Utah Supreme Court rules in favor of stream access on Weber River

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Supreme Court handed a major victory to anglers and advocates of recreation on the Weber River Tuesday.

The court ruled a one-mile stretch of the river a “navigable water” since people regularly used it to float railroad ties and mine timbers around the time of statehood. That means anglers, tubers and boaters can walk on the riverbed, even where the water flows through private property.

"Our rivers are part of our heritage, and have been useful to all Utahans since statehood," said Utah Stream Access Coalition president Kris Olson in an emailed statement. "They are 'gifts of providence,' our natural resource, and now in the case of this stretch of the Weber, secured for future generations."

The coalition has battled for access since 2010, first in the 4th District Court.

The Weber River access issue first surfaced in 2000, when Weber County resident Keven Conatser and his family were fishing the Weber River and occasionally walked on the bed and sandbars. A property owner told him to leave. When Conatser refused, a Morgan County deputy sheriff charged him with criminal trespass. Conatser appealed, and in 2008 the Utah Supreme Court ruled in his favor.

Read more: http://www.standard.net/Environment/2017/11/23/Utah-Supreme-Court-rules-in-favor-of-stream-access-on-Weber-River#cxrecs_s