03. April 2019 · Comments Off on Public Lands Bill S1089 – Killed in 2019 Session · Categories: Public Lands, Public Meetings

We made it pretty far with the only piece of pro-access legislation of the 2019 session. In fact, it’s the only pro-sportsman related bill introduced this year, period. We provided the committee with high profile news reports of illegal access obstruction going unpunished, and the cultural and economic reasons to support public property rights. Ultimately non-issue concerns, obfuscating the true purpose of S1089, and the Wilks brothers’ testimony won the day.

IWF has made good headway for this idea of civil enforcement of access obstruction, and will carry that momentum today through the 2020 legislative session. But meanwhile, let’s dig into what we learned at the hearing:

The Wilks Bro’s personal lobbyist testified and worked to kill the bill. The lobbyist also happened to be the lawyer who wrote the Trespass Bill of last year. No surprise there, but upsetting that 6 of the 9 legislators sided with out-of-state billionaires over Idahoans, again. The lobbyist opined that S1089 would criminalize innocent behavior, but there are two things to point out about that claim. 1) The bill clearly addresses only “willful” acts, not accidental. 2) The Attorney General opinion for S1089 refutes that claim.

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