BISMARCK - Jacob Odermann in the spring of 2014 went out to fix fence before turning pairs to their spring pasture north of Belfield, N.D. He heard a popping noise and realized it was hunters shooting at prairie dogs in his direction.The two hunt.
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BISMARCK – The North Dakota Legislature holds a session every two years and every two years there are a number of bills introduced regarding outdoor issues. The Legislature is in session now and, somewhat surprisingly, the number of outdoor bills is less than usual.
“We’re down a little bit. Maybe that’s because of the electronic format, the uncertainty of how that works. Maybe that kept the numbers down,” said Scott Peterson, North Dakota Game and Fish Department deputy director. “In terms of quantity we’re down a bit and even more now that some are falling off the table.”
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Meanwhile, under SB 2184, certified hunter education instructors who taught within the preceding calendar year would automatically qualify for buying a license to take any legal deer during the rifle season without having to go through the lottery.
Certified instructors teaching in each of the previous five calendar years could buy licenses to hunt either bighorn sheep, elk or moose.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee heard the bill Thursday, Jan. 21, but didn’t take any action. During the hearing, Game and Fish Department Deputy Director Scott Peterson, Mike McEnroe of the North Dakota Wildlife Federation and John Bradley, executive director of the North Dakota Wildlife Federation, all opposed the bill.
North Dakota outdoors legislative preview: Electronic posting bills take center stage as 2021 session approaches
The defeat of the trespass bill during the 2019 North Dakota legislative session set the stage for an interim natural resources committee, which convened to study access and trespass issues and come up with recommendations. The result was a pilot electronic-posting study that launched earlier this year in Ramsey, Slope and Richland counties. Written By: Brad Dokken | ×
Trespass legislation has been a prominent outdoors topic during the past several North Dakota legislative sessions. (Forum News Service file photo)
Bills to implement an electronic land-posting system that would either expand a pilot study launched earlier this year, or add penalties for trespass violations on electronically posted land, will be among the most prominent hunting- and fishing-related issues on tap during the upcoming session of the North Dakota Legislature.