Diving in: Lawmakers to hold special session on lake access
Lawmakers will go back to Pierre to determine whether anglers and hunters should have access to unofficial lakes in the state.
A special committee voted 13-2 Friday to adopt a draft bill that would could re-open about 30 lakes for recreation as early as two weeks from now. More than 2,000 other non-meandered bodies of water 40 acres or larger would stay open unless property owners chose to close them.
The move to quickly call for a special legislative session satisfied business owners near the public waters on private lands. They'd seen a drop in earnings since March, when the state Supreme Court ruled that state agencies don't have the legal authority to grant access to flooded waters or ice on private property without legislative approval.
No date had been selected as of Friday afternoon for a special session.
Read more: http://www.argusleader.com/story/news/politics/2017/06/02/diving-in-lawmakers-hold-special-session-lake-access/365007001/