Our next Woodland Wildlife Wednesday webinar will be at 12 noon, July 29th. The program, "Landowner Liability & Recreation Access in Maryland," will feature two speakers from the University of Maryland Extension: Jonathan Kays, Forestry Extension Specialist, and Paul Goeringer, Extension Legal Specialist.
Many landowners are confused about their liability for hunters and recreationists. Farm enterprise entrepreneurs are concerned how COVID-19 affects their liability for agritourism clientele. Landowners face questions about their rights to control use by recreationists, their liability, insurance needs for leasing land, options to deal with trespassing, and many other issues. Given the need to manage deer populations, it is critical to understand this issue.
The Maryland Recreational Statute provides liability protection for landowners that do not charge a fee. But there are concerns about what constitutes a fee, where it applies, what do I do if I charge for access, and other questions. A Maryland Appellate Court ruling in early 2020 called into question the relationship of public access on private land and coverage under the Statute. This webinar will address the implications of the court ruling and in general, explain the application of the Recreational Statute in the Maryland Annotated Code in layman's terms as it applies to landowners, recreationists, agritourism operators, and farm enterprise owners. The University of Maryland Extension Woodland Stewardship Program and Agricultural Law Programs have partnered to provide this informative webinar.
This webinar will be presented via Zoom. The presentation is free, but registration is required. For more information and to register, go to the link below.
