What’s your opinion on stream access?
In the West, private landowners often provide much of the natural resource management at their own expense, which in turn benefits the public with healthy fisheries and prolific game.
Recent fishing seasons in Montana as well as other western states have been tainted by conflicts between anglers and private land owners. Sports men and women want to access water and wildlife on private land, while the the land owners want to protect their private property rights. Without the ability to protect what is on their land, some would argue they have little incentive to continue to husband the resources.
As the authors in PERC Reports’ special spring issue suggest, now is the time to recognize the rights of both sides of the spectrum, leave emotions and biases aside, and focus on improving resource management incentives across the West.
What is your opinion on access rights to water and wildlife on private land? Please submit your comments in the space below and see what others say when we publish some of the comments in the summer issue of PERC Reports.