The Utah House defeated a bill that would have allowed anglers and other recreational water users to step onto dry land on private property so long as they see the ordinary high water mark and stay below it.

Rep. Lorie Fowlke, R-Orem, said she introduced HB80 to balance private property rights and public access to public waters. Some lawmakers say these competing interests were left in limbo by a 2008 Utah Supreme Court ruling that recreationists are allowed in streams that cross private lands.

"It should not be all one way or the other," Fowlke said in Monday's floor debate.

People who can't tell where the high water mark is would have had to remain in the water under Fowlke's bill.

Opponents said allowing people to step on land without permission is a government taking of property rights and a slap at property owners' constitutional protections.

"This is a hallmark decision," said Rep. Bill Wright, R-Holden, who urged colleagues to stand with those protecting private property.

The House gallery was nearly full for the debate, and many in the crowd wore cowboy hats. One Wasatch County rancher, Rodger Graham, brought his horse to Capitol Hill and rode it across the south lawn to make a statement about trespassing.

People who float the Provo River already get out and litter on his property or worse, he said.

"The tubers that come down get out and ride our horses around," he said. He said he's an angler and doesn't want to cut off access, but he doesn't believe the state should endorse public use up to the high water mark.

In places, the high water mark is well wide of the stream, Graham said. "They can set up camp" in that space.

Others noted the economic importance of Utah's fishing and rafting industries, saying there's noting new about granting public access on public waters. They said the bill merely defines an easement that protects both property rights and reasonable access.

Rep. Sheryl Allen, R-Bountiful, said 378,000 anglers spend $376 million a year in Utah.

"I do see this as protecting private property rights," Allen said. "Also, it is fair to those recreational interests who bring so much money into the state."

The bill was defeated on a 50-23 vote. Immediately after the vote, lawmakers began debate on a bill that restricts public access on streams in an attempt to turn back the court ruling. The House ran out of time to debate HB141 Monday.