

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dbusta said:

we need way higher fines in idaho. i let kids hunt on my place. my place is posted but people still tresspass

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dbusta said:

we need way higher fines in idaho. i let kids hunt on my place. my place is posted but people still tresspass

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JM77 said:

Wyoming law requires that hunters and fisherman know where they are at and has for as long as I can remember.

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RobG said:

Is there anyone in particular an out of state person can write too?

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Josh Kuntz said:

Any of you can write in to the idaho House leadership. https://legislature.idaho.gov/house/leadership/ This bill will soon get a vote in the full house and most house members are not well educated on this bill since it basically fell out of the sky very recently. Let them know that you are a non-resident hunter and this would influence your decision to hunt/fish in Idaho. Showing legislators that this could impact the Idaho economy may be of considerable help.

And food for thought for those of you who have mentioned that the onus should always be on the hunter, I would ask you to consider how often you have made an innocent mistake. I know that I have accidentally driven a ways down an unmarked private road or wandered slightly across an unmarked property boundary. Once realizing my mistake I have made my way back to public property and it has been no big deal because my unintentional meanderings are not currently considered trespass. However, if HB536 passes, these innocent mistakes are treated the same as "willful and intentional" trespass and the 3rd offense can result in a felony. To me, that feels like over-reach. As they say, "the devil is in the details" and the details of this bill are terrible.

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RobG said:

How about people who are just driving or hiking around?

A few things from my experience in Montana. 1) those GPS units use cadastral data that can be off my hundreds of feet. 2) The new lack of posting requirement would put a big burden on hikers who use trails that pass through private land because they would have to verify that there was an easement on the trail. Here this is quite common, especially in checkerboard areas. 3) Ditto with people driving on roads through private land. Do you want to verify every back road you drive on has an easement or the landowner doesn't care?

I lived in Idaho for 4 years and when I told people I was from Montana the hunting and fishing community generally remarked that Idaho used to be like Montana. It continues to lead the way in degrading our opportunities, and we use them as an example of what other states are doing.

Is there anyone in particular an out of state person can write too?

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