NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – It’s been a long-debated topic pinning private landowners against people using New Mexico’s rivers recreationally.

Friday morning, New Mexico’s Department of Justice (DOJ) and two outdoor organizations pressured the state to crack down on illegal fencing on public waters.

“These are extremely dangerous to the public,” said Sherry Barrett with New Mexico Paddlers Coalition.

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Fencing across rivers and streams with hopes of keeping out trespassers on private property interferes with what the state law now deems legal.

“There had been barriers that had been allowed by certain regulation, and the New Mexico Supreme Court said that those regulations were unconstitutional,” said NMDOJ Chief Deputy Attorney General James Grayson.

The NMDOJ, New Mexico Wildlife Federation, and the New Mexico Paddlers Coalition went before legislators during the Water and Natural Resources Committee presenting the status on stream access enforcement.

“The waters belong to the public. The waters of New Mexico, whether they’re perennial or torrential belong to the public, and the public has a right to recreate and to fish on those waters,” said Grayson.

Some legislators asked: how far is too far? At what point do public rights become trespassing on private property?

“This is a balanced approach. The public does have the right to recreate. The public has the right to access those waters, but the public can’t trespass over private land to get to the water, and the public can’t exit the water onto private land,” said Grayson.

The DOJ shared how they reached out to property owners along the popular Pecos and Chama rivers with illegal fencing asking for barriers to be taken down. The next step was to send cease and desist letters.

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“We wanted to work with the landowners to let them know what their rights were and what the public’s rights were. We successfully managed to have a number of barriers removed from the Pecos River,” said Grayson.

In some cases, where owners refused to comply, further legal actions were taken. The state spoke to the severity of the dangers of having fencing along these rivers and streams.

“One of the problems is it’s a barbed wire fence, and these can be very difficult to see on rivers, especially in high flows, and again, these can ensnare people – boaters and anglers – and cause drowning,” said Barrett.

Some legislators wondered how landowners are supposed to exclude or contain livestock from entering or leaving their property without the barriers.

“We have to figure out a way to get these fences, if they’re necessary, to be paddler friendly,” said Barrett.

The discussion went back and forth as legislators fought to clarify what would be “reasonable;” some advocated for private landowners and asked for stricter guidelines on trespassing, and others were in support of the DOJ’s efforts to open the use of waterways to the public.

The New Mexico Paddlers Coalition and other outdoor groups have already volunteered time to install paddler-friendly fencing and hold regular trash cleanups along popular rivers.

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