Yesterday was the final hearing in Helena, Montana to voice opinions concerning House Bill 309, which could change Montana stream access laws for the worse. The bill, set forth by Dillon Representative Jeff Welborn, would revamp stream laws to "make any waterway that receives water diverted from a natural stream off limits to public recreation". In other words, depending on how the law is interpreted, your favorite fishing spot could now be classified as a "drainage ditch", and be deemed legally inaccessible. Welborn says that the bill is only a remedy to a recent Montana Supreme Court ruling on the Mitchell Slough, which was ruled to be a sidechannel of the Bitteroot, and not a ditch. Bruce Farling, the Montana Trout Unlimited Director, has said that "The measure is a sneaky attempt to undermine Montana's stream access law that guarantees the public the right to get to streams and rivers." Not only are local and regional anglers very concerned about this, but Montana fishing outfitters (who rely on access for their livelihood) are already getting correspondence from clientele concerned about coming to fish this summer, and how their access will be affected. Hundreds of guides, anglers and river users showed up to Helena yesterday to attend this hearing, and voice their disapproval of this measure.
Check out this article in today's Billings Gazette for more info. Stay tuned for the latest on Facebook with Montana Troutfitters, who has done an excellent job of keeping us informed on all of this. Legislation like this would be terrible for Montana, its anglers and its tourism. Places like this sidechannel on the Big Hole that I visited a few years back with my good buddy Campbell Hough (pictured here) would be no longer an option for us under this legislation. Lets hope it goes down in flames. I know that many of my readers check in with me to see what is going on in Wyoming, but issues like this affect anglers everywhere. Fly-fishing is all about legal access...it's critical to our sport.
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