Utah Stream Access Threatened!

[darrin terry]

Hey folks,

The following quote is from the Itinerant Angler forum. Bryan Gregson posted it and I figured some of you guys in Colorado and Wyoming might be interested as it might affect you. If you do any fishing in Utah. So I checked with Bryan and he said to please share it here.

Anyway, here it is:

Hey all,

Utah Stream Access Threatened!

Some recent news has been brought to my attention. I got word that there is at least (1) bill being pushed through to take away Utah's public right to access all Utah water.

We are under-gunned, overpowered and have one shot at this. I don't know what else to do other than spread the word. Our fear is that they are slipping it in without anyone knowing, we could loose everything. The bill is not been made public but we are aware that it is being drafted.

If you fish in Utah we need your help! We will need to defeat any attempt to remove the existing law. This will need to be done at the grassroots level by calling, emailing or writing legislators in every district in order for them to be aware of the pending assault on the stream access ruling. This can only be achieved by contacting all of our friends and asking if they will make the small effort it takes to email their legislator. It's going to be an uphill battle but with a joint effort we can make this happen.

So to curb any thoughts and to hit this head on before it gains momentum we need to contact our representatives and let them know we support The Utah Supreme Courts ruling, our right to access public water and will not accept anything less.

EVERYONE needs to get involved. The more letters the legislators get from more sources, the better. All you need to do is identify where you live, who your area representative is and contact them… its easy! It takes less than 5 minutes. Our small voices can and will be heard! Please call everyone you know and ask them to send an email or letter to their representative asking them to protect our right to access public water and wildlife on public waters.

I encourage all out of state Utah water users to send a letter about stream access in supporting the Utah Supreme Court Ruling - Conatser vs Johnson case to our Governor Huntsman and let him no that this is not OK. What happens here in our state can effect progress of other states ongoing stream issues.

Gov. Huntsman Jr.-->http://www.utah.gov/governor/contact/index.html

Conatser vs Johnson -->http://www.utcourts.gov/opinions/supopin/Conatser071808.pdf


Locally "Utah Water Guardians" have provide simple steps with easy to follow information that will allow your voice to be heard.

* Check it out --->http://utahwaterguardians.wordpress.com/action/
o Follow the quick easy steps to locate your representatives and make your voice be heard.

Get on it, the time is now!

Keep fighting,

Bryan Gregson

If any of you are in Utah or even fish in Utah, maybe there is something you can do to help. Last summer the access changed there in favor of the fishers and other stream/river users. Now it looks to be possibly going away. Remember that even though each state has its own laws regarding access, what happens elsewhere can and will be looked at as a possible model if changes are made in your own state.

[coreyk]

Thanks Darrin! Any and all help is appreciated! I have a feeling this may be the beginning of long battle!

[coreyk]

Wanted to update this post! We have access for another year! What a nail biter! I pulled this from my blog post with a couple of minor edits.

(03/03/09) A great day for all recreational users of the waters in Utah! House bill 187 failed today! Thank you to everyone who sent emails to their representatives! This really has been a huge effort by EVERYONE! Thanks to all the guys @ UToF who spent their days up @ the capitol in suits, the guys behind http://www.utahwaterguardians.org , and to everyone for pushing the factual information out there! The PEOPLE sent a message and gotten BIG win!

EDIT (03/07/09): On Monday March 9th … Political wrangling will brought this bill back from the dead! What a warped political system that allowed for this to be submitted over and over, with another arm or two twisted along the way.

EDIT2 (03/09/09): WOW! We actually got more votes this go around! I do believe that there will not be another opportunity for Rep Ferry to try and push this “bill” through again … So, Its time to grab the maps and pick which previously private rivers I will be fishing this year!

[darrin terry]

Right on, Corey. I've been checking on this each time Midcurrent posted a link.

I could not believe it got a second chance as is. Glad it got beat down.

[coreyk]

Yeah .. I'm really stoked. The people really do have the power sometimes. Now we just need to step out on a good foot and beat them to the punch on a separate bill more friendly to anglers this year.

[darrin terry]

Never having been to Utah, I am wondering about one of the things which cause problems here in CA. How bad is littering along rivers/streams there. As much as I favor access, if there proves to be a burden to property owners due to litter or damage to fences and such, I would have to cry foul. I ask because it is a major issue here in CA.

Let's say there is a ranch owner whose property lies along the water, maybe 80-150 feet from the banks. Is there anything which would prevent access within a reasonable distance of the house to allow for the owner's privacy? That would seem reasonable to me, though I wonder at what the specifics would be.

I am quite certain there will be more lagal battles ahead on this issue. Hopefully a decent compromise can be found.

[coreyk]

Darrin: Hopefully those are the exact concerns that will be addressed next year. We really need a bill that defines the law rather than restricts use of the public easement.

Trash: I have contacted my local rep, who voted for the bill the first time and against the second time, about talking to specific land owners to set up some sort of a 'river clean-up day'. I think this sort of thing could go a long way to bridge the differences between land owners and anglers. Personally, i think it would be really nice to get to know the land owners where I fish.

Trespass: My personal feeling about this is that penalties should be more severe while using the easement to access the stream. Same with destruction of property, etc. I think if there were an anglers group that coordinated with land owners they could chip in to build fence ladders, etc. I'd like to see a non-profit formed for this purpose.

Right to privacy: This was one of the topics that was a little touchy with the last bill because of the original intent. The original bill basically stated a distance and said that the property owner had the option of posting that section private with no access. Amendments that were proposed changed that to a shorter distance and made it so that, if the property owner posted the property, the person using the easement was required to proceeded through the area without recreating. This seemed pretty fair to me, there are some homes that are built right on the river.

EDIT: You should change the never been to Utah part of that post and come up here and fish sometime! Happy to show you some good water.

[fly addict]

Its good to see grassroot efforts are alive and well in Utah.