A Bill, A Bridge

HB 190
HEADED TO A VOTE

Brokered Deal Looks Good

we'll let you know

.. It's looking like the Montana State Legislature will finally affirm the Montana State Constitution by approving a bill to clarify stream access from bridge and road crossings.
.. It also looks like the hard work by several legislators has brought some conversational sanity to the issue - and like all compromise legislation, everyone is a bit gratified and a bit disappointed.
.. Senator Jim Shockley, (R-Victor,) along with Representative Kendall Van Dyk, (D-Billings,) Senator Jeff Essmann, (R-Billings,) and organizational representatives from Montana Trout Unlimited, Montana Stockgrowers Association, Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks, worked long and hard on the current compromise.
.. The two major changes in the bill that brought the parties together are:
1] . . .a landowner who owns land next to a bridge crossing cannot be found liable for someone using the road right-of-way for access to a river or stream for recreational use “except for an act or omission that constitutes willful or wanton misconduct.”
2] . . . the bill doesn’t create any rights nor “extinguishes” any existing rights concerning “prescriptive road rights of way that existed at the time of passage.” These are easements counties acquire after years of traditional use without ever paying for them.
.. A detailed news article appeared in a post at helenair.com. You can read the concerns of the Montana Wildlife Federation HERE. The Bill in it's current form can be found HERE.
.. The bill is scheduled for it's second reading tomorrow, (March 30, 2009.) You can follow it's history HERE.