State Rep. Dave Prestin on Tuesday championed the state House passage of his plan to ensure the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) cannot flagrantly trespass onto private property, ensuring they must first obtain a search warrant before entering private property. The plan passed the House with bipartisan support.

The DNR insists that they only enter with probable cause, but that is just a flat-out lie,” said Prestin, R-Cedar River. “They never bother to explain to anyone what their “probable cause” was, because in most instances, it came from an anonymous 1-800 tip line that serves as a convenient method for conservation officers to weaponize neighbor and land disputes. The experiences my constituents share often have common themes, like the DNR hopping your fence, cutting your lock, placing surveillance cameras, and walking 60 to 80 acres onto your land despite “no trespassing” signs, with no warrant, no permission, and most often without you even knowing that they were there.”

Prestin outlined a number of incidents where community members contacted him after the DNR trespassed onto their property. These events include:

• Conservation officers wandering onto private property, just because they heard a gunshot.
• Harassing a hunter because they didn’t like the bear bait container he had on the edge of his property.
• Conservation officers wearing plain clothes, repeatedly trespassing onto private property without notifying the property owners or even bringing charges.
• Repeatedly cutting locks to enter private property without notice and never compensating the property owner for damages.
• Calling a property owner out of his blind right before shooting time on opening day, just so they can check his license.

“When people get the courage to stand up to the department and speak out against them, the department issues a warrant for their arrest.,” Prestin said. “As law-abiding sportsmen and women take to the woods to enjoy their time in the field, too many will be needlessly harassed on their own property. I can promise you that somewhere over the course of the next few weeks, that some hunter is going to be harassed because of a bait pile on their property that was left behind by a trespasser. And the property owner, not the trespasser, will get the ticket.”

Other law enforcement agencies in the state typically only enter private property with probable cause or a search warrant. However, the DNR abuses a constitutional loophole known as the ‘Open Fields Doctrine,’ which they claim permits them to access private property without permission or a warrant.

Prestin’s bill would require the DNR to obtain a search warrant before accessing private property, ending a decades-old practice of the DNR entering first and asking questions later. There are exceptions to the new warrant requirement, as there are for every other law enforcement agency when it comes to private property. For example, conservation officers will not need a warrant if they get permission to enter, if there are exigent circumstances, or if they see evidence of a crime in plain view.

“This bill simply requires the department to put it on paper: Knock on the door or get a warrant,” Prestin said. “The DNR will still be able to protect our public resources without infringing on the rights of the public. They should observe the same best practices as every other law enforcement agency in our state.”

The plan now moves to the state Senate for further consideration.

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