Our old friend Donny Beaver is at it again. Hold your nose and read this excerpt from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Norfolk Southern Corp. has ordered Mr. Beaver, operator of the exclusive Spring Ridge Club, to immediately remove barbed wire and “no trespassing” signs from railroad property along the stream. If he fails to do so within 10 days, Norfolk Southern will perform the task and might bill him for the work, according to Norfolk Southern attorney Randal S. Noe, who made the demands in an Aug. 3 letter to Mr. Beaver.

Mr. Noe said yesterday that he doesn’t know when the barbed wire and signs were erected, but the railroad only recently was made aware of them. The “no trespassing” signs bear the names of the Spring Ridge Club and Legacy Conservation Group, two of several corporations Mr. Beaver has or had an interest in. The barbed wire is strung among dense brush downstream of Spruce Creek.

Seems Donny strung barbed wire and posted “No Trespassing” signs along the Little Juniata — but not on his own property. This comes on the heels of illegal posting of the Little Juniata in an attempt to keep the public from floating though the “private” water.

Donny, you’re an ass our hero. Really.

Think it Won’t Happen Out West?

Apparently, Donny’s not content to illegally post property in the East; he’s teamed up with Gorusch Outfitters in Vail, and together they’ve formed a new company aimed at doing out here what he’s already done back east. This from the Gorusch Outfitters Web site:

This past fall John teamed up with Donny Beaver, founder of the Spring Ridge Club in central Pennsylvania. Together the two are working to secure a future for world class fly fishing in the valley through the newly formed Alpine River Club.

Ahh, the Alpine River Club. Expect pretty much the same model as the Spring Ridge Club, where Donny wraps himself in the swaddling cloth of “conservationist” when all he’s really trying to do is make a few bucks off folks who’d rather not deal with the riff raff.

In fact, the word “conserve” appears numerous times throughout the Web site, the idea clearly being that once you find a scam message that works, you stick with it. What’s interesting is whether there is enough backlash against high-profile members of these clubs to deter their joining.

Lefty Kreh, the Becks, and others are high-profile members of the Spring Ridge Club, and while there hasn’t been any general organization, I did notice a few people suggest that buying TFO rods was suddenly a no-no given Lefty’s involvement.

In any case, given the numerous abuses we’ve seen back East, I’d suggest Colorado anglers keep a close eye on their trout streams, lest one wander off in the Donny’s back pocket.

See you anywhere Donny isn’t, Tom Chandler.

[tags]fly fishing, donny beaver, spring ridge club, little juniata[/tags]

Posted in News.