Wasn't sure where to put this, so I guess this is the catch all forum.

Last week the Utah Supreme Court ruled that all public waters that may flow through sections of private land, are now open (including the stream bed) to law abiding recreational users!

This is a HUGE decision for anyone who plans on fishing a stream or river in Utah in the future. Previously, the law stated that private land owners reserved rights to the stream bed underneath the water and while recreational users could float on the water, they could not touch the stream bed.

Due to a recent appeal from district court on a criminal trespassing charge (in Morgan County, UT on the Weber River) to the Supreme Court of Utah we can now fish miles and miles of previously closed water.

Personally, I could not be happier. Luckily I never experienced the wrath of any land owners, but only because I heard so many really bad experiences from other anglers and was too scared to push my luck. One stream in particular that I fished on a very regular basis was so difficult to fish because there were sections of the river that were public which were surrounded by private land. Anglers could get in and fish up to a certain point, but would then have to back track, get out and walk along the road to the next public access spot. There were also many land owners who would purposely dam up a stream to keep fish from moving freely throughout the water system.

My hope, however, is that users don't abuse this privelige. While we can now access water that we previously could not, it does not mean that we now have a right to destroy and trash private (or public) land. If I was still living and fishing in Utah I would print this out and carry with me, just in case.
http://www.utcourts.gov/opinions/sup...tser071808.pdf

This might be one of the biggest recreational laws passed in the history of the state.