DES MOINES – The Iowa Supreme Court upheld today a ruling by a lower court that says owning land is not enough reason to be able to hunt on the land.
Three Iowa landowners who are not permanent residents here had posed a challenge to Iowa’s hunting laws and claimed discrimination. The court considered whether the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) can revoke resident hunting licenses previously granted to Joseph Democko, Donald Jones, and James Samis on the basis they do not qualify as residents under Iowa Code. The non-resident landowners asserted that decisions of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to revoke their resident hunting licenses were not supported by substantial evidence and state hunting regulations favoring residents violate the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the United States Constitution.
The Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday that all three men are not residents of Iowa. The court also ruled that it is constitutional that certain advantages in Iowa law are provided to Iowa residents but not afforded to non-residents. “We find … that landownership in Iowa is not accompanied by the right to hunt on one’s own land”
