Yet another trespass bill SB 170

[RobG]

Just listened to the audio of the Mar. 8th full senate hearing. Sen. Pomnichowski brought up two very good points.

• "Critical Infrastructure" is not defined. As Sen. Pomnichowski pointed out, our Gallatin County Hyalite Reservoir is a city water source and could be considered a "critical infrastructure", yet Hyalite Reservoir is also a fishing and recreational site.
• "A person who owns or lawfully occupies" - lawfully occupies could apply towards leasing our public lands, whether that be a State Trust land or a grazing lease on BLM or Forest Service, for example. This would prohibit the use of drones and any photography of those public lands.

This could seriously limit drone use on public lands.

You don't hear much about JP Pomnichowski (Bozeman) and hunter issues, but she is really on top of things. In committee she caught a user fee that Dee Brown tried to slip in to charge hikers a fee to use trails. (D. Brown's logic was that if motorcycles have to pay a usage fee, then so should hikers, but she ignores all the differences between the two transportation modes in the amount of trail that can be physically covered in a day and the potential for damage.)

 

[Straight Arrow]

I have always supported JP Pomnichowski as she is a hunter, wildlife, and outdoors proponent. She is so quietly competent that you really don't realize her influence until you realize that her research and bringing facts and reason to an issue makes a big difference and even if all that does not prevail over the political ideology .... everyone still recognizes that she is right on.

 

[teamhoyt]

What's the status of this?

 

[katqanna]

It was referred to the Business, Labor and Economic Affairs committee on the 9th and is still sitting there.

 

[RobG]

Is there a way to get notified when the status of these bills changes? (like when a hearing is scheduled or when executive action was taken).

 

[The Hedgehog]

JP is one of the few with common sense.

 

[katqanna]

Rob just pointed out SB 170 is being heard tomorrow.

I looked it up, SB 170 (they amended it) 2nd hearing is tomorrow morning at 11:00 on the Senate Floor.

Thanks for the heads up Rob. Hope this doesn't overlap Kerry White's FWP committee executive action.

 

[RobG]

They amended it so the minimum height is 250' and defined things like feedlots as critical infrastructure. PETA can still fly 251' over a feedlot and film operations so I don't know what this accomplishes other than being a round-about way of asserting ownership of airspace by calling it trespass.

If you know a Senator whose vote you can swing send them an email or call them in the morning. They need to scrap the trespass angle and make unauthorized filming, etc illegal to solve the real problem. And that is a harder problem than you might think!

 

[RobG]

Oh yeah, I forgot. I think according to how the law reads you can get a $2500 fine for flying a paper airplane over Hyalite dam.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Sen. Pomnichowsk is a total badass who works for us every day.

Bill still has to get through the House as well. Lots of opportunities left. Keep hunting.

 

[antlerradar]

To keep someone like that dumba-- that flew the drone low over the elk refuge and spooked the elk from doing the same thing at a feed lot.

 

[RobG]

To keep someone like that dumba-- that flew the drone low over the elk refuge and spooked the elk from doing the same thing at a feed lot.

I don't think the elk refuge is private land. And the violation under this proposed law would be for trespassing, not harassing game animals. And 250' would probably spook them anyway.... They need to make the things that people are concerned with illegal. If they want to claim this airspace as private they should making flying manned aircraft through it illegal and make the FAA amend 91.119.

 

[katqanna]

The sponsor bluntly stated, "Its a property rights bill," in his opening.

22 Aye, 26 No, the Do Pass motion failed 2nd reading

Then another senator motioned for a move to Indefinitely postpone SB 170. 32 Aye and 17 No, so SB 170 is Indefinitely Postponed.

Legislative Glossary - "Indefinitely postpone: A motion to dispose of a bill without taking an affirmative or negative vote on the bill. A bill that is indefinitely postponed may not be acted on again without a motion to reconsider. Otherwise the bill is treated as if it were killed."

 

[Ben Lamb]

Nice work Kat!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY0WxgSXdEE

 

[Frenchy]

Disappointing. The Senator for my district voted for it. Ignoring my e-mails requesting the opposite. Shocker.

 

[RobG]

Good sleuthing on this one Kat. The vote went from 30/19 (first reading) to 22/26 (second reading). I see Welborn, Webb, Kary, Fitzpatrick, Phillips and a few others changed their votes.

The bill just didn't address the real problem. I wish these guys would take some time putting these bills together.

 

[What Map]

Kat et al.
Good work on this one.

 

[katqanna]

Kat et al.
Good work on this one.

Thank you, and Yes, especially thank you to the et al. Time and again I am impressed with the public's mobilization, even when so many are tired.

And once again, a bill to protect what is already public from privatization, couldn't even make it out of committee or a blast motion to the floor. Sen. Cohenour's senate version (SB 358) of HB 295 for road encroachment was tabled in committee on the 28th and the blast motion defeated today. Oy

 

[teamhoyt]

Good work everyone

 

[Sytes]

Good sleuthing on this one Kat. The vote went from 30/19 (first reading) to 22/26 (second reading). I see Welborn, Webb, Kary, Fitzpatrick, Phillips and a few others changed their votes.

The bill just didn't address the real problem. I wish these guys would take some time putting these bills together.

Impressive 180* on the vote count. Congrats, Kat and all involved. Impressive!