Proposed Washington legislation could jeopardize waterway access for boaters, anglers

Two Washington bills targeting trespassers in Clark County could have statewide implications for anglers and boaters.

House Bill 2521 and Senate Bill 6152 would give counties authority to close roads and other public right-of-ways that abut a waterway for “the protection of public safety.”

The bills target a specific road that dead-ends at the Lewis River, adjacent to a Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad bridge in Clark County. Over the years numerous people have trespassed on nearby private land and been killed by trains while trespassing on the bridge.

“If you call 911 in Clark County and tell them the ghost bridge, they will respond to this location,” said David Morgan, the nearby landowner, in a recorded hearing in Olympia on Tuesday.

Morgan also said people have routinely trespassed and vandalized his family’s 1,700-acre farm. Clark County commissioners told Morgan they couldn’t vacate the road because current state law prohibits the vacation of county roads that abut a body of water.

The proposed legislation, brought forward by Rep. Liz Pike (R-Camas), would allow counties to vacate roads in the interest of public safety.

“Normally, under any other situation, I would never be advocating for the removal of public access to a body of water,” she said Tuesday during the bills public hearing in Olympia.

Public access advocates are concerned the bill is overly broad and could close access to waterways throughout the state.

“The way the legislation is crafted is to just give counties authority to close public roads,” said Thomas O’Keefe, the northwest stewardship director for American Whitewater.

O’Keefe talked to the landowner at the public hearing in Olympia. He’s sympathetic to Morgan’s concerns but believes the bills are overly broad.

“The real problem is trespassing on private property,” O’Keefe said.

Current state law states: “No county shall vacate a county road or part thereof which abuts on a body of salt or freshwater unless the purpose of the vacation is to enable any public authority to acquire the vacated property for port purposes, boat moorage or launching sites, or for park, viewpoint, recreational, educational or other public purposes, or unless the property is zoned for industrial uses.”

While any such vacation would go through a public comment process, O’Keefe said he worries those decisions would be made without the input of boaters and other recreational users.

“What will happen, in practice, is someone will petition to close the road and there will be this county process that nobody knows about,” he said.

He imagines recreational users showing up to a previously open access point only to find it gated and locked.

Josh Mills called the bills a “slippery slope” toward less public access. Mills is on the board of directors for the Wild Steelhead Coalition and a volunteer for Backcountry Hunters and Anglers.

“Private land owners over the years have constantly challenged access to public water,” he said in a message.

The Backcountry Hunters and Anglers organization is sympathetic to the landowners concerns, “but we oppose legislation that unfairly reduces public access for anglers, hunters, river recreationists and other members of the public,” Rob Parkins said in an email.

Parkins is the public waters access coordinator for BHA. The Washington state BHA chapter will follow the case, he said.

Andy Dunau of the Spokane River Forum said the process of establishing river access points is complicated enough without adding further legislation.

“The essential problem with this type of legislation is that it ignores the uniqueness of each situation,” he said in an email. “In trying to solve one issue, it just adds another layer of regulatory complexity.

“Put differently, you can’t legislate the type of communications, trust and partnerships needed to improve waterway access. The current permitting conditions are already sufficiently complex and difficult.”

The two bills had separate hearings on Tuesday and remain in committee. They could be voted on at any time.

The public can still comment on the bills online. To comment on the house bill: app.leg.wa.gov. For senate bill: app.leg.wa.gov.