Utah Supreme Court Weighs In On Stream Access Debate

By Greg Lemon, 7-21-08

Turns out Montana isn’t the only state with contentious stream access issues. On Friday, the Utah Supreme court issued what sportsmen in the state are calling a landmark decision essentially giving the public the right to wade and fish natural streams.

According to an article in the Salt Lake Tribune, the case stems from a running conflict between a group of landowners who own land on the Weber River and a couple, Kevin and Jodi Conatser, who like to float the river.

The case began as a trespassing case in 2000 when Kevin Conatser was cited for trespassing after he climbed out of his boat to fish the Weber River. A justice court judge found him guilty, but on the appeal to district court, the case was dismissed because of ambiguity in state law, according to the Tribune. Conatser filed a civil suit against the landowners that ended up in front of the high court.

The Utah Supreme Court gave some certainty to the law, but also could have left the door open for more court trials with some of the language in their decision:

We hold that the scope of the easement provides the public the right to float, hunt, fish, and participate in all lawful activities that utilize the water.  We further hold that the public has the right to touch privately owned beds of state waters in ways incidental to all recreational rights provided for in the easement, so long as they do so reasonably and cause no unnecessary injury to the landowner.

The Tribune piece quotes access advocates as applauding the decision, while the attorney for the landowners points out that the decision will open up the doors for other cases.

If Montana’s any indication, he’s right. Since the Montana Stream Access Law came into being in the 1980s, the Montana Supreme Court has consistently held the public’s right to access natural waterways from public access points. But the controversy in Montana over stream access is still hot. In the last two legislative session, Montana lawmakers have tried unsuccessfully to codify into law a 2000 Montana Attorney General’s opinion stating the public has the right to access streams off of public bridges.