WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) announced today the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) finalized a rule allowing North Dakota property owners whose land is designated a Limited Interest Refuge to once again hunt and fish on their property, a reverse in previous FWS policy. Senator Cramer – who has jurisdiction over FWS as Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife – urged the Trump Administration to enact these provisions after North Dakotans brought this issue to his attention.
“Here we have, once again, the Trump Administration listening to North Dakotans, respecting their property rights and providing greater access for hunting and fishing,” said Senator Cramer. “I am grateful the Fish and Wildlife Service heard the voices of our constituents and acted accordingly.”
"At the time they were established, in the 1930s, the limited-interest refuges served their purpose as safe havens for migratory birds. Those bird populations are now healthy and stable and I am pleased that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, working with affected partners, was able to make this change and allow hunting on these refuges at the discretion of the private landowners," said Rob Wallace, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks. "This supports the Secretary's emphasis on working collaborative with states and local communities to be a good neighbor.”
Starting in 1939, FWS set up a unique program in North Dakota where FWS signed 39 easements with landowners called Limited Interest Refuges to impound water and enhance waterfowl habitat. The easements were later included in the refuge system and are now managed under a Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) completed in 2006. A vast majority of the lands within the acquired boundaries of these refuges remain in private ownership and are surrounded by non-easement lands. Under previous administrations, FWS reiterated the prohibition on all hunting and fishing unless these limited-interest refuges were fully open to the public, which would only be possible if landowners allowed the general public to cross their private property to reach these easements. This decision cut off hunting and fishing access landowners had enjoyed for generations. Constituents expressed their frustration to Senator Cramer and FWS, urging the agency to change its policy.
In response, Senator Cramer reached out to Assistant Secretary Wallace – who oversees FWS – detailing this problem and seeking a consistent, common sense policy on this unique North Dakota program.
“A landowners’ hunting and fishing rights on their own property should not be held hostage,” wrote Senator Cramer. “I respectfully ask that you take immediate administrative action to amend the CCP for these limited interest refuges, restoring hunting and fishing access while preserving the private property rights of these landowners.”
