A recent opinion piece ("Legislature trying to keep the public off public waters," Opinion, Feb. 12) dealt with a bill that's extremely important to Utah's anglers -- House Bill 187.

This bill has its roots in July 2008, when the Utah Supreme Court ruled that the public has the right to access natural stream and lake beds on private lands for recreational purposes, including fishing.

The court based its ruling on a state statute that declares that all the water in Utah is the property of the public. Because the court's ruling is based on a state statute, the Utah Legislature has full authority to reverse or modify that statute.

Unfortunately, the court's ruling left many questions unanswered. Late last summer, a group was assembled to discuss the ruling. Among those invited to participate were representatives from the governor's office, legislators, farmers and ranchers, anglers and the Division of Wildlife Resources.

The group agreed the Supreme Court's ruling needed to be clarified. Rep. Ben Ferry, R-Corinne, agreed to draft a bill to help clarify the statute on which the ruling is based. As Ferry drafted the bill, he consulted with several groups, including the DWR and anglers.

Since HB 187 appeared on Feb. 11, a great deal of misinformation has been circulated about the bill and what it does and does not do. I encourage you to learn more about the bill so you can decide whether or not to support it. You can read it at www.le.utah.gov/˜2009/bills/hbillint/hb0187.pdf.

One thing you'll learn is that the bill authorizes you to fish and recreate on many Utah waters that were closed to public access before the Supreme Court ruling. The bill also defines which recreational uses are allowed on these streams and what constitutes a streambed. The bill also authorizes recreationists to leave the bed of a stream if they need to move around barriers they encounter in the stream, such as fences, dams and diversions.

The bill also provides a way for other streams and rivers to be added to or removed from the list by a recreational access board. The bill discusses in detail the makeup and duties of this board. It also establishes criteria that would determine if and when a stream could be added to or removed from the list by the state Legislature.

What the bill does not do -- and this is important -- is change your ability to access waters on public land. It also does not change your ability to access waters on private land that have an easement in place. The ability you currently have to fish and recreate on these lands would not be changed at all by HB 187.

We remain concerned about several provisions in the bill, and we'll continue to work closely with Ferry and other legislators as the bill makes its way through the legislative process. We hope the Legislature will ultimately pass a bill that meets the needs of both anglers and private landowners.

Regardless of how HB 187 turns out, acquiring fishing access and improving fishing opportunities in Utah will remain one of our top priorities.

Jim Karpowitz is the director of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.