Recreational Use Limitation of Liability

Hey Guys and Gals!

I recently came across a very useful piece of information. Every state has statutes in place that provide some level of protection to property owners from liability when providing access for recreational use. The Equine Law and Horsemanship Safety website has a very good webpage that has links to every states statutes.

I'd highly reccomend checking this site out. I've already referenced the statute for NC to help gain access near my home.

The site is...
The Equine Law and Horsemanship Safety website

Climb Safe!
Good Luck!
Icabod

Useful information! Way to go. Everyone should print out their state and take a look at it; especially to those in conversation with officials for permission to climb. Print out a copy for the officials to view too.

Yes, but they can still sue you for trespassing

Originally posted by mateo
Yes, but they can still sue you for trespassing

In regard to liability laws this is to help convince property owners to let you climb, right?
-moss

Ok I just read the fine print for my state. In Massachusetts the liability waiver is only in effect in when a property owner allows the general public to use their land for recreation. This was mentioned as a potential gotcha on the Equine site. In Mass. the property owner can't take advantage of this law if they're only giving limited access to their land. So this is very good for getting climbing access on public lands but not so good when you're asking permission for just your self to climb on private property. Check your state's laws, mileage may vary.

We should all be carrying some kind of liability release form for whenever we seek permission to climb on private land.
-moss

I'm working on one now for NC...I hope to get it reviewed by my lawyer over the weekend....

As far as "treespassing" I'm talking more about climbing (or at least first getting) permission to climb in the first place rather than violating someone's property rights....

Climb Safe!
Icabod

A tresspass suit would likely involve some additional unlawful behavior besides just climbing trees, in my opinion. I have never heard of a suit around tresspass as far as tree climbing goes. I have personally been asked...uhhh...told... to come out of park trees. I never argue.

I could see a problem with a climber not knowing land was private. Being sued for climbing...seems like a stretch.....unless the tree was being harmed.