Governor signs bridge access bill at Riverfront Park
This item originally appeared in: The Billings Gazette
At a footbridge in Riverfront Park with youngsters fishing nearby, Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer signed House Bill 190, the bridge access bill, into law this afternoon.
A crowd of upwards of 100 was on hand for the event which included short speeches by Schweitzer, Attorney General Steve Bullock and Billings representative Kendall Van Dyk.
Van Dyk sponsored the bill and worked with all sides to find consensus and get the bill passed in the wake of its failure in the 2007 Legislature when it was defeated on a straight party-line vote in the waning days of the session.
"This bill has nearly the same language as the bill in 2007," Schweitzer said, "But Kendall reached across the aisle and talked to sportsmen groups, landowner groups and legislators of both parties to get it passed in this session. With nearly the same language, instead of saying no, they said yes. Bullock was on hand because as a young assistant attorney general, he wrote the legal opinion which led to solidify-ing public bridge access to public waters.
"This protects sportsmen and this protects private landowners," Bullock said.
As for Van Dyk, he said, "This is really an important day for me as a legislator and even more important to me as a sportsman. This is the first piece of stream access legislation in 24 years. Montana has better stream access laws than any of our surrounding states. With this piece of legislation, we're going to make sure it stays that way."
The new law deals with access to public waters from county roads and bridge right-of-ways. It states that the public must be able to access the stream from the road or bridge. And if the landowner doesn't provide some form of access, then Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks will choose, install and maintain the access.
A crowd of upwards of 100 was on hand for the event which included short speeches by Schweitzer, Attorney General Steve Bullock and Billings representative Kendall Van Dyk.
Van Dyk sponsored the bill and worked with all sides to find consensus and get the bill passed in the wake of its failure in the 2007 Legislature when it was defeated on a straight party-line vote in the waning days of the session.
"This bill has nearly the same language as the bill in 2007," Schweitzer said, "But Kendall reached across the aisle and talked to sportsmen groups, landowner groups and legislators of both parties to get it passed in this session. With nearly the same language, instead of saying no, they said yes. Bullock was on hand because as a young assistant attorney general, he wrote the legal opinion which led to solidify-ing public bridge access to public waters.
"This protects sportsmen and this protects private landowners," Bullock said.
As for Van Dyk, he said, "This is really an important day for me as a legislator and even more important to me as a sportsman. This is the first piece of stream access legislation in 24 years. Montana has better stream access laws than any of our surrounding states. With this piece of legislation, we're going to make sure it stays that way."
The new law deals with access to public waters from county roads and bridge right-of-ways. It states that the public must be able to access the stream from the road or bridge. And if the landowner doesn't provide some form of access, then Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks will choose, install and maintain the access.
