Private Lands Access Program

Sponsoring Agency or Organization

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

Contact: Mick Cope

Email: Mick.Cope@dfw.wa.gov

Phone: 360-902-2691

Program details

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife reaches agreements with private landowners to allow the public access to their property. These agreements are typically for hunting, although can also include other outdoor recreation such as fishing. While the majority of lands currently in the program are farming and ranching lands, industrial timberlands are also made available through the program.

Four main types of landowner agreements are used, including:
* Feel Free To Hunt: lands are open without gaining further permission from the landowner.
* Register To Hunt: lands are open to hunting, but require the hunter to sign in before hunting and sign out afterward.
* Hunt By Written Permission: lands open to public hunting, but hunters are required to contact the landowner and obtain a permission slip prior to going afield.
* Landowner Hunting Permits: lands open to public hunting through a special permit specially allocated to the landowner and distributed to hunters via a random drawing.

This program applies to the following states:
  • Washington

    • (Click the links above to see access programs in that state.)

Program Focus:
  • Public Land Access
  • Corporate Land Access
Program Type:
  • Cooperative Management (access and wildlife on large land holdings cooperatively managed with landowners) programs
  • Walk-in programs
  • Land owner tag (in exchange for public access) programs
  • Public Access for Wildlife Damage Control
Program Scope: State-wide
Program Restrictions:
  • Mode of access
  • Number of hunters by season
  • Game that may be hunted
  • Parking area restrictions
  • Youth only
  • Handicap only
  • Time of year
Program Funding Sources:
  • Pittman-Robertson funds
  • Hunter license funds
Is written agreement with landowner required? Yes
Landowner Considerations:
  • Limit landowner liability
  • Litter clean up
  • Post property
  • Supplies and materials provided
Cost to Participants:
  • Free
  • Special agency issued stamp/permit
  • Special license
Landowner Payment Factors/Considerations:
  • By habitat quality
  • Other
Maps for this Program are Available:
  • For free
  • Via the Internet
  • Available at State offices
Program Promotion:
  • Internet
  • Proclamations/regulations
Program started: 1948

Audience

Target Group:
  • Any properly licensed hunter
  • Youth hunters only
  • Disabled hunters only
Target Participants:
  • Any properly licensed hunter
  • Upland/Small game hunters
  • Big game hunters
  • Waterfowl hunters
  • Wildlife damage control hunters
Actions Needed to Use Enrolled Land:
  • Limit landowner liability
  • Litter clean up
  • Post property
  • Supplies and materials provided
Planning and Evaluation

Program objectives:

  • Acquire public access to 1,500,000 acres of private lands statewide.

Manual or Plan

This program has a manual or plan: No

Evaluation

This program is evaluated: Yes

Comments: Program has been evaluated and prioritized internally. Focus areas have been developed and vetted with hunting advisory groups. Random surveys have been conducted to evaluate public opinion of access programs and what they provide. Annual evaluations of the Hunt By Written Permission program are conducted.

Metrics used to measure success and evaluate this program:
  • Number of acres
  • Number of participants (landowners)
  • Number of participants (hunters)
  • General, unstructured feedback from hunters
  • Informal after-season evaluations
  • Informal qualitative evaluations based on participant hunter feedback
  • Hunter surveys
  • Landowner surveys
  • License sales
How effective is the program at meeting your objectives?: Moderately effective
Would you recommend other agencies/organizations use this model?: Don't Know
General Comments: * Access programs, or pieces of access programs, can be very state-specific based on funding, target species, and constituent desires. * The variety of options provided in Washington is an attempt to satisfy a wide variety of user desires and is met with varying success. * Balancing quality hunting opportunities with ease of access is difficult. * One of the biggest keys to a successful program is having the personnel/capacity to effectively work with landowners on a broad scale. * Access-based funding is limited, so effectively utilizing habitat-based funding is extremely important.
Program Size

Minimum Property Size: 75 acres

Acres Enrolled: 1,237,000

Access Sites (rights of way) Established: n/a

Number of Hunters Participating: unknown

Number of Landowners Participating: 622

Other Program Size Information: out of the 1,237,000 acres in the program, 517,000 are in Feel Free to Hunt, 577,000 in Hunt by Written Permission, 16,000 in Register to Hunt, and 126,000 are in the Landowner Hunting Permit program.

Budget

Cost Type: Annual cost

Program cost: 600,000


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Mick Cope