Controversial limits on access to rivers dies in House vote

One of the most controversial bills of the session failed in a House vote Tuesday — although nothing is dead in the Legislature until adjournment.

HB187 attempted to define how streams crossing private property in Utah could be accessed by the public, following a Utah Supreme Court ruling last year saying the public had an easement on such streams.

Debate took over an hour Tuesday afternoon before the bill, sponsored by Rep. Ben Ferry, R-Corinne, failed 34-41.

Several legislators said they have received hundreds of e-mails — some quite emotional — on the bill.

Rep. Lorie Fowlke, R-Orem, said HB187 was an extremely important public policy issue, and that Ferry (a large landowner and water right owner in Box Elder County) had crafted it too much in favor of property owners.

Others said the bill was a good balance between property owners and the recreationists who use state streams and waterways, especially fisherman.

Various amendments to the bill failed, as did an effort to officially study the matter for one more year.

Rep. Kay McIff, R-Richfield, a former judge and current dairyman, gave a history of water confrontations in Utah, saying men had been killed over such disputes before.

It was not until the 1980s, however, when Utah courts began to recognize that the public has an interest and right to access water for recreation. Utah is well behind other Western states in regulating such rights, he said, and Ferry's bill was needed to clarify the high court ruling.

Ferry's bill would name 30 or so rivers for public access, saying that unless clearly posted closed with a bright yellow or orange sign, they can be accessed by the public.

But various fishermen and outdoors groups strongly opposed the bill, even after Ferry agreed to some of their complaints.

Utah's fishing industry adds more that $700 million a year to the state's economy, and some argued that restricting access to streams over private land could harm that industry.

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