More Montana stream access news; this a Montana Standard story about the oh-so-very-much-loved-by-locals James Kennedy, who has filed a lawsuit which could effectively reverse Montana’s longstanding access law

Montana’s stream access law allows public access to streams and rivers where public roads meet the watercourse.

Kennedy — whose name is rarely mentioned by anglers without the accompanying adjective “multimillionaire” (or “that rich bastard”) — has become the poster child for a wave of wealthy new landowners bent on restricting (currently) lawful public access to rivers.

From the Montana Standard:

VIRGINIA CITY — A landowner in the Ruby Valley who has been at the center of a legal battle over stream access from county bridges has counter sued Madison County and a sportsmen’s group, claiming there is no right to get to streams from county bridges.

James Kennedy said in court records that Madison County is looking the other way while sportsmen and women illegally use the Seyler and Lewis lane bridges to get to the Ruby River.

Kennedy, a millionaire media mogul from Atlanta, also names the Public Lands Access Association, Inc., as a defendant and said the group’s members block his driveway, park unsafely on county bridges and litter when getting to the river.

“All of the foregoing unlawful conduct constitutes a public nuisance within the Lewis and Seyler Bridge servitudes and as a result, Kennedy has suffered and will continue to suffer damages,” Lance Lovell, a Billings attorney representing Kennedy, said in court records filed this week in Madison County district court.

One hopes that — if he loses the suit — Kennedy won’t decide to stamp his feet and hold his breath.

[tags]fly fishing, james kennedy, montana, montana stream access, stream access, ruby river[/tags]

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