CHARLESTON — Unless more private land is opened up to outdoor pursuits, such activities could evaporate in West Virginia, or be left in the hands of a select few, Natural Resources Director Frank Jezioro warned Monday.

What’s needed, not only to preserve traditional hunting and fishing, but also to expand areas, are incentives for landowners to open the gates, he told a legislative panel.

Jezioro appeared before a joint meeting of the Forest Management Review Commission and the Joint Committee on Economic Development Commission.

As for the latter, the DNR boss found it fitting to make his pitch before that panel as well, saying, “Hunting and fishing are big business. This is where it needs to be — economic development.”

Yet, as more private land is shut off to hunting, fishing, hiking and other outdoor recreation, Jezioro said the state stands to lose major tourism dollars.

For instance, he told lawmakers, the Springfield Wildlife Management Area once afforded 10,000 acres, but recently went into subdivisions.

While managed timber is part of the equation, since huge tracts are owned by corporations, the DNR is also eyeing smaller holdings not enrolled in that program.

“If we’re going to make West Virginia a true destination and ask people to come here, we have to have some place for them to come to,” he said.

“As the land shrinks, as it becomes developed, or as it goes into one program or another, removed from public access, then we have a problem in trying to bring people here.”

Jezioro told lawmakers the state has an $800 million industry in hunting and fishing, and with more land available, that figure could balloon to $1 billion.

“That’s not an unreasonable goal,” he said.

A major stumbling block has been the liability issue, Jezioro said.

Under Chapter 19 of the State Code, landowners who allow hunters in enjoy limited immunity from lawsuits, if their guests are injured. But the law doesn’t excuse a landowner if visiting hunters wound someone else.

“There is no reason to punish a landowner because of some negligence on the part of the invitee,” the DNR director said.

On the other hand, he stressed, “If someone comes up to the door, drunk, stumbling, and wants to hunt on the land, and he lets them hunt on the land, then he should not be free of liability.”

Other states are looking at additional tax credits, ranging from 2 to 3 percent, if private lands are opened to outdoor recreation.

Jezioro acknowledged the fear of some counties that some of their tax base would be eroded, but said, “That money will come back ten-fold in tourist dollars.”

Hunters, anglers and hikers will seek out the isolated vacation spots and pump up local economies by staying at motels, buying gas, eating in diners, and shopping at convenience stores, he said.

Jezioro suggested another incentive — the beefed-up presence of DNR officers to protect landowners against timber theft and vandalism.

What’s more, the responsible folks enticed to hunt and fish on private land will help with policing it, he said.

Sen. Shirley Love, D-Fayette, the original promoter of the idea that developed into this year’s stud resolution, said the benefits appear limitless if thousands and thousands of acres privately held land are opened to outdoor enthusiasts.

Love recalled some non-residents coming to West Virginia in a recent hunting season, only to find the land they intended to use was leased by a private hunt club of about 50 members.

With more land available to the public, Love suggested, the state could reap a windfall of tourist dollars.

“Absolutely,” Jezioro replied.

If not, the DNR director warned, the consequences appear grim.

“Unless we can get more access to the land, hunting and fishing, and some of the activities that you and I have known will simply die out because people get tired of spending Saturday hunting for a place to hunt, hunting for a place to fish,” he added.

— E-mail:

mannix@register-herald.com