As part of the investigation, WDFW will seek permission from private landowners in some areas to look for gophers on their property, said Schirato, noting that about half of all known gopher populations are on private lands.
"We need to survey some of those lands to truly understand the species distribution," he said. "We’re especially interested in private timberlands, where we’ve had some unexpected gopher sightings in recent years."
If the private landowners are smart, they will deny access to WDFW to look on their lands. That would be a big mistake. They might even find an endangered butterfly or oak trees or..............
Funny that WDFW has budget problems, but yet they don't seem to have any problem spending a bunch of money on looking for these damned rodents. 
In Oregon where I hunt Ground Squirrels, the landowners say that the Wildlife Agents don't even bother to ask permission to enter private property--They know the landowners won't give them permission, so they stay away.
