With the sounds of children playing in the Jersey Shore’s crashing waves a few scant weeks behind us, many of us returned from summer vacations to a rising pile of paper work and new lawsuits to prosecute and defend. Fortunately, landowners who face lawsuits stemming from injuries sustained on undeveloped or rural land may find solace in the little known but applicable provisions of the New Jersey Landowners’ Liability Act.

The Landowners’ Liability Act provides that owners of certain premises, whether improved or maintained in a natural condition, or used as part of a commercial enterprise, owe no duty to keep the premises safe or give warning of any hazardous condition on the land to persons entering the property for the purpose of sports and recreational activities. N.J.S.A. §§2A:42A-2 to 10. The definition of “sports and recreational activities” as used in this act includes but is not limited to hunting, fishing, horseback riding, hiking, swimming, skating, skiing and “any other outdoor sports, game, and recreational activity including practice and instruction thereof.” N.J.S.A. §2A:42A-2. The purpose of the act is to encourage landowners to allow members of the general public to have limited access to the land for some recreational use and induce owners to do so without fear of liability. N.J.S.A. §2A:42A-5.1.

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