A “posted” sign outlining that hunting, fishing, trapping and trespassing are prohibited in Montpelier. File photo from Sept. 10, 2023. Photo by Natalie Williams/VTDigger Public outcry befell the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife in the fall, after the department announced that no-tres passing signs would only be valid during the calendar year they were posted.  Property owners flooded the inbox of department Commissioner Jason Batchelder, he said, with complaints and concerns that they wouldn’t be able to trek out into the woods in January — potentially in a few feet of snow — to post signs every 400 feet around their property.   In response to their concerns, the department took back its message.  The kerfuffle with the department was a result of its attempt to clarify a gray area in state law, which simply states that landowners must post notice signs around their property and register the posting with their town clerk “annually” in order to bar hunters from sporting on their land without permission.  Now lawmakers have tried to put the debate to rest.  A bill, H.723, that would require landowners to post their property once every 365 days — regardless of what point in the year they post signs — passed the Senate on a voice vote Tuesday. The bill passed the House in March and its next stop is the governor’s desk.  Rep. Zon Eastes, D-Guilford, lead sponsor of the bill, said in a Tuesday interview he had the bill drafted after he got messages from constituents and town clerks in his district who were confused and concerned about the state’s law after the debacle in the fall.  Despite the Fish and Wildlife Department’s reversal, the can of worms was open.  Between 78% and 82% of all land in Vermont is privately owned, Batchelder said in a February interview, which makes access to private land a topic of hot debate.  Multiple bills in the Statehouse took different attempts at addressing the issue. Lawmakers in the House Environment Committee considered requiring landowners to post signs for each calendar year. They also considered allowing landowners to post their property with a simple brushstroke of purple paint on a tree rather than with signs.  Concerns about class divides and access to wildlife underpinned the debate. Some hunters said they were concerned that, if lawmakers made it easier for landowners to post their land, hunters might have less land to hunt on. That might limit the ability to hunt for people who can’t afford to own a large property.  In turn, some landowners said they favored purple paint because they wanted a less burdensome way to make sure hunters had permission to access their land.  Lawmakers, trying to walk the line between protecting hunters and landowners, decided not to tinker with existing law much.  Eastes said he didn’t see the bill as making any major changes to land access in Vermont, rather he thought the law would make it clearer for landowners and town clerks to understand. In the know Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark prevailed Saturday in a multistate lawsuit challenging the Trump administration over a rule that would have restricted gender-affirming care for minors. In December, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a proposed rule seeking to completely withhold Medicaid and Medicare funds from hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to young people. The same day, Kennedy’s office released a declaration stating that “sex-rejecting procedures” for minors are “neither safe nor effective.” The rule would have conflicted with Vermont’s 2023 shield laws, which protect providers and recipients of this care. It would also have stood in opposition to many of the country’s leading professional medical associations — including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics — which support gender-affirming care for minors. Clark joined an Oregon-led coalition of peers in 20 states and Washington, D.C., suing Kennedy days after his announcement.  Oregon federal judge Mustafa T. Kasubhai ruled in favor of Clark and her colleagues on Saturday, effectively blocking the rule. He also said Kennedy did not have legal authority to publish a document unilaterally revising standards for care. Read the full story here.  — Theo Wells-Spackman Advocates and officials gathered in the Statehouse on Tuesday to express opposition to the potential junk food ban sought by Gov. Phil Scott’s administration for the state’s largest food assistance program.  Recipients of 3SquaresVT would no longer be able to use funds from the program to purchase certain “non-nutritious items.” At least 22 states have secured permission from the Trump administration to implement such rule changes, which have previously not been permitted by federal officials. “Vermonters know what the best choices are,” said Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, D-Chittenden Southeast. “There’s no reason for government to get involved in that decision.” State Treasurer Mike Pieciak agreed, calling the political circumstances surrounding food assistance restrictions a “pressure campaign to coerce states into banning so-called junk food products.” Scott first committed to pursuing a waiver allowing such a ban as part of a successful application for federal health care grants. “What we want is for our state government to stand up here with us and work to (make) it easier for people to access the benefits that they’re eligible for,” said Anore Horton, who leads Hunger Free Vermont. The policy change would also have an “unacceptable” impact on local grocers, she said, who would likely face new costs and harsh penalties for errors under the new rules. — Theo Wells-Spackman On the trail Former Sen. Irene Wrenner is looking to take back her seat in the Chittenden North district.  Wrenner, a Democrat, will be looking to unseat Republican Sen. Chris Mattos, who bested Wrenner in the 2024 election.   And Jeff Haylon, a Brandon Selectboard member, is looking to represent that Rutland County town in the Vermont House. Haylon announced he’s running as a Democrat for the seat currently held by Brandon Republican Todd Nielson.  — Ethan Weinstein Read the story on VTDigger here: Vermont land-posting bill tries to put confusion to rest. ...read more read less