Fiddle Creek Bridge / Shields River Summary

RESOLUTION ACHIEVED: FIDDLE CREEK BRIDGE ILLEGAL SIGNS

In 2012, one of our PLWA members was driving over the Shields River Fiddle Creek Bridge and noticed a whole lot of orange paint and a bunch of nasty signs. The Shields is a classic small trout stream in the Livingston area. Our member took a few pictures and sent them on to members in Livingston. This started chain reaction of events leading to the removal of the illegal signs; but it is hard to believe how complicated such a simple compliance action can be.

One of our PLWA board members, George Bauer, had to research property ownership. Another member, Lou Goosey, had a preliminary meeting with the County Commissioners and the Local FWP warden. In the process FWP Commissioner Dan Vermilion got involved.

At the Feb. 26, 2013 Park County Commissioner meeting they discussed public access to the Shields River at the Fiddle Creek Road.

“George Bauer of Public Lands Water Access Association provided photographs of pictures of a bridge over the Shields River on Fiddle Creek Road with ‘No Trespassing’ signs

he believes may be posted within the public right of way. Documentation provided by Bauer contained a map of the bridge and property in question and a court order establishing the public easement over the bridge he said was 30 feet on either side of the centerline of Fiddle Creek Road, as well as an additional easement granted. Bauer said he was providing the documentation in order for the Commission to determine whether it was correctly posted or posted on public lands. Bauer said he was told by a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks ranger that the posted No Trespassing signs were enforceable, but other individuals within FWP had conflicting answers or were unsure of the signs’ status.

Civil Deputy County Attorney Shannan Piccolo said the signs would need to be removed if posted within the public right of way. She said the public easement was established in 2001 per court order. Malone said a commissioner, Piccolo and the county surveyor would travel to the location, review information Bauer presented, and submit a letter to said landowner to take down the signs if Bauer’s information was correct. Piccolo said the easement is non-exclusive, which means any qualifying use must be permitted, such as assess for fishing, provided it does not restrict intended use of Fiddle Creek Road. Peter Fox, citizen, said the No Trespassing signs were present at the site in 2010, but in 2011 the fence wire was pulled taught. Ed Flatt, citizen, said livestock was present on the northeast quarter of the area in the winter. John Gibson, Public Lands Water Access Association, said the association was objecting to the signs and their potential to thwart public access to the river and not objecting to the fence.”

Essentially, the agencies had to be educated about the Bridge Access Law and be forcefully reminded of their responsibilities. The Park County Commissioners did their job at the May 6, 2013 meeting and ruled the signs had to come down.

“Civil Deputy County Attorney Shannan Piccolo said she, Commissioner Tinsley and a surveyor visited the site in question. The surveyor submitted a written report stating the bridge was located in the appropriate location. Piccolo provided a legal opinion the No Trespassing signs should be removed from the bridge as they are illegal. She will draft a letter to the property owner instructing them to take down the signs. She said stream access at the site is an issue to be addressed by Montana FWP.

Commissioner Tinsley moved to ask the county attorney’s office to send a letter to the landowners asking them to remove the No Trespassing signs that are on Park County property on at Fiddle Creek Bridge. Commissioner Durgan seconded the motion. Motion passed.”

About a month later, another member noticed they were still up. So then the question became, who will follow the law – the Sheriff ? FWP Wardens ? It turned out to be the latter, who did their job, pulled down the signs, and painted over the offending orange. There may still be some orange paint in the vicinity, but that does not deny access to the river below the high water mark. No one should be intimidated. Landowners are free to use orange paint to prohibit trespassing on land above the high water mark.

All of this just goes to show you how the compliance deck is often stacked against the public. Even though case law and statute law is on the side of access, getting action by responsible officials usually requires hours of research, pushing, shoving, and sometimes lawsuits.

In this case county officials and FWP were not obstructionist, but in many cases the County Commissions can be a major obstacle. We thank the Park County Commissioners, the County Attorney, and Commissioner Vermillion for their responsiveness.

UPDATE: June 2013

ILLEGAL SIGNS ON FIDDLE CREEK BRIDGE DOWN

On the Ground Action by PLWA Volunteers

Last year about this time one of our members driving over the Shields river Fiddle Creek Bridge noticed a whole lot of orange paint and a bunch of nasty signs. The Shields is a classic small trout stream in the Livingston area. He took a few pictures and sent them on to members in Livingston. This started chain reaction of events leading to the removal of the signs. But it is hard to believe how complicated such a simple compliance action can be.

One of our board members had to research property ownership. Another had a preliminary meeting with the County Commissioners and the Local FWP warden. In the process FWP Commissioner Dan Vermillion got involved. Essentially the agencies had to be educated about the bridge access law and be forcefully reminded of their responsibilities. The Park County Commissioners did their job and ruled the signs had to come down. But about a month ago, another member noticed they were still up. So then the question became who will “bell the cat” – the Sheriff? FWP Wardens? It turned out to be the latter, who did their job, pulled down the signs, and painted over the offending orange. There may still be some orange paint in the vicinity, but that does not deny access to the river below the high water mark. No one should be intimidated. Landowners are free to use orange paint to prohibit trespassing on land above the high water mark.

All of this just goes to show you how the compliance deck is often stacked against the public. Even though case law and statute law is on the side of access, getting action by responsible officials usually requires hours of research, pushing, shoving, and sometimes lawsuits.

In this case county officials and FWP were not obstructionist, but in many cases the County Commissions can be a major obstacle. We thank the Park County Commissioners, the County Attorney, and Commissioner Vermilion for their responsiveness.

UPDATE: May 2013

After meeting with Park County Commissioners and the Assistant County Attorney, I am pleased to announce that the Illegal No Trespassing signs on the Fiddle Creek Bridge and road easement across the Shields River will be removed shortly.

The combination of the Bridge Access Law and the District Court Decision by Judge Tucker on County Road Easements across the Ruby River make it hard to defend any posting on bridges on County Roads.

We can thank Lou Goosey and George Bauer for the following thru on this one.

If anyone else knows of other bridges that are illegally posted, let us know.

John Gibson

President, PLWA

UPDATE: March 2013

MEETING WITH COMMISSIONERS SUCCESSFUL

Folks, These photos are of the Fiddle creek bridge crossing the Shields River outside of Livingston Montana.

The road is clearly a County Road and the bridge was probably constructed by the state. Any way, as you can see, there are several signs within the 60 foot right of way indicating that there is no legal access to the river. A local game warden was said to claim that he would ticket anyone attempting to access the river from the bridge area.

On Tuesday March 26 George Bauer, Lou Goosey and I visited the bridge and took measurements to prove the signs were within the right of way.We then attended a meeting with the County Commissioners of Park County. George had scheduled the meeting and presented the evidence to the commissioners. No one opposed our findings.

Dan Vermillion, one of the MT F&G Commission members, was present and later remarked that it was astounding that a bunch of citizen volunteers had to point out such a violation of the law. I thought ,but did not say, ” We have been doing this for 25 years..”

And what about the Game Warden? Does he not know the law? How can anyone be given the authority to issue citations without being trained to understand the legal position on these issues?

This Bridge Access law was made abundantly clear by Judge Tucker on the Ruby River case last year and the subsequent state law.

John Gibson

President, PLWA

Fiddle Creek Bridge / Shields River in Pictures & Maps