Good news in the Bitterroot

The Montana Supreme Court, in a unanimous ruling, overturned a lower court decision that blocked access to Mitchell Slough, a side channel of the Bitterroot River. This ends the latest chapter in the long-running debate at Mitchell Slough regarding its status under the Montana Stream Access Law. Hunters and anglers have long argued that the Slough is governed by the SAL. Landowners along the Slough, most notably rocker Huey Lewis of Huey Lewis and the News fame, have in recent decades tried to prevent public access.

The lower court ruled that the Slough was no longer a "natural" waterway as it has been altered by irrigators in the Bitterroot for more than a century. But the Supreme Court shot down that "logic" as it would have meant every river or stream in Montana that has been altered by man (ie. all of them) might no longer be covered by the law.