The South Dakota Senate State Affairs Committee has approved legislation and sent it on to the full Senate. The measure provides access to and use of public waters on public and private land and protects private property rights. South Dakota Farm Bureau Lobbyist Mike Held says it’s a good compromise between agricultural landowners and hunters and fisherman.

Held says the legislation protects the private property rights of most landowners except for a dozen or so in Northeast South Dakota due to current litigation.

Held says he expects spirited debate on the measure on the Senate floor. He says this issues has been debated in South Dakota since the middle 1980s and he’s pleased legislators have made this much progress with committee passage of the bill.