Utah anglers reel in a win as judge tosses stream access' law

SALT LAKE CITY — A district judge tossed the state's controversial "stream access" law in a ruling issued Wednesday, declaring it restricted public access to more than 43 percent of Utah's rivers and streams.

The action means public access to the state's waterways has been restored, opening thousands of miles of water to anglers and other recreational users.

The Utah Stream Access Coalition, which filed a lawsuit in 2010 on the heels of the act's passage, hailed the ruling by 4th District Judge Derek Pullan.

"This is a case where policy triumphed over profits; where law prevailed over lobbying," said Kris Olson, coalition president. "The rivers and streams of our state are gifts of providence and the lifeblood of this arid land. Since before statehood, these rivers have been used by all, and we're grateful that the court prevented that use from becoming exclusive to a privileged few."

Pullan noted that the law, with the exception of a seasonal floating right and three incidental uses, eliminated public recreational use on more than 2,700 miles of rivers and streams in the state.

"This represents the closure of 43 percent of Utah's river and stream miles to nearly all fishing, and to all hunting, wading, swimming, bird-watching and other recreational activity utilizing the water. "

Crystal Ross, a spokeswoman with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, said the agency is reviewing the ruling and its impacts on recreation and landowners.

"It's important for water recreationists to know that private property laws are still in effect throughout Utah," Ross said. "We encourage them to seek permission from landowners before crossing private land to access state rivers and streams."

Randy Parker, executive director of the Utah Farm Bureau, said Wednesday's "disappointing" ruling impacts more than just ranchers and farmers with streams and rivers on their property, but urban households with backyards that abut riparian waterways.

"I am not just talking about farmers and ranchers out there in rural Utah," he said. "This is a pretty broad, sweeping decision by Judge Pullan that will have implications for every urban waterway that runs through Salt Lake City, Murray, through the Wasatch Front and Wasatch Back."

Parker said the ruling impacts what a landowner is allowed to restrict on private property, ultimately devaluing not only the land itself but the rights of an owner to have privacy and be secure in their investment.

"It should be a concern to property owners," he said.

But in the ruling, Pullan stressed the public right of access isn't trumped by private management concerns. The judge pointed out how the division's own surveys of anglers revealed how the law impaired access.

"Almost 70 percent of licensed anglers surveyed — an estimated 232,210 anglers — reported they were likely to fish waters that flow over private ground. The act closed these waters," Pullan wrote.

The coalition brought the suit against VR Acquisitions, which ran Victory Ranch off the Upper Provo River, strictly managing access to the waterway by anglers.

The judge said "as evidenced by (VR Acquisitions') own activities on the Upper Provo, public bodies no longer control or manage rivers and streams closed under the act."

According to the ruling, the anglers' coalition estimated that there were 88 miles of "fishable" Provo River, of which more than half crossed private land. Victory Ranch owns property next to a 4-mile stretch of the river and opened up just under a mile to public access.

Even as Pullan praised the ranch's management of the upper Provo River as being of the "highest order," he noted that not all landowners would necessarily manage waters in the same manner.

The so-called stream access bill was viewed as anything but an access bill during the 2010 legislative session, where a solidly organized contingent of critics said it illegally closed public access to waterways that crossed private lands. The law was a legislative response to a 2008 Utah Supreme Court decision on access to the Weber River in which lawmakers felt private landowners' interests were trampled.

There was a crush of political pushback from those who argued in favor of restoring those private property rights — including landowners who detailed a string of horror stories about public abuses of their land, such as defecation, property damage and littering.

With the law's passage, the state established a walk-in access program to foster an understanding of the limits imposed by the law and enabling willing landowners to register property for public access.

Pullan said the program nevertheless constituted "substantial" impairment to public access because the state is not able to compel a landowner to grant access, and the landowner can revoke the access with 30 days' notice.

The judge noted that because Utah's rivers are shorter and more narrow, they have a reduced capacity for recreational use even as angling has increased significantly in popularity.

The 2011-12 survey conducted by the Division of Wildlife Resources indicated there were 2.5 million fishing trips in Utah and 5.3 million actual angler days. Approximately 40 percent of the survey's respondents also indicated there was a moderate to high incident of limited access to preferred fishing areas in Utah.

Pullan said the state illegally disposed of a public resource.

Under the law, "the people of the state of Utah are constitutionally entitled to have public lands — including the public's easement on state waters flowing over private lands — to be held in trust for them," he said.

While Victory Ranch had argued that the closure did not affect public access because other rivers and streams were available, Pullan rejected that contention.

"Here, the act closed more than 43 percent of Utah's rivers and streams to almost all public recreational use. … What remains is drastically diminished," the judge stated. "Every parcel of public land, every reach of water is unique. If Wasatch, Krodachrome Basin and Snow Canyon State Parks were disposed of for reasons unrelated to their acquisition, the public's right to recreate in other places wold be little consolation."

Pullan reached his ruling after a trial earlier this summer. His order includes the prohibition against Victory Ranch to restrict access on the Upper Provo River and a directive to the state to amend or remove the stream access map from its website.

Related topics