Liability Protection Gives Landowners Incentive to Open Up Natural Spaces

September 16, 2013- A recently enacted Illinois state law has restored the ability of non-profit organizations, land trusts, residential landowners and businesses to allow the public onto their property for recreation, conservation and education with the benefit of liability protection.

The new law signed by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn provides these protections for the first time since 2005.

In addition to the Governor's office and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, many land and conservation organizations joined in the effort to create the law as Public Act 98-0522, including the Illinois Environmental Council (IEC), the Environmental Law and Policy Center, Openlands and The Nature Conservancy (TNC).

Lenore Beyer-Clow, IEC board president and policy director at Openlands, is quoted in a blog post on the IEC's website, “Openlands worked with its partners for 7 years to reinstate protections for generous private landowners who open their land to the public for recreation. We are excited that this law will offer new opportunities for people to connect to nature and enjoy Illinois beautiful open spaces.”

Without such liability protection incentives to allow the public onto their property, landowners could potentially face financially devastating lawsuits. The removal of the incentive in 2005 had a chilling effect. The Illinois Paddling Council lost access to several Illinois waterways and many land conservancies reduced public access to open natural areas.

Reinstating these incentives, which comes at no cost to taxpayers, brings tremendous benefits to Illinois by helping landowners encourage people to once again safely pursue their favorite outdoor activities.

Susan Donovan, TNC Director of Government Relations, said in the IEC blog post, "The Nature Conservancy has always provided the public access to our property and we are pleased that this new law will encourage more land owners to do so by limiting liability. We want the public to come to our sites and enjoy nature.”

Read the full post  here

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