WHEREAS, most private lands in Louisiana are posted against trespass, and
WHEREAS, many private lands are leased for hunting or reserved for hunting by the owner and his family/friends, and
WHEREAS, leasing and managing hunting lands is costly to the lessee/owner, and rather than securing the privilege to hunt on private land and paying a fair share some hunters are willing to risk arrest for trespass because the likelihood of prosecution and/or the penalty is too small to be a deterrent, relative to the cost of leasing hunting rights, and
WHEREAS, trespassing hunters give hunting a bad reputation, diminish the enjoyment of hunters who have legally secured private hunting lands to enjoy, and devalue the investment in hunting property.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Louisiana Wildlife Federation urges that state and local governments establish fines/penalties for trespass violations that are sufficiently severe to deter any unauthorized entry on private property.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that LWF urges all appropriate law enforcement authorities, district attorneys and judges to cite, prosecute and penalize persons who intentionally trespass on posted, private property.
Adopted by the Louisiana Wildlife Federation in convention assembled, 62nd Annual Meeting, March 4, 2001 in Many, Louisiana.