The 2010 session of the Utah Legislature saw a battle between the rights of private property owners and a person’s right to access public waterways for receation. Two bills were proposed. HB80 would allow unrestricted access to Utah’s waterways regardless of whether it flowed through private property. The opposite, HB141, would reverse a Utah Supreme Court decision that states all water is owned by the public and is therefore public property. That meant people had the right to touch the stream beds, even if located on private property.
House Bill 141 is the version that passed the House and Senate, and Governer Herbert signed it into law. This means that access to public waterways can now only be achieved through public property. In addition, boaters and anglers will no longer be able to float or walk a stream that crosses through private property. In one stroke of the Governer’s pen, miles of Utah’s rivers and streams are now off limits to everybody but the landowners themselves. Of course, this makes the outdoor recreation industry very unhappy.
Frank Hugelmeyer, the President of the Outdoor Industry Association, has come out in opposition of Governer Herbert’s decision to sign the bill into law, and released the following statement:
“Outdoor Industry Association is extremely disappointed in Governor Herbert’s decision to sign into law a bill that severely restricts river access for recreationists, anglers and outdoor sportsmen. This legislation causes direct harm to Utah’s national reputation as a quality recreation destination. More importantly, HB141 severely penalizes outdoor businesses that contribute $4 billion in annual retail sales and services and support more than 65,000 quality jobs in the state. The Governor’s action is a disservice to an outdoor business community still struggling to recover from the recession and will discourage new businesses from locating in the state, thus hurting Utah’s overall economy and tax base. In this decision, Utah’s leadership has failed to recognize the vital importance of outdoor recreation to Utah’s economic health and quality of life.”
The Outdoor Industry Association is the title sponsor of the Outdoor Retailer trade show based in Salt Lake City. Twice a year, Utah businesses benefit from the millions of dollars spent in downtown Salt Lake City thanks to the Outdoor Retailer shows held at the Salt Palace Convention Center every summer and winter.
Hopefully laws like HB141 won’t cause the outdoor industry to relocate to more recreation friendly states.
For more information about the Outdoor Industry Association, visit them at http://www.outdoorindustry.org
For a better understanding of HB141, you can download a PDF file of it on the Utah.gov website.
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