The South Dakota Department of Game, Fish, and Parks (GFP) is seeking to lease additional private land for public hunting access through the Walk-In Area (WIA) and the Controlled Hunting Access Program (CHAP) to provide more quality public hunting opportunities and improve access to land-locked public land. In 2018, GFP enrolled more than 1.28 million acres of private land in these access programs through partnerships with more than 1,400 landowners across South Dakota.
Currently GFP is putting a great deal of emphasis on accessing land-locked public land that either has limited or no access. GFP would like to partner with landowners to create public access to these areas and would like to discuss any ideas that landowners may have to do so. In the past, GFP has provided fencing, parking areas, signs, improved roads, developed access easements and payments for access to land-locked public land.
To learn more about South Dakota’s hunting access programs, go here or call (605) 223-7660.
(Photo source: South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks)