Private land owners withdraw from program

Hundreds of Eastern Washington farmers and ranchers are withdrawing from a state Fish and Wildlife Department program that assist sportsmen in getting permission to hunt on private lands.

Many of the landowners are abandoning the feel-free-to hunt, register-to-hunt and hunting-by-written-permission programs after hearing about the department’s new Internet feature that marks on a map the location of lands enrolled in any of the hunter access programs.

The mapping, which does not identify landowners by name or phone number, is aimed at satisfying state laws for public disclosure, department officials said.

A few years ago, about 750 landowners had enrolled a total of about 1.2 million acres into hunter access programs, mostly in Eastern Washington.

This fall, those numbers are likely to be reduced by at least 40 percent, department officials indicated.

By logging onto the agency’s Web site and clicking the “Go Hunt” online mapping program, sportsmen can get a wide range of maps and information for planning a hunting trip anywhere in the state.

The new feature, which debuted last week, adds to a state map a layer that shows icons pin-pointing lands enrolled in the hunter access program.

“Because landowners withdraw from this program doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t give you permission to hunt if you ask, but it means that some of them are taking down the signs that we’ve posted to help hunters identify the program cooperators,” said Don Larson of the department’s landowner relations and habitat program in Spokane.

The most common of the signs is made of yellow plastic and mounted on fences. It announces that hunters must obtain written permission before hunting on the land.

“Basically, that’s the way it is on all private lands in Washington,” said Larson. “The law requires you to get landowner permission before hunting on their land.”

But the hunter access program made it easier to identify landowners willing to give permission by conveniently listing the landowner’s name and phone number on the sign.

That has lead to instances of a different problem as cellular phone coverage improved in rural areas.

“In recent years, we’ve seen a growing problem with hunters coming out at the last minute and using their cell phones,” Larson said. “We’ve had a few cases of hunters calling farmers before sunrise on opening day saying they see a deer in a field behind one of their signs and they want to get permission to hunt.”

Department officials said they will be working with landowners to provide services and win back their confidence in the program.