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Senate panel considers bill to clarify land-posting rules; wardens warn 'reasonableness' test could weaken enforcement
Summary
Representative Blair Sackowitz sponsored a bill to clarify that a landowner's posting is valid for 365 days from the clerk recording and to remove the requirement that physical posting signs be dated; Fish and Wildlife and wardens warned a "reasonable person" exception could make prosecution harder, while landowners urged fixes such as purple‑paint marking.
Representative Blair Sackowitz told the Senate Natural Resources & Energy Committee that the bill before the panel stems from a Fish and Wildlife Department reinterpretation and aims to clarify when private land postings are effective.
"One of the things this bill does do is it makes it very clear that the posting is valid from the date that the report was made with the [town clerk] for a period of 365 days," Sackowitz said, summarizing the measure's principal change.
Why it matters: the bill would remove the longstanding requirement that a physical notice sign bear a date and instead make the clerk filing the operative trigger for a property's enclosure status; it also adds language to allow for "accidental or unintentional deviations" from sign placement or condition so long as the landowner did not have "actual notice" that signs were out of compliance. Supporters say the change reduces needless burdens on rural owners who must maintain many fragile Tyvek signs. Opponents say it could undercut enforcement.
Fish and…
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