# No one owns our public trust



## g/o (Jul 13, 2004)

No one owns our state's 'public trust'
By Bob Kellam, 
Published Sunday, December 17, 2006
The recent articles published in The Forum and almost every major newspaper in North Dakota concerning hunting land purchases and community income from hunting have again brought public trust issues to the forefront.

The "public trust doctrine," in short, is the principle of common law that says natural resources (water, wildlife, etc.) are preserved for public use and that government is required to manage them for public use. No one person owns them; they are owned by all of us through state or federal governments and regulated by laws for the people's use and enjoyment.

North Dakota's Century Code states "The ownership of and title to all wildlife within this state is in the state."

Article XI North Dakota Constitution Section 27. "Hunting, trapping, and fishing and the taking of game and fish are a valued part of our heritage and will be forever preserved for the people and managed by law and regulation for the public good."

There is no predisposition that with any land purchase that all wildlife is included in the purchase price for the buyer to do with as he/she pleases. Likewise, some landowners of North Dakota in general have deemed themselves owners of certain species of wildlife to do with as they please by selling wildlife to anyone willing to pay the price. Call it access fees, call it repayment for depredation, call it whatever you wish; the fact remains if there was no wildlife on that property, access and depredation fees would be a ridiculous concept.

Landowners have the right to control access on their property. The conundrum is pay hunting and those among the hunting ranks that will not or cannot afford to pay to hunt wildlife that is a public trust.

Recent trends in the number of hunters afield have increased for upland and shown a decrease for waterfowl. Statistics for waterfowl hunters show that in 1975, 67,267 residents and 6,043 nonresidents hunted waterfowl. In 2005 there were 28,331 resident hunters and 24,455 nonresident hunters (ND game and fish numbers) - 38,936 fewer resident hunters and 20,524 fewer hunters total.

I am not trying to diminish the nonresident contribution to the North Dakota economy. From my perspective, they are welcome and I am glad; they enjoy our state while they are here. We need to look at the portrait of hunting in North Dakota as a snapshot that is ever changing and not minimize anyone's contribution because a few communities in North Dakota's pay hunting hot spots scream the loudest.

What has been the cost to North Dakota of the loss of the resident waterfowl hunter dollars and the increase in so-called new money from the additional 18,412 nonresident waterfowl hunters? Add pay hunting, the landowner's choice, to the formula and you get areas of the state that do not see hunter numbers of the past and then communities complain because there are fewer hunters.

Usually it is the younger hunters and less fortunate who cannot afford pay hunting. Is this the message we want North Dakota to send to all who hunt in our great state? If you have the bucks, we have wildlife for sale.

The trend in hunting in North Dakota is edging toward more posting and pay hunting. In 1975, little or no land was posted and paying to hunt was scarce to nonexistent. I fear we are inching toward hunting exclusivity. In my opinion that will be a sad day for North Dakota when it comes. If we want hunter numbers to rebound, they will need accessible land and quality hunting opportunities.

The articles have done nothing but stir the pot of an already-boiling caldron. The Forum needs to realize that the heritage and traditions of hunting aid out in our state's Constitution are more important to many of us than Benjamin Franklin's face on a treasury note. Public trust and property rights issues need to find common ground.

Kellam lives in Fargo. E-mail [email protected] 
Text Size: A A A 
Print this article

Email this article 
Most popular articles 
Purchase a print 
Breaking News Alerts

Save and share 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bookmark on del.icio.us 
Digg this article 
Share on Facebook


----------



## Sasha and Abby (May 11, 2004)

:eyeroll:


----------



## MRN (Apr 1, 2002)

Nice work Bob!!!
:beer:

Very nice letter.

M.


----------



## DJRooster (Nov 4, 2002)

I thought it was well written and has it's merits, however I will say it again there is room for everyone, the free lance hunter, the outfitters and the out of state hunters and as long as no particular group has a corner on the market things can be worked out. As soon as one group totally dominates the resource then there are problems out on the prairie ghetto. Considering the amount of hunting pressure that North Dakota has had to sustain in the last decade things are actually at a pretty happy medium in my opinion. There is currently room for everyone. However if the current trends continue it may become to the point where we have reached the tipping point.


----------

