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HB 309 – An Insult to Montana Anglers

Montana Fly Fishing Tripschoose All Inclusive Inset

Whether or not you live in Montana House Bill 309 is a full on slap in the face to ALL anglers who visit this great state.  If you fish in Montana and want to continue in the future you should stay up to date on this topic.  Don’t let an elite few ruin it for everyone just because they have enough money (and twisted ideals) to continually buy lawyers, state representative and lawmakers in an attempt to subvert this great access law.

We won’t try to rehash the great foundation already laid down on this topic by The Trout Underground, ChiWulff, and WillWorkForFish (which you should make time to read).  However, in short this newly proposed law seeks to redefine the concept of what constitutes a “ditch”.  In essence the language outlines a course where side channels of rivers and entire rivers can be deemed a ditch and therefore private.

Even Bob Lane, Chief Legal Counsel for Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP), is opposed to the new bill stating, “HB309 not only doesn’t work, it just doesn’t make any sense.”  No confusing double talk lawyer language there.

Pure and simple HB309  is less valuable than the paper it was written on.  However, just because it pisses us off and doesn’t make real world sense doesn’t mean we shouldn’t stay up to date – we suggest you should as well.  Let’s keep Montana’s Stream Access Law the best in the country!