Legislation Looks To Clarify Fence Responsibility In Idaho

Over the years, a string of U.S. Supreme Court cases have stated that no rancher’s livestock may “trespass” upon federally managed lands without authorization to graze.  Yet even in “fence-out” states, the courts have held that the federal government is not required to fence their property.

Despite there being a long line of state and federal cases that have repeatedly concluded that the landowner adjacent to the federally managed property is solely responsible for building and maintaining a fence, the issue still arises from time to time.  Most recently, a landowner in Idaho’s Adams County who bordered the Forest Service decided he did not want a fence where his property met the Forest.  After removing the fence, some cattle grazing on the Forest Service allotment drifted down onto his property.

He called the Adams County Sheriff who informed him he should not have taken down the fence.

The landowner took the rancher to court, and while the rancher prevailed, he still had to spend $20,000 defending himself in court.

To help avoid this situation in the future, Senate Bill 1053 was introduced earlier this session.  The Idaho Farm Bureau Federation’s Dex Lake said the legislation puts into Idaho code the longstanding case law from both state and federal courts.

“If you are a landowner adjacent to federally managed lands, you are responsible for building and maintaining a fence if you want to keep livestock from entering your property. This will hopefully avoid similar lawsuits in the future and potentially save landowners and ranchers from spending time and money going to court.”

SB 1053 was heard in the Senate Ag Affairs Committee on February 5th.

Click Here to learn more about SB 1053.

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