S-0371.1  _______________________________________________

                         SENATE BILL 5254

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      55th Legislature     1997 Regular Session

By Senators Long, Roach, Haugen, Jacobsen, Fraser, Zarelli, Strannigan, Deccio, Thibaudeau, Wood, Fairley, Goings and Winsley

Read first time 01/21/97.  Referred to Committee on Natural Resources & Parks.

Limiting liability of owners or possessors for  injuries to recreational users.

    AN ACT Relating to the limitation of liability of owners or others in possession of land and water areas for injuries to recreational users; and amending RCW 4.24.210.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

    Sec. 1.  RCW 4.24.210 and 1992 c 52 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

    (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (3) of this section, any public or private landowners or others in lawful possession and control of any lands whether designated resource, rural, or urban, or water areas or channels and lands adjacent to such areas or channels, who allow members of the public to use them for the purposes of outdoor recreation, which term includes, but is not limited to, the cutting, gathering, and removing of firewood by private persons for their personal use without purchasing the firewood from the landowner, hunting, fishing, camping, picnicking, swimming, hiking, bicycling, skateboarding or other nonmotorized wheel-based activities, the riding of horses or other animals, clam digging, pleasure driving of off-road vehicles, snowmobiles, and other vehicles, boating, nature study, winter or water sports, viewing or enjoying historical, archaeological, scenic, or scientific sites, without charging a fee of any kind therefor, shall not be liable for unintentional injuries to such users.

    (2) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (3) of this section, any public or private landowner or others in lawful possession and control of any lands whether rural or urban, or water areas or channels and lands adjacent to such areas or channels, who offer or allow such land to be used for purposes of a fish or wildlife cooperative project, or allow access to such land for cleanup of litter or other solid waste, shall not be liable for unintentional injuries to any volunteer group or to any other users.

    (3) Any public or private landowner, or others in lawful possession and control of the land, may charge an administrative fee of up to twenty-five dollars for the cutting, gathering, and removing of firewood from the land.  Nothing in this section shall prevent the liability of such a landowner or others in lawful possession and control for injuries sustained to users by reason of a known dangerous artificial latent condition for which warning signs have not been conspicuously posted.  Nothing in RCW 4.24.200 and 4.24.210 limits or expands in any way the doctrine of attractive nuisance.  Usage by members of the public, volunteer groups, or other users is permissive and does not support any claim of adverse possession.

    (4) For purposes of this section, a license or permit issued for state-wide use under authority of chapter 43.51 RCW, Title 75, or Title 77 RCW is not a fee.

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