By Carli Johnson STAFF WRITER
Anglers, rafters, kayakers, hunters and other public lands advocates gathered Thursday evening on the Emerson Center for the Arts and Culture Lawn for a night of recognition and a call to protect Montana’s stream access law.
Passed by the Montana Legislature in 1985 through House Bill 265, the Stream Access Law established guidelines for public recreational use of streams, including fishing, hunting, floating and boating. Recreational use is generally limited to the area within the ordinary high-water mark, while the law also protects private property rights and restricts crossing private land to reach public waters without permission.
The event on Sept. 17 brought together local businesses and organizations that hosted informational booths and highlighted their work supporting public access to Montana’s rivers and streams.
Alex Leonne, executive director of the Public Land Water Access Association, spoke about the organization’s longstanding efforts to defend public access. PLWA, which has advocated for public access in Montana since 1985, describes its mission as maintaining and protecting access to the state’s public lands and waters.
Sixth-generation Montanan Russ Kipp also addressed the crowd. Kipp, a longtime hunting and fishing outfitter and one of the remaining members connected to the original PLWA board, recalled the early fight for stream access and an experience while guiding in which a private landowner challenged his use of the river.
Kipp discussed the role of attorney Jim Goetz and the legal efforts that helped establish the framework for Montana’s stream access law. Rachel Schmidt, director of river restoration in Montana for American Rivers and a former official with Montana’s Office of Outdoor Recreation, spoke about the economic role of outdoor recreation and Montana’s rivers.
“5.9% of Montana’s workforce is in recreation,” Schmidt said. “We added over 10,000 jobs in the outdoor recreation sector since 2020.”
Schmidt also pointed to University of Montana research showing the economic contribution of outdoor recreation in the state. University research has found that outdoor recreation accounted for 5.6% of Montana employment and 4.3% of state GDP in 2022, generating $2.9 billion in economic activity.
“Our rivers are for everyone,” Schmidt said in closing.
Other speakers included Seth Bodnar, Alani Bankhead, and Craig Matthews, who discussed the broader values surrounding public lands and conservation, as well as the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
The gathering comes as public access remains an active issue in Montana. PLWA continues to investigate complaints involving access to public lands and waters and has been involved in legal disputes over stream and bridge access around the state.
For supporters at Thursday’s event, the evening served both as a look back at the history of Montana’s stream access law and as a reminder of the ongoing debate over how public recreational access and private property rights are balanced.
