Public Land Comment Recorder

By: Mark Norton | Hunting Access and Farm Bill Coordinator

Earlier this year, South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks (GFP) launched a new Public Hunting Land Comment Recorder designed to collect public input on lands owned or leased for public hunting access by GFP.

Game Production Areas (GPAs) and Walk-In Areas (WIAs) make up most of these lands; however State Parks and Recreation Areas as well as lands in the Controlled Hunting Access Program (CHAP), and James River Watershed Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) are also included. GPAs are lands owned and managed by GFP to provide wildlife habitat and public hunting, fishing, and trapping access opportunities. WIAs and CHAPs are lands owned by private individuals as working farms and ranches leased by GFP to provide public hunting access. Landowner permission is required for fishing and trapping. CREPs are also private land but leased for both public hunting and fishing access. Landowner permission is required to trap on CREP.

Approximately 40% of South Dakota hunters do some hunting on WIAs. Of these, 73% say they are satisfied with the program and 98% plan to continue hunting WIAs in the future. Similarly, 58% of hunters surveyed in 2017 used GPAs for some or all of their pheasant, deer, waterfowl, or turkey hunting.

GFP uses funding generated from the sale of hunting licenses as well as a federal excise tax on most firearms, ammunition and archery equipment to acquire and manage the habitat on
GPAs and lease the hunting rights from private landowners. As such, GFP is always looking to maximize the hunting opportunities these lands provide. Comments from the public are a great way to help GFP managers gauge public use and support for these lands and programs, as well as identify areas of concerns to be addressed. Comments about these types of lands are often submitted on harvest surveys or through other means, but many times it’s difficult to address the comments as they do not include specific location information or the commenter’s contact information.

The Public Hunting Land Comment Recorder is designed to capture the important public feedback. It allows anyone to easily submit their name and contact information. Using an interactive map, users can zoom to the exact tract of land they have a comment about. It even allows pictures to be attached to the comment. Each comment will receive a response from GFP. You can check it out on the GFP website on the Hunting Areas page at gfp.sd.gov/hunting-areas.

Access the Public Hunting Land Comment Recorder