North Carolina to Require Written Permission on Posted Private Lands

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A new law passed by the North Carolina General Assembly requires hunters and anglers to obtain written permission from a landowner or leaseholder before hunting or fishing on privately-owned posted property. The law applies to land, waters, ponds or legally established waterfowl blinds.

The Landowner Protection Act also provides two ways for landowners to post their lands to allow only hunters, trappers and anglers with written permission to legally enter their property. Landowners can now post their land by using vertical purple paint marks on posts or trees, or, as in the past, by placing signs or posters. View the Landowner Protection Act document with more detailed instructions on posting property with signs or purple paint.

The Landowner Protection Act specifically relates only to hunting, fishing, or trapping on posted lands. It clarifies the existing G.S. 14-159.6 requirement for written consent to hunt, fish, or trap on posted lands by specifying that written permission, dated within the past 12 months and signed by the landowner, leaseholder, or agent of that land, be carried and displayed upon request of any law enforcement officer. If a hunting club has leased the land, a person shall have a copy of their hunting club membership and a copy of the landowner permission granted to that hunting club.

The Landowner Protection Act does not change general trespass laws nor have any effect on lands that are not posted. It does not repeal any local acts currently in effect that require written permission to hunt, fish, or trap.

Under existing landowner liability law, landowners providing permission for hunting or fishing on their property, without charge, assume no more liability than currently is afforded a trespasser, in accordance with G.S. 38A-4.

The Landowner Protection Act goes into effect Oct. 1, 2011.

source: N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission