Last “Ditch” Attempt

MONTANA—In the pantheon of fishy states, Montana remains Boss because of its well-defined, populist-minded stream access laws. But a recent bill carried by a Dillon lawmaker is raising angler red flags with its redefinition of what constitutes a “ditch,” potentially sidelining the public from any waterways that receive natural stream-water diversions.

In 2008, ’80s rocker Huey Lewis and his band of deep-pocketed neighbors lost their court battle to have Mitchell Slough—in the Bitteroot Valley—designated as a man-made waterway. This designation would have exempted Mitchell Slough from the state’s public-access law, while setting a precedent for other “ditch” designated streams across the state. Lewis, et al, contended Mitchell Slough was an irrigation ditch, but the court unanimously found it was a side-channel of the Bitterroot River and thus a public waterway. Sportsmen across the state and country rejoiced.

The current bill—HB 309—carried by Rep. Jeff Welborn, R-Dillon, has been spurred by the Supreme Court’s 2008 ruling. According to the Montana Standard: “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, said Bruce Farling, executive director of Montana Trout Unlimited.”

“This is going to kick Montanans off of streams they’ve been fishing since Montana was a territory,” he said Monday. “Hundreds of miles of streams would be affected.”

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