Helena IR: Justices hears arguments in stream access case
The Montana Supreme Court heard arguments Monday in a case that may affect whether anglers and recreationists can access easements across private property and certain rivers below the high-water mark.
The Public Lands Access Association filed the lawsuit in 2004 after Madison County landowner James Cox Kennedy erected electric fences that blocked an easement across his land and leads to the Ruby River.
No trespassing signs also were attached to three Madison County bridges.
Montanans have the right to use the state’s streams below the high-water mark and the right to use Montana’s public roads to access those streams, Public Lands Access Association attorney Devlan Geddes argued.
Kennedy’s attorney, Peter Coffman, disputed that, saying that not only was the public not allowed to use the easement across Kennedy’s land to get to the river, but that portion of the river itself belongs to Kennedy because it is classified as a non-navigable stream.