DNR seeks land owner perks to boost outdoors recreation
Source: Charleston Daily Mail
June 05, 2007
Hunting and fishing is a potential billion-dollar industry for West Virginia, state officials say, but there needs to be greater access to private land to reap the full rewards.
The Division of Natural Resources wants the Legislature to offer incentives ranging from tax breaks to protection from lawsuits for private owners of so-called managed timberlands who open their property for public recreational use.
DNR Director Frank Jezioro told lawmakers Monday that hunting and fishing is an $800 million annual industry for the state, and his goal is to increase it to $1 billion.
"That's not an unreasonable goal," he said.
However, the growth of recreational tourism is hampered by a limitation on what land is accessible to the public, he said. People who come to the state for hunting and fishing in particular don't want to be crowded by other enthusiasts.
"If we're going to make West Virginia a true destination and ask people to come here, we have to have some place for them to come," he said.
West Virginia already grants landowners who open their property to the public a limited measure of protection from lawsuits, but Jezioro wants the state to examine expanding that protection.
"There's no reason to punish the landowner because of some negligence on the part of an invitee," he said.
He also asked lawmakers to consider giving landowners the ability to charge fees for access to their property.
Managed timberlands are lots of 10 acres or more whose owners have agreed to a management plan to reduce overcutting. Those owners already qualify for tax breaks for participating in the program. About 98 percent of the landowners involved in the program have lots of less than 1,000 acres, according to Division of Forestry Director Randy Dye.
Any change to the managed timberlands program would be significant, said Sen. Walt Helmick, D-Pocahontas.
"Timber and timber processing is the only industry we practice in all 55 counties," he said.
West Virginia is the third most forested state in the country, with about 78 percent of its land covered by trees.
