Opinion ID: 888250
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Stream Access Law Case

Text: ¶ 48 As noted above, the BRPA and FWP are appealing from the stream access judgment. Landowners are Appellees. The BCD is not a party to the stream access issue, as that issue was raised by a declaratory action filed in the district court. The stream access claim constituted Count IV of the First Amended Complaint and the Landowners' cross-claim and was tried before the District Court, sitting without a jury. By order of May 10, 2006, the District Court entered judgment in favor of the Intervenors and Landowners that the Mitchell Slough was not subject to public recreational use under the Stream Access Law. In addition to its own analysis and order, the District Court adopted by reference the extensive proposed findings of facts and conclusions of law submitted by the Intervenors/Landowners. Those findings took judicial notice of the Declaratory Ruling issued by the BCD in the 310 Law case within n. 73. ¶ 49 Although the two primary issues in this appeal involve the status of the Mitchell Slough, they are not the same inquiry. As we have explained, the Streambed Preservation Act [310 Law] and the Stream Access Act each use two entirely different definitions for designating what bodies of water are covered under their respective provisions. . . Neither the [310 Law] nor the Stream Access Act states that if a body of water is not a stream under the [310 Law], it is necessarily a ditch under the Stream Access Act. Therefore, while the BCD's decision on the Mitchell Slough's status as a stream is potentially significant, the decision, regardless of its outcome, does not necessarily determine whether the Mitchell Slough is a ditch under the Stream Access Act. These are two separate factual inquiries. BRPA I, ¶ 21. ¶ 50 The arguments of the parties and amici regarding the application of the SAL do not venture far from the underlying constitutional rights which protect their respective interests. BRPA, FWP and Amici Sportmen's Groups focus on the declaration within Article IX, Section 3, that all waters within Montana are owned by the state for the use of its people. Landowners and Amici Stockgrowers emphasize that same provision's preservation of appropriative rights and cite the property right protections within Article II, Section 3, and Article IX, Section 7. Each party beckons us to view the case and decide it while looking through different constitutional lenses. This is not the first time the Court has experienced the constitutional tension which permeates this issue. ¶ 51 The 1972 Constitution contained a new provisionnot part of the 1889 Constitutionwhich expressly addressed the state's ownership of all waters. Article IX, Section 3(3) states: All surface waters, underground, flood, and atmospheric waters within the boundaries of the state are the property of the state for the use of its people and are subject to appropriation for beneficial uses as provided by law. Citing this provision, the Court, in Montana Coalition for Stream Access, Inc. v. Curran, held that under the public trust doctrine and the 1972 Montana Constitution, any surface waters that are capable of recreational use may be so used by the public without regard to streambed ownership or navigability for nonrecreational purposes. 210 Mont. 38, 53, 682 P.2d 163, 171 (1984); see also Mont. Coalition for Stream Access, Inc. v. Hildreth, 211 Mont. 29, 35, 684 P.2d 1088, 1091 (1984). We added a cautionary note that nothing herein contained in this opinion shall be construed as granting the public the right to enter upon or cross over private property to reach the State-owned waters hereby held available for recreational purposes. Curran, 210 Mont. at 55, 682 P.2d at 172; Hildreth, 211 Mont. at 36, 684 P.2d at 1091. In response to the Curran and Hildreth decisions, the 1985 Legislature enacted the SAL, an act generally defining laws relating to recreational use of state waters, to codify and provide specifics with regard to recreational use of state waters. Ch. 556, L.1985. The SAL was challenged on constitutional grounds by landowners in Galt v. State, 225 Mont. 142, 731 P.2d 912, (1987), and the constitutional protections referenced by the parties in this case were likewise argued by the parties in Galt to respectively challenge and defend the various provisions of the SAL. We stated that [t]he real property interests of private landowners are important as are the public's property interest in water. Both are constitutionally protected. These competing interests, when in conflict, must be reconciled to the extent possible. Galt, 225 Mont. at 148, 731 P.2d at 916. The Court reconciled these constitutional rights by striking several provision of the SAL as violative of private property rights, and by affirming the balance of the Act as constitutional. [9] Galt, 225 Mont. at 148-49, 731 P.2d at 916. ¶ 52 Although the parties' arguments are laced with constitutional language, we are not faced here, as in Galt, with a constitutional challenge to any of the provisions of the SAL. Rather, this case is primarily one of statutory interpretation, the application of the SAL to the factual record. We do our utmost, in undertaking this task, to act with respect for all of the constitutional rights of the parties, and with respect for this Court's previous efforts to balance the constitutional rights at issue.