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KDWP says trail-camera ban on state lands reduced conflicts; department recommends no change
Summary
KDWP staff reviewed effects of the department regulation (115.825) prohibiting placement of trail or game cameras on KDWP-managed lands and walk-in hunting areas; staff reported reduced user conflicts and law-enforcement concerns and recommended keeping the ban in place after two hunting seasons under the rule.
Ryan Stuckey, Public Lands Director with KDWP's Pratt office, briefed the commission on the department's regulation that prohibits placement and use of trail or game cameras on department lands and walk-in hunting areas. The rule, cited at the meeting as 115.825, took effect April 6, 2023.
Stuckey said the department tracked issues raised before the rule — theft of cameras, multiple cameras monopolizing sites, cameras focused on other hunters' tree stands, landowner privacy complaints, and commercialization of images — and gave the regulation two full primary or winter hunting seasons to assess effects.
"Kansas is ranked 49th in the nation with having the second to the lowest number of acres of public land," Stuckey said, describing how limited public acreage magnifies user conflicts. He told commissioners that, following the ban, KDWP has received some negative comments from users who miss cameras but also many positive comments from people who appreciate the reduction in conflicts and privacy concerns.
KDWP's written reading of the regulation at the meeting described the prohibition expansively: no person may place or use a trail or game camera on department lands or any images or video from a trail camera, including location, time or date, to aid in taking wildlife on department lands or waters; the subsection excludes cameras owned and used by the department for operations or research.
Stuckey told the commission the department is satisfied that law-enforcement issues, user conflicts and landowner concerns around walk-in hunting areas (WIHA/IWIHA) have improved since the regulation took effect, and KDWP "is not recommending any changes to the trail camera regulation at this time." He added the department coordinated internally and with regional partners during rule development and public workshops prior to adoption.
Commissioners asked whether the prohibition provides a direct conservation benefit, and Stuckey replied it is not a management tool for herd or population dynamics; rather, it was intended to reduce conflicts and privacy problems. Commissioners also raised safety and regulatory-framing concerns. One commissioner noted philosophical opposition to regulation without clear safety or science-based conservation benefits.
Public commenters at the meeting expressed both support and opposition. Some landowners told commissioners cameras on WIHA properties disrupted farming operations and made neighbors uncomfortable; other speakers, including hunters and competitive night-hunting participants, said the ban removed a legitimate long-season recreational activity and the department could pursue intermediate steps such as requiring external identification on cameras.
Ending: KDWP recommended retaining the regulation; the commission did not adopt any change during the meeting and will revisit the topic if future information warrants it.
