Landowner Liability Protection Laws Must be Made Accessible
Information for Public Recreation on Private Land
The fact that recreation is a major contributor to Vermont's economy and contributes to the healthy lifestyle of an active public is well known. That said, one of the more problematic issues regarding recreation in Vermont is posted land.
Landowners in VT have the option to post land if they are concerned about privacy, property damage, liability issues or any other reason that might arise by letting the public access their property for recreational activities. Information for legally posting your land is readily available to the public.
Not so accessible are tools to help educate landowners regarding their legal protections when allowing access and information for an active public regarding their responsibilities to landowners.
Privacy is certainly understandable as it depends on how much land they own and where and what recreation activities take place. A long held tradition is to ask for permission to cross private land and to talk to the landowner about any concerns that they have. This also helps to avoid property damage.
Recreation trails are modified annually due to landowner’s real and perceived problems. Vermont Trail System (VTS) members have very high standards of trail development, management and respect for landowners concerns, yet problems persist. Hiking, biking, fishing, hunting, cross country skiing, snowmobiling, ATV and other uses are affected by changes to access rules for private and public lands.
There are tools that could help to reduce the amount of posted lands in Vermont but they are not readily available to the public. One is the ten point trail ethic poster, developed by the Trails and Greenways Council several years ago. This poster or something similar could be made available to the public.
Another is the "Public Recreation On Private Land" booklet. After several years of debate and failed efforts, finally in 1998 the Vermont Legislature passed what is considered among the nation’s best landowner liability protection laws for allowing recreational users on private land. The booklet covers “rights of landowners, responsibilities of land users, and issues of common concern”.
The booklet was last updated in 2002 and was widely distributed. Since then there has been no update and the old copy is hard to find. The updated information should be accessible on-line and booklets should be in the hands of every town clerk and every new landowner.
There will always be a few bad actors involved in every outdoor activity and private lands will continue to be posted but we have the tools to reduce these problems if only Forests, Parks and Recreation has the will to provide them.
You can see both the ethics poster and the old landowner liability booklet at: www.voga.org/access-land-waterways.html
Have fun and be safe out there,
Gray
Graydon Stevens
Executive Director
Vermont Outdoor Guide Association (VOGA)
www.voga.org
gray@voga.org
The fact that recreation is a major contributor to Vermont's economy and contributes to the healthy lifestyle of an active public is well known. That said, one of the more problematic issues regarding recreation in Vermont is posted land.
Landowners in VT have the option to post land if they are concerned about privacy, property damage, liability issues or any other reason that might arise by letting the public access their property for recreational activities. Information for legally posting your land is readily available to the public.
Not so accessible are tools to help educate landowners regarding their legal protections when allowing access and information for an active public regarding their responsibilities to landowners.
Privacy is certainly understandable as it depends on how much land they own and where and what recreation activities take place. A long held tradition is to ask for permission to cross private land and to talk to the landowner about any concerns that they have. This also helps to avoid property damage.
Recreation trails are modified annually due to landowner’s real and perceived problems. Vermont Trail System (VTS) members have very high standards of trail development, management and respect for landowners concerns, yet problems persist. Hiking, biking, fishing, hunting, cross country skiing, snowmobiling, ATV and other uses are affected by changes to access rules for private and public lands.
There are tools that could help to reduce the amount of posted lands in Vermont but they are not readily available to the public. One is the ten point trail ethic poster, developed by the Trails and Greenways Council several years ago. This poster or something similar could be made available to the public.
Another is the "Public Recreation On Private Land" booklet. After several years of debate and failed efforts, finally in 1998 the Vermont Legislature passed what is considered among the nation’s best landowner liability protection laws for allowing recreational users on private land. The booklet covers “rights of landowners, responsibilities of land users, and issues of common concern”.
The booklet was last updated in 2002 and was widely distributed. Since then there has been no update and the old copy is hard to find. The updated information should be accessible on-line and booklets should be in the hands of every town clerk and every new landowner.
There will always be a few bad actors involved in every outdoor activity and private lands will continue to be posted but we have the tools to reduce these problems if only Forests, Parks and Recreation has the will to provide them.
You can see both the ethics poster and the old landowner liability booklet at: www.voga.org/access-land-waterways.html
Have fun and be safe out there,
Gray
Graydon Stevens
Executive Director
Vermont Outdoor Guide Association (VOGA)
www.voga.org
gray@voga.org