Sign on the Pecos River in New Mexico (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
On September 1, 2020, the New Mexico Supreme Court published its written opinion on a lawsuit regarding stream access in the state. The court's long-awaited formal opinion re-establishes the public's constitutional right to wade and fish in streams that flow through private property. It represents a decisive win for anglers and public-access advocates in New Mexico, and it brings some clarity to a complex issue that has sparked similar legal battles in other Western states.
“This is a good day for fishermen,” says Ben Neary, the conservation director for the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, one of three petitioners in the lawsuit that was originally filed against the State Game Commission in 2020.
The court’s long-awaited opinion further clarifies its March 1 oral decision, which overturned a State Game Commission rule that allowed private landowners to exclude the public from streams flowing through their property. This unanimous decision, as many anglers interpreted it, effectively re-established the public’s constitutional right to wade and fish in these streams.
As Outdoor Life reported in August, 2022, however, private landowners and their supporters have argued in the time since that until the court released a written opinion, they maintained their view that wading and fishing in streams flowing through private property amounted to trespassing. We also learned first-hand that anglers lawfully fishing those streams were in a sort of legal limbo wherein they could still face intimidation and threats with little recourse.
The court’s issuance of a formal opinion on Sept. 1 officially closes the chapter on this period of uncertainty.
“We hold that the public has the right to recreate and fish in public waters,” the court wrote, “and that this right includes the privilege to do such acts as are reasonably necessary to effect the enjoyment of such right.”
Citation: “A Win for Anglers: New Mexico Supreme Court Issues Written Opinion Saying All Streams Are Public,” Dav Collins, Outdoor Life, September 1, 2022.