Utah set to halve river access

[Editor]

This is a dedicated thread for discussing article: Utah set to halve river access

[Editor]

Do we have any locals who can comment on this story please? Interested to know if you were aware of this?

[Davo]

This is very disheartening news. I'm sure Fyshstykr will have something to say on it. He is one of our Utah members. I look forward to seeing what he has to say.

[mcnerney]

Wow! I sure hope Utah sportsman write their legislatures and let them know how you feel about lossing access to Utah rivers! This proposal would be a true tragedy if it passes.

Larry

[Frank Whiton]

Hi Everyone,

I don't know anything about the story. But, we all know that rich land owners all over the West are trying to limited access to waters crossing their land. Several law suits have been launch over just this problem. Unless sportsman band together and influence this type of law it is only going to get worst

In the past people who bought ranch land out West wanted to be a rancher. Now the land is being bought by people to provide private fishing/hunting and the land owner lives elsewhere. I am afraid the outcome of this is not going to end well for us.

Frank

[mojo]

There was a handful of rich redneck landowners that made it up to the capitol during the time the bill was introduced. They can afford to "donate" to certain politician's coffers. That way when it's time to return the favor, it doesn't matter what the majority want, it's what has been paid for. Most fly fishers I know work hard for a living. Not all of us can take time off work and go up and support our cause. It seems like it's no problem for hunters to band together, but when it comes to fishing, the fly fishers seem to be the only ones to try to get something done. We've sent emails to reps and Senators but now it's time to hit up the guv's office.
The only thing that can be done now,and it has to be now, is to write the Governor of the state, Gary Herbert's office and tell him NO TO HB 141 It's unconstitutional and damn un-American. A handful of the cowboy caucus of Utah think they can overturn what the Utah Supreme Court decided.
Here's something from UOTF site for info on the governor.
HB 141 - Gov. Herbert struggling with Bill. - Fly Fishing Utah - The Utah Fly Fishing Resource
And for a lot of posts- Utah Stream Access and Use - Fly Fishing Utah - The Utah Fly Fishing Resource

Guys and gals from out of the state of Utah, if you ever thought about fishing in Utah, you might want to let Governor Herbert know. If it passes, so does you hard earned vacation dollars that will go to another state.
Governor Herbert's phone numbers:
801-538-1000
800-705-2464

His email address:
gherbert@utah.gov

Hope you can help us out.
Alan

[katorade]

I will be P Off if there is any more private property in the state! All the rivers are all private they better not cut any of the rivers!

[fysh]

Very well said Mojo.

The governor has a tough decision to make. We'll see just how badly he wants to keep his job with this one. ksl.com - Gov. Herbert struggling with decision over Stream Access Bill

Two of the biggest proponents of this bill are land owners with the Bear River or the Weber River flowing through their properties in Corrinne(Ferry) and West Weber(Gibson). Smells like a "conflict of interest" doesn't it?
Utah House of Representatives
Utah House of Representatives

As Mojo mentioned, please e-mail the governor of Utah @ the link he provided and also both of the represenatives listed above.

[mcnerney]

Well said Mojo! I will certainly call on Monday. The biggest thing I like about fishing ID, UT and MT is the wide open river access and I sure don't want UT to fall back to the situation in WY and CO where the landowner owns the river botton and thus restricting the wade fisherman to the few public access points along a river which always results in over crowding and over fished fish in those sections of the river. That would be a very sad day indeed. Please everyone that reads this thread, take the time next week to call the number that Mojo posted above and let the Governor of UT know that you will not be spending your vacation dollars in UT if this bill passes!

Larry

[HuronRiverDan]

Passing a bill like that is a shame...I hope you guys and gals from Utah are successful in your fight against it. I'll call the number you listed Monday, tried today, but just got a recording saying we're closed, call back.

Dan