Heads up - HB 1135

[Scott M]

Take some time to read up on HB 1135...Let your representatives know that it is not a good idea to limit public access as it goes against what sportsmen have worked so hard to have - access to water for fishing and hunting.

[rundrave]

I believe this is being voted on today in the house.

Here is some more info on the bill:

http://legis.state.sd.us/sessions/2013/Bill.aspx?File=HB1135HAG.htm

[quadfisherman]

I think this is something to do with "high water mark" if I read this right? I remember over by Maynerd's slew off of HWY 25 and catching 12-16" perch and a few massive walleye. I believe it was rearing pond gone overflowed. The land owner wanted it all to himself but the kicker was that there was access from the highway. I have mixed feelings about it but I know he took people to court over it.

[carpshooterdeluxe]

Passed in the house 37-32. This bill is poorly written, and to paraphrase a quote I read earlier today, performs surgery with a meat cleaver.

If the senate passes this bill and pompous governor signs it it will end up in a lot of court battles. I'm not a fan of the "well the road is flooded, this slough is now all public" but this bill would also affect most of the largest and best bodies of waters in the state.

[BigTen]

I was doing a little research the other day at work after reading about this bill, and I was curious about lakes like Waubay and Bitter, since they were just small little bodies of water or in Bitter's case, dry, in the last 30-40 yrs.

I was curious about what the water levels were like when the original township surveys were completed in the late 1800's, since it would have affected whether or not the lakes were meandered. I was a little surprised to find that the water level of bitter was pretty high at that time. It doesn't appear it was as high as right now, but it was a sizable lake at the time, maybe 5-10 feet lower than today (total guess).

The main thing I was going to mention is that I checked Bitter, Waubay, and Blue Dog and they were all meandered lakes as part of the original survey. I did not have time to look any farther.

[rundrave]

this is a touchy subject for sure.

I have a feeling its going to get a little more interest now after yesterday. Regardless of how you feel be sure to let you reps etc know how you feel.

[quadfisherman]

Lake Poinsett was dry back in the day so this bill sucks if they are talking about it that way.

[rundrave]

HB 1135 is going to be discussed at the State Affairs Committee on February 20th at 10 am. Three (3) of the Senators in the State Affairs Committee are sponsors on the bill (Rhoden - State Affairs Committee Chair, Frerichs and Lucas). Reach out to your local Senator and others on that Committee to oppose this legislation. Other Senators who are members of this Committee are: Brown, Johnston, Lederman, Olson, Rave and Tieszen.

I just contacted the Senators named above. It only takes a few minutes to do this, go to this link and voice your concerns.

http://legis.state.sd.us/email/LegislatorEmail.aspx

Hopefully this gets defeated. I heard back from a Senator already and was told that they are working on an amendment that will help both sides and was waiting to see what they come up with

[rundrave]

This is good news!

Quote:

The Senate State Affairs Committee is deciding to stop consideration of legislation that would give property owners more control over public access to flooded private lands in South Dakota.

Landowners lobbyist Mike Shaw and state Game, Fish and Parks Secretary Jeff Vonk told the panel they will work together and bring back a solution for the 2014 session.

The bill, HB 1135, had previously won approval in the House of Representatives. The Senate committee killed the bill unanimously