Latest news with #SB2137
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong brings a hunter's mindset to the governor's office
May 23—When it comes to hunting, North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong leaves no doubt about his passion for the pursuit. "My wife would use the word 'addiction,' " Armstrong said. "And my favorite thing to hunt is ... 'What season is next?' " A first-term governor who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2019 until last year, Armstrong stopped by the Grand Forks Herald office Thursday, May 15. While the purpose of the visit was to talk about the recently wrapped-up session of the Legislature, the governor also discussed hunting, fishing and some of the challenges and opportunities the outdoors faces in North Dakota. "I always say we're not the best at anything, but we're the best at everything," Armstrong said, referring to North Dakota's abundance of outdoors opportunities. "There's still not a lot of places that you can go shoot a limit of pheasant, grouse, partridge, mallards, geese, whitetail, mule deer — all of the above. You can do it 100 miles from the governor's residence." One of the most publicized outdoors-related bills during the legislative session was SB 2137, which prohibits the Game and Fish Department from restricting the practice of baiting for big game hunting on private land in hunting units with confirmed cases of chronic wasting disease. Game and Fish historically has banned baiting for deer on private land in hunting units within 25 miles of a confirmed positive CWD case. The highly contagious brain disease is fatal to deer, elk and moose, and minimizing the chances of bringing animals into close contact has been a standard practice wildlife managers use to mitigate the risk. The "baiting bill," as it was commonly called, passed the House by a 56-34 vote, and Armstrong signed it Thursday, April 17. Baiting remains illegal for hunting on public land. "I think one of the things North Dakota always has to be conscious of is we don't have a lot of public land," Armstrong said. "I always viewed (baiting) as a private property right." Considering only about 9% of North Dakota land is public land, support from private landowners is crucial to the future of hunting and access in the state, he said. That's why he signed the bill. All the "habitat in the world" doesn't mean much without access to private land, Armstrong said. The legislation sunsets in 2029. "We don't have outdoor heritage if we don't have buy-in from landowners because we don't have a lot of federal land, we don't have a lot of state land," Armstrong said. "We'll monitor and watch it. If we start seeing a spike (in CWD), we'll have to sit down and look at it. Game and Fish tested 1,456 animals for CWD during the 2024 sampling season, and 17 tested positive — 15 taken by hunters and two "clinical deer" that were confirmed through diagnostic examination. That brings the total of positive cases to 122 since 2009, when CWD was first detected in North Dakota. In December, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department hosted a Habitat and Hunting Access Summit in Bismarck. Armstrong, just days into his first term as governor, spoke at the summit. Gone are the days when North Dakota had more than 3 million acres of land enrolled in the federal Conservation Reserve Program. As CRP contracts expire, wildlife habitat is less abundant, and wildlife populations — especially white-tailed deer — are struggling and less resilient to severe winters and diseases such as the EHD (epizootic hemorrhagic disease) outbreak that decimated deer numbers in some areas in 2021. North Dakota today has less than 1 million acres of land enrolled in CRP, and 85% of the acreage enrolled during the peak in 2007 could be gone by 2026 if contracts continue to expire at their current rate, Game and Fish biologist Doug Leier reported this week in his weekly "North Dakota Outdoors" column. The summit was the first step in what promises to be a slow, challenging process to address access and the loss of habitat. Whatever direction any potential solutions ultimately take, farmers and ranchers must be on board, Armstrong says. There are no easy answers. "If you don't start with the ag groups and the actual farmers and ranchers about what works for them ... what works for sportsmen and what works for the guy making a living off that land every day of the week aren't always the same thing," Armstrong said. "I think the low-hanging fruit, me personally — youth deer, youth pheasant, youth duck — I think you have to be a pretty (difficult) guy to say no to a 14-year-old kid who wants to shoot his first whitetail doe or her first pheasant or first duck. I think there are opportunities to do this." Game and Fish recently announced it will offer 42,300 licenses for this fall's deer gun season — a near 50-year low — down from more than 100,000 for several years during the peak of CRP. In some ways, North Dakota is losing its "deer camp culture," Armstrong says. CWD and baiting isn't the issue, he says, it's EHD and two bad winters. "We have way too many people chasing inches instead of chasing experience," he said, referring to the size of a buck's rack. "I can tell you, looking back on all of my favorite deer hunts, I don't care how big the deer was. I don't look back 20 years ago and have a more fond experience because it was a 156-inch deer vs. a 142-inch deer." Trapshooting has become one of the fastest-growing high school sports in North Dakota and nationwide, but "less and less" of the kids shooting trap are actually hunting, Armstrong says, a trend that presents both a challenge and an opportunity. "How we can figure out how to (get kids hunting) also happens to be a pretty good workforce recruitment and retention tool," Armstrong said. "If you're 17 years old and love to hunt and fish, the chances of you staying in North Dakota at 35 are higher than if you don't" hunt and fish. While Armstrong says he's not an avid angler, the quality of fishing available in North Dakota is another piece of "low-hanging fruit," in terms of outdoors opportunities. "For as much criticism as Game and Fish gets — and a lot of it isn't deserved — we spend a lot of time talking about Devils Lake, Sakakawea and the Missouri River, but there are tons of the little fisheries out there that are (anglers') secret spots," he said. As for hunting, Armstrong says he looks forward to spending more time in the field as governor than he did as North Dakota's representative in Congress. Regardless, he says, it won't be enough. "No hunter on his deathbed ever said, 'Man, I really wish I would have hunted less,' " Armstrong said.
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
North Dakota House committee gives 'do-pass' recommendation to baiting bill
Apr. 4—BISMARCK — After making amendments, a North Dakota House committee has given a "do-pass" recommendation to SB 2137, a bill that would prevent the Game and Fish Department from restricting the use of supplemental feed for hunting big game on private land, a practice commonly known as "baiting." Currently, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department prohibits baiting big game on private land in hunting units with confirmed cases of chronic wasting disease or in units within 25 miles of a confirmed CWD case. A neurological disease that affects deer, elk and moose, CWD is always fatal. The House Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Thursday, April 3, amended SB 2137 to limit the amount of bait that can be placed at a given site to 50 gallons. In addition, the supplemental feed may not be placed within 50 feet of any property used for animal agriculture. In addition to the 50-gallon limit and 50-foot setback requirement, the committee recommended the Game and Fish Department "shall conduct chronic wasting disease surveillance and testing" and provide a report to Legislative Management by July 31, 2029, "regarding an update on the surveillance and testing protocols and procedures for chronic wasting disease in the state." The committee gave a do-pass recommendation to the amended legislation by an 8-4 vote. If ultimately passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Kelly Armstrong, the legislation would be effective through July 31, 2029. Authored by Sen Keith Boehm, R-Mandan, SB 2137 has been perhaps the most hotly contested piece of outdoors-related legislation to be introduced during this year's North Dakota legislative session. Dozens of people on both sides of the issue have weighed in on the bill, which passed the Senate by a 31-15 vote. Baiting also was a hot topic during the 2023 North Dakota legislative session, and the Senate in the closing days of the session narrowly defeated a bill with provisions similar to the legislation now being debated. HB 1151 initially sailed through the House by a 76-18 vote before being defeated in the Senate by a 26-21 vote. In its plan for managing CWD, a restriction on baiting currently is one of five tools the Game and Fish Department uses to mitigate the fatal disease. Science has shown the risk of spreading the disease is heightened by close contact. Other tools in the CWD mitigation toolbox are carcass transport restrictions, surveillance and testing, proper carcass disposal (preferably in a landfill) and education/outreach to keep people informed. If SB 2137 ultimately passes, Game and Fish still would have authority to manage the disease "in every aspect except baiting," said Rep. Todd Porter, R-Mandan, chairman of the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee. "I think we're codifying their authority inside the disease," Porter said. The bill now awaits a vote in the full House. The Game and Fish Department in February said it confirmed 17 new cases of CWD in North Dakota during the 2024 sampling season, mainly in the western part of the state. Of that total, 15 deer were taken by hunters and two were clinical deer confirmed through diagnostic examination, the department said. There have been 122 confirmed cases of CWD in North Dakota since 2009, when the disease first was documented in Unit 3F2 in the south central part of the state.
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Baiting bill, fee hike among top North Dakota outdoors legislation still in play
Mar. 8—The number of outdoors-related bills introduced during the 2025 session of the North Dakota Legislature is down from previous sessions, but a few pieces of legislation stand out, bill-watchers say. According to John Bradley, executive director of the North Dakota Wildlife Federation, the NDWF has been tracking about 20 bills that impact hunters, anglers and trappers. "Normally, we see about double that in a session," Bradley said. "It's been pretty quiet so far, but the good, positive bills that we've seen have moved through and have had really decent support from our legislators. "So, (we're) kind of optimistic going into the second half." Among the bills the NDWF is tracking is HB 1470 , which would increase the fees of some hunting and fishing licenses. The bill passed the House by a 64-25 vote and now awaits action by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The price of hunting and fishing licenses in North Dakota hasn't increased since 2013, when the Legislature approved a fee hike that took effect in 2014. The Game and Fish Department is mandated to keep at least $15 million in its reserve fund. Without an increase, that fund is projected to fall below $15 million in the next biennium. "We'll be supporting that in the Senate," Bradley said. "There hasn't been a license fee increase in over a decade. Everything else in this world has become more expensive, whether that's eggs, your mortgage ... you name it, it's gone up. And so, it's due time to keep the Game and Fish whole to keep them above their mandated $15 million reserve fund." The bill could see "a little bit more discussion" in the Senate, Bradley said, especially as it pertains to nonresident license fees. "We may see an uptick (in proposed nonresident fees) as that crosses over to the Senate, but 1470 as a whole is a good bill that we will be supporting," Bradley said. The proverbial elephant in the room among outdoors bills, though, is SB 2137, the so-called "baiting bill," which would prevent the Game and Fish Department from restricting the practice of supplemental feeding for hunting — commonly known as baiting — on private land in units with documented cases of chronic wasting disease. Game and Fish currently prohibits baiting for big game hunting on private land in hunting units with CWD-positive cases or within 25 miles of a confirmed CWD case. Baiting also is prohibited on state and federal lands. A neurological brain disease, CWD is always fatal to deer, elk and moose, although it can take several months or more before obvious symptoms appear. Proponents of the legislation to restrict the Game and Fish Department's current baiting ban authority flocked to the Capitol on Friday, Jan. 17, for the bill's initial hearing before the Senate Agriculture and Veterans Affairs Committee, forcing legislative staff to move the hearing to a larger room. Hunters who favor baiting and oppose efforts to ban it on private land say it's a property rights issue. They say it increases hunting success for young hunters and people with physical limitations. They also question CWD's impact on deer populations and argue it doesn't make sense to restrict baiting for hunting when supplemental feeding is allowed the rest of the year. Opponents, meanwhile, cite the potential disease risks of drawing deer into close quarters. The North Dakota Game and Fish Department in February reported 17 deer tested positive for CWD during the 2024 sampling season — 15 taken by hunters and two "clinical" deer confirmed through diagnostic examination. That brings the statewide total to 122 since 2009, when the disease first was detected in unit 3F2 in south-central North Dakota. The Senate approved SB 2137 by a 31-15 vote in late January, with a "sunset clause" amendment that the legislation be effective through July 31, 2029. The bill had its first hearing before the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Friday, March 7, but no action was taken. Similar legislation passed the House by a 76-18 vote during the 2023 legislative session, only to be defeated in the Senate by a 26-21 vote in the closing days of the session. Two other bills introduced this session in the House — HB 1236 and HB 1325 , both of which would have limited the Game and Fish Department's ability to manage for CWD — were soundly defeated. One in particular, HB 1236, would have prohibited the department from using license dollars for CWD management. That bill was defeated by a vote of 63-27. Bradley of the NDWF says he thinks SB 2137 will get a "far more thorough" look in the House. "Our take on it is the (Game and Fish) Department is the best (option) to manage CWD in our state, and banning baiting in certain areas is one of the best tools to slow the spread of CWD," Bradley said. "And with any wildlife disease or even livestock disease, to lock something up in statute doesn't really give the agencies the proper leverage to be able to address something on the fly." As of Wednesday, March 5, the bill had received 247 pieces of written testimony on the North Dakota Legislative Branch website. Another bill that stands out, Bradley says, is HB 1094, which would allocate up to 10 big game licenses to nonprofit groups for fundraising. Existing legislation limits the allocation to 501C3 nonprofits, but HB 1094 would expand that to 501C19 nonprofits, which are veterans' organizations, Bradley said. The bill also would increase the percentage of fundraising proceeds that would have to go to conservation from 10%, the current level, up to 20%. "So, if a nonprofit were to get a moose tag and, say, raise $50,000, you'd be looking at $10,000 going back into the resource instead of just the original $5,000," Bradley said. Among other bills of note, HB 1237, which would have allowed nonresident hunters to buy full-season licenses for upland game and small game instead of limiting them to a 14-day license or two 7-day licenses, was defeated by an 86-4 vote in the House. Meanwhile, HB 1260, which would allocate nonresident any-deer bow licenses based on 15% of the current year's mule deer gun license allocation, passed the House by a vote of 87-3. Currently, the nonresident bow allocation is based on 15% of the previous year's mule deer gun license allocation. The change, if passed, would give the Game and Fish Department more flexibility in managing nonresident any-deer bow license numbers in years when mule deer populations are down. "If a bad winter were to come through and really wipe out the deer it would give more accurate counts heading into the next year, as opposed to the current system of using last year's numbers," Bradley said. For a complete listing of outdoors-related bills and their status in the Legislature, check out the Outdoors Legislation page of the Game and Fish website at Where North Dakota lawmakers vote on specific outdoors-related legislation, individual bills in the Minnesota Legislature, if they survive scrutiny, often are incorporated into an all-encompassing omnibus bill that includes several pieces of legislation as the session progresses. Among the bills currently in play are House File 276 and HF 413 , which would affect the cost of fishing licenses for residents age 65 and older. According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, HF 276 would reduce the cost of a license by $10 for seniors, with lost revenue appropriated from the state's General Fund to the DNR's Game and Fish Fund. HF 413 would allow people 65 and older to fish without a license. Both bills have been laid over to possibly be included in an omnibus bill. A few other bills of note: * HF 944: Would allow landowners to use purple paint to mark no trespassing areas instead of placing physical signs. * HF 1120: Would establish and appropriate money to the Keep It Clean program, an effort encouraging anglers and fish house owners to pick up after themselves while on the ice. The bill would direct the DNR commissioner to develop a grant program to provide funds to local units of nongovernment organizations. * HF 1387: Would prohibit the sale, manufacture and use of lead tackle. Specifically, anglers couldn't use lead jigs weighing 1 ounce or less, or sinkers measuring 2 1/2 inches or less in length.
