Landowners are blocking public access to a renowned river known for its fishing – because of anglers they say are trespassing on their property by standing in the river to cast.

The controversy surrounds a stretch of the Lower Provo River in Utah, some 50 miles from Salt Lake City.

There, fishermen have operated undeterred for years, due to a 2010 statute that allowed them to float on rivers but forbade them from setting foot on the riverbeds.

But law enforcement in Wasatch County rarely enforce that stipulation – spurring people like Steve Ault, a relative of a former governor who owns 3,000 acres along the river, to formally request a shift in the county line so his property sits elsewhere.

In interviews administered both this and last week, the 70-year-old complained about fishermen repeatedly accessing his land, and a lack of law enforcement he said is to blame.

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But law enforcement in Wasatch County rarely enforce that stipulation – spurring people like Steve Ault, a relative of a former governor who owns 3,000 acres along the river, to formally request a shift in the county line so his property sits elsewhere

He’s trying to shift the county line such that his property resides in Utah County — not Wasatch — with hopes that county’s Sheriff’s Office will do something about it.

Speaking to both The Salt Lake Tribune and Fox 13, he said he does not necessarily mind people fishing on his land – he just wants to charge them an access fee.

‘If you take [a state coalition that won a legal battle for public access to the river in 2017], and apply this to any other private property owner, you wouldn’t want people in your backyard and have a right to be there,’ Ault told the Tribune. 

‘You would never allow someone to walk through your yard to get to a gate that goes to a park, right?’  he said, slamming the Utah Stream Access Coalition as ‘the Utah Socialist Access Coalition.

‘But that’s a very similar situation here.’ 

‘We can own property here, and we can have businesses, and we can do things that they can’t in other parts of the world, and yet,’ he continued, 

‘[But] there’s groups and individuals that would take that away.’

Ault is the brother-in-law to former Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, who served as the 17th governor of the red state from 2009 to 2021.

Speaking to both The Salt Lake Tribune and Fox 13 , he said he does not necessarily mind people fishing on his land – he just wants to charge them an access fee

During his tenure, the Utah Stream Access Coalition won a suit against the state – one that found that this particular stretch of river was ‘navigable’ and thus public, due to local laws. 

By the state’s definition, ‘navigable’ means a waterway that is large enough to be used to transport goods and people, which the coalition believes it is.

The Utah divisions of Forestry, Fire and State Lands and Wildlife Resources, however, has yet to confirm their belief – a hindrance compounded by the fact the state last year passed a law that would punish anglers who access rivers that run through private land.

But that’s only if local officials actually enforce the law – something Ault says is not happening.

Instead, he said he’s been force to post ‘no trespassing’ signs about his sprawling property, despite living in a home dozens of miles away.

To ensure no one is getting the best of him, he has hired a security guard – one he said finds his signs trashed just about every week, tattered and in need of a replacement.

He further claimed to the Tribune that the guard also routinely finds trash left behind by people they suspect are anglers, due to the the abundance of trout in the area, and the fact that the route that straddles the river is somewhat less traveled.

Ault is the brother-in-law to former Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, who served as the 17th governor of the red state from 2009 to 2021

To ensure no one is getting the best of him, Ault said he has hired a security guard – one he said finds his signs trashed just about every week, tattered and in need of a replacement. Pictured, a fisherman standing in the river to cast, which is technically illegal

It’s even more empty now, after a Utah Department of Transportation contractor razed hundreds of trees last year to make room for a state-sanctioned trail that has yet to be built.

In an interview with the local Fox affiliate this past Wednesday, Ault said he has taken issue with this as well – claiming to own portions of the property that were dug up.

‘It’s the worst, in my opinion, one of the worst environmental disasters this state has ever seen,’ Ault told the outlet. 

Recalling how he was ‘in shock’ after stumbling across the demolition, he said it had been his for almost forty years.

‘We own the land underneath the railroad tracks up to the edge of the highway,’ he said, pointing across the river. ‘We own 1,4000 acres that way.’

The land in question, however, is the state’s property, right outside his purview. 

That said, a 3.5 mile-gap between two trail networks it was meant to link remains, as construction has been called off due to the a litany of suits over who decides access to certain areas of the river, including a contested ‘fisherman’s easement’.

The easement applies to one side of the waterway, while another questions the railroad route on the other.

Both are being contested, with the latter seeing the trail project temporarily called off. 

Complicating matters, though, is a successful suit from the Utah Stream Access Coalition  against the state, which found that this particular stretch of river was ‘navigable’ and thus public, due to local laws

Ault told the Salt Lake Tribune that his hired guard also routinely finds trash left behind by people they suspect are anglers, due to the the abundance of trout in the area, and the fact the area is relatively less traveled

The gap won’t be filled unless the court rules in UDOT’s favor, but Ault views it as a victory.

Gesturing to now naked section of the river where ‘spectacular pines and quaking aspen and just big, big old trees’ once grew, he said he is considering a lawsuit, but the damage is already done.

‘It will take ten generations before it is ever even close to looking the same,’ he told Fox 13.

Now, he’s turned his attention to the controversy surrounding public river access, hoping to protect the land from further desecration.

He said the uncertainty stems largely from the Wasatch County attorney’s office, which prosecutes cases in the area.

They issued a statement this week saying the courts haven’t decided whether anglers accessing the land is technically trespassing, pointing to the multiple ongoing lawsuits. 

The county office still looks at cases individually on their own merits, the statement noted, saying that if cops and officials produce sufficient evidence, they would charge trespassers.

It’s even more empty now, after a Utah Department of Transportation contractor razed hundreds of trees last year to make room for a state-sanctioned trail that has yet to be built, which was called off when people like Ault questioned its legality

Ault’s request to redraw the county lines, meanwhile, has yet to be heard, as the state project remains in limbo

‘Wasatch County takes its responsibility to uphold the law very seriously,’ the office told The Tribune. 

‘However,’ they added, ‘we also take our ethical responsibility to not prosecute persons who may not be violating the law very seriously.’ 

Meanwhile, the state Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands hired a river analyst  tasked with settling such disputes six years ago, but the Tribune reported that person has since been relieved.

In the meantime, now such determinations have been made, and the shores lining the stretch of the Lower Provo river remain marred either by unfinished construction or trash from visitors, Ault said. 

Layne Edwards, who owns Park City Fly Fishing Guides, said this has left people from both sides frustrated, with no swift solution in sight.

“We have folks that are paying us to take them on a guided trip, and we have a responsibility to provide them with a positive experience,” Edwards told the Tribune, noting how his agency has not had any clients seek a tour along the river in more than a year.

‘And the last thing that I would want our guests to experience would be a bunch of negative energy.

He blamed the ‘no trespassing’ signs put up by property owners like Ault, and the ensuing conflicts it created between anglers and property owners. 

Ault’s request to redraw the county lines, meanwhile, has yet to be heard, as the state project – like local fishermen’s rights – remains in limbo.

DailyMail.com has reached out to the Wasatch County Attorney for comment and further clarification on the current situation.

WASHINGTON — A Memorial Day service in Washington’s central park Monday morning opened with many of the typical traditions for the solemn holiday.

American Legion Post 29 members posted the colors, and Pastor Anthony DeVaughn gave an invocation. Speakers offered words of remembrance for prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action, while other recited Logan’s Order and the Gettysburg Address.

Veterans at the event stood for recognition — whether in dress uniforms or T-shirts and shorts — and were met with applause. Guests pledged allegiance to the flag, and heard Robin Flattery Timmins’ rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.

“I want to thank you for continuing to honor the memory of those who have gone on before us, and given their all,” Legion Post Commander Michael York said to the crowd, before paraphrasing a quote from Former President Franklin D. Roosevelt. “Those who’ve long enjoyed such privileges as we do, forget in time that men and women have died to win these privileges.”

But in another address at the event, keynote speaker and retired Lt. Col. Darwin Peterson set a more partisan tone.

Peterson said he prepared his speech by thinking about what questions a soldier killed in action might ask, if they could reach through time and inquire Americans today. The only such question, Peterson concluded, would be whether their sacrifice had been worth it, and created a decisively better country.

The answer, the retired military official argued, was no. He lamented the state of several hot-button issues — referencing roughly 600,000 abortion procedures performed in 2021, record-breaking levels of illegal immigration in 2024, federal support of electric vehicles, transgender students’ rights in school and criminal charges against former President Donald Trump, to name a few — and cited them as proof the nation was “not doing enough” to honor the service members memorialized on May 27.

Later in the speech, Peterson called on audience members to “elect leaders” that would “stop the social and moral decay that we see all around us,” referencing the same list of grievances.

“At this point, I imagine that some of you are somewhat annoyed with me,” he said. “Many of you may feel that a Memorial Day observance is not really a place for politics. I agree with you … I’m not talking politics here, I’m talking about honoring the great American patriots who gave their lives for their countrymen and their country. A country they would no longer recognize.”

The address drew a standing ovation from some in the audience, while others remained seated on lawn chairs and benches, declining to clap at all.

The ceremonies continued as normal after Peterson’s speech, returning somewhat seamlessly to less contentious traditions of years past.

Another speaker read off the names of area veterans who died since last Memorial Day, each accompanied by the chime of a bell. Volunteers ceremoniously folded the American flag, previously draped over a casket. A rifle salute rang out across the square, followed by the somber bugle call of taps, before Timmins and audience members sang “God Bless America.”

DeVaughn gave a short benediction, and the colors were retired.

“May we never forget those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom, and may we continue to thank God,” said York, before dismissing the assembled crowd.

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com

By Lisa Phelps

CASPER – The image of a bison burned into raw lumber and polished was chosen by Wyoming’s First Lady, Jennie Gordon, to be on display at the governor’s mansion for a year. The image was the handiwork of Wheatland High School art student Courtney Dumont. A wood burn of a bugling elk by Dumont also won a blue ribbon, along with a mixed media coffee and graphite drawing of a horse and calf called “Mud Ring.”
The Wyoming Art Symposium is an annual event showcasing the best artwork of students in schools across the state. It is one of the largest of its kind in the nation, with 4,721 entries by 67 schools. Twenty-five percent of artwork received blue ribbons, and the First Lady chose a selection of them to be displayed at her home at the governor’s mansion in Cheyenne for a year. The artists are invited to attend a luncheon and awards ceremony with Gordon at the mansion in June; the artwork will be returned to the artists at next year’s symposium.
Dumont says art is an important part of her life, and she especially appreciates seeing people’s reactions to her art. “I like seeing when my art means something to them,” she said.