Hunting Leases and Liability: What Should the Landowner and Hunter Look for in a Lease?

Topic:

Rusty

Leasing property for hunting and similar outdoor recreation has proven for many to be an attractive option at generating additional revenue for landowners while also granting greater access to the outdoors. This webinar will focus on practical issues landowners, hunters, and other lessees may consider while drafting leases.

It is important for all parties to realize that these leases are different from a typical agricultural lease. Thus, it is important to consider issues such as liability and managing shared access to the property in the event the land is also going to be used for agricultural or silvicultural purposes. To help minimize legal risk and other potential problems, it is important that both the landowner and the hunter recognize these issues prior to entering into a lease.

While issues such as length of the lease and the amount of the rental payment are more obvious, other issues may be less apparent. For example, other issues to consider may be:

• Insurance considerations, such as whether to have it, what it should cover, and what party or parties carry the policy;
• Number of hunters or other users who are allowed to use the property at any given time;
• Restrictions on certain hunting and other land use practices such as use of ATVs or other vehicles.

 

Time and Date:

   

 Wednesday, June 15, 2022

12:00 – 1:00 (EDT)

11:00 – 12:00 (CDT)

Participation:

View a recording of the webinar here

Presenters:

Rusty Rumley, a Senior Staff Attorney at theNational Agricultural Law Center, was born and raised on a family farm in Cogar, Oklahoma. He graduated magna cum laude from Oklahoma State University in 2004 with a B.S. in AgriBusiness and in 2007 earned his juris doctor from the University of Oklahoma. While attending the University of Oklahoma he was a member of the American Indian Law Review and worked part-time for Oklahoma Farm Bureau Legal Foundation.  After law school, Rusty earned his LL.M in Agricultural Law at the University of Arkansas.  He is licensed to practice law in the states of Oklahoma and Michigan.

Rusty has published law review articles discussing the future application of special use valuation for inherited farmland, “right to farm” statutes, and the enforcement of animal cruelty statutes by private organizations. He has also written on landowner liability, agritourism, food labeling, local food production, business organizations, crop insurance, estate planning, leasing, and other land use topics in his work at the Center. Further, Rusty presents around the country to producer, consumer, extension, industry and legal groups on an array of topics.

Additionally, he has  co-taught a course titled “Animals and Agricultural Production, Law and Policy”  several times at the University of Oklahoma College of Law and most recently at the University of Nebraska College of Law and teaches an introduction to agricultural law course through the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food, & Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas.  He is also an adjunct faculty member in the  University of Arkansas’ Animal  Science Department  and the Agricultural  Economics and Agribusiness Department.

His primary areas of interest are in estate planning, taxation, business organizations, landowner liability, leasing and agritourism.

Research & Materials:

Coming soon.