Program to offer hunters more access to private land
Not many youngsters living in a desert grow into fishermen. Likewise, hunting can’t thrive as a popular pursuit where opportunity dries up.
Ohio, bordered north by Lake Erie and south by the Ohio River with numerous streams and reservoirs in between, has plenty of water for fish. The state also has land sufficient for tolerant wildlife, though nowhere nearly as much for hunters of that wildlife.
“Ohio is 95% privately owned,” Kendra Wecker, chief of the Ohio Division of Wildlife, said in a recent statement. “And many of these lands are prime outdoor recreational areas.”
For reasons various and debatable, many of the “prime” properties have become less open to use by the public despite a longtime recognition of the trend, of what the trend seems to mean and of a need to reverse it. Efforts, none of which turned out to be a whopping success, have been made to alter a rather gloomy trajectory.
Wecker’s words came on behalf of yet another attempt, this one using federal money, to help hunters gain additional access to private land. The Ohio Landowner and Hunter Access Partnership provides an economic incentive — $2 to $30 per acre annual payment — to landowners granting access.
The program, which has been awarded about $1.8 million to disburse, has piqued more interest among hunters than it has among landowners since being announced
in July, said Dave Kohler, wildlife division program administrator.
“Our original goal was to approach something like 20,000 acres” in signed-up land, he said. “That’s a pretty ambitious goal for a first-year program, though.”
Despite lopsided indicators of mostly hunter interest, the hope is that good outcomes in the coming years will help grow the partnership, Kohler said.
Rules are in place designed to protect landowners and hunters without being overly burdensome to either. For instance, while the program mandates access by a lone hunter when as many as 50 acres are enrolled, a landowner might grant permission to additional hunters.
Additionally, the federal guidelines exclude fishing, trapping and gun hunting for white-tailed deer. Landowners, though, aren’t prohibited from granting written permission for those activities.
A check-in page will be viewable starting Sept. 1 at the wildlife division website. The interactive system will allow hunters to view enrolled properties and to obtain OHLAP permits on a first-come, first-served basis.
A permit, which covers the hours from 5:30 a.m. until 10 p.m. on the hunting day specified, can be obtained no earlier than 12:01 a.m. on the day the hunter wants to use a particular property. The hunter and anyone accompanying the hunter, whether hunting or not, will need a permit.
The program operates Sept. 1 through May 31, although the landowner may allow hunting from June 1 through Aug. 31 separate from the partnership requirements. Only wildlife in season may be hunted, and only if the regular state-required licenses and permits are purchased.
Contracts with landowners will run two or three years. Land payments run $2 for an acre of agricultural land and $30 for perennial wildlife cover such as wetlands, grasslands, brushlands and forest.
While under contract, landowners may not lease or rent out Ohlap-enrolled land for hunting, and aside from the exception of hunting deer with a gun, all other seasonal hunting is allowed. Hunters may not install tree stands, use bait or employ trail cameras on partnership land.
For details and contact information, visit the Hunting & Trapping page at the Web site, wildohio.gov.
Land enrollments for this inaugural signup period will remain open until the money runs out, Kohler said.
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