Spruce Creek, Pennsylvania - July 27, 2003 - Business partners Stanley Hostler and Donny Beaver said today that a lawsuit filed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is baseless and without merit. But they say they are ready to present their case and to go back to the business of bringing in tourists and creating jobs.

"The Constitution, case law and history support our position," Hostler said. "I'm optimistic."

In dispute is the claim of three Pennsylvania agencies that the 32-mile-long Little Juniata River is publicly owned. Although the suit is directed only at Hostler, Beaver, Connie Espy and the entities involved in owning and operating a short stretch of the Little Juniata near the confluence of Spruce Creek as a private fishing business, to succeed the agencies must establish public ownership of the entire 32 miles of the river, affecting the rights of hundreds of landowners in both Blair and Huntingdon Counties.

The DEP, DCNR and the PA Fish Commission have apparently changed tactics from their heavy-handed policies of attempting to establish ownership of the river by unilateral fiat in March 2002. The agencies' efforts had to be aborted last year when Hostler and Beaver refused to knuckle under to threats of criminal prosecution.

Local businessman Beaver said their enterprise, known as Spring Ridge Club, focuses on enhancing the fishing opportunities on properties it manages, creating jobs and bringing in tourists.

Charleston, West Virginia-based attorney and investor Stanley Hostler is originally a Bellwood, PA native and was attracted to provide capital for a number of ventures in his home region, including Spring Ridge Club. "I decided to come back to my roots in central PA and have invested several million dollars in projects that encourage growth in an area negatively affected by the ongoing decline of the region's manufacturing base. So far, that investment has created dozens of jobs with a payroll in excess of $750,000 per year." Hostler also noted "we have enhanced the fishing on properties we manage and have received positive reviews from ESPN, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post as well as attracted thousands of tourists from all over the world."

The secret to this angling success is the catch-and-release policy that Spring Ridge Club strictly enforces on its properties according to Joe McMullen, the Club's full-time fish biologist. "It's really no secret at all. After our guests catch trout, we carefully release them back into the water. That gives the fish an opportunity to live longer and grow larger. Unfortunately, the PA Fish Commission allows killing of two large trout (over 14 inches) per angler per day on the rest of the Little Juniata." McMullen noted that he fishes on other stretches of the Little Juniata and that none of the publicly-accessible sections offer the quality of fishing found on the Espy stretch. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why. If the State encourage anglers to kill big fish, then you will have very few big fish remaining," he concluded.

Little Juniata landowners John and Marie Little run the River's Edge Lodge on private property a half mile upstream from the Espy stretch. John notes, "We believe that catch-and-release is important to the economic vitality of our community. It helps sustain the fishing resource and keeps anglers coming back over and over again. We see anglers killing fish in front of our lodge all the time and worry about the long-term effects. We are in favor of having the regulations changed to catch-and-release for the entire Little J"

Along the same lines, Toby Richardson, a Tyrone-based private fly fishing guide and president of the Little Juniata Flyfishers offers, "The Little Juniata has no better friends than the Espy family and Spring Ridge Club. They practice wise stewardship. If the Fish Commission would wake up and implement the same catch-and-release practices as the Espy farm on the rest of the Little J, we would have a world-class fishery in a very short period of time. It would also be a huge boost in the local economy"

However, Beaver also added, "There is far more to this matter than the issue of fishing. This is about the rights of every current and prospective property owner and what constitutes the responsible stewardship of the land in the Commonwealth. Every citizen has a stake in the outcome of this unilateral and potentially confiscatory action of the state."

Spruce Creek Tavern owner John Carper offered a historical perspective, "Herman Espy closed his property in 1992 because of the careless attitude of many anglers and their disregard for his private property. It was terrible how people dumped garbage, blocked his private road and made themselves a general nuisance. Now, 11 years later, the state is looking to force their way back onto the property…..it's just not right."

Up to now, with the cooperation of private riparian landowners all along the Little Juniata, public fishing opportunities abound on over 25 miles of the river, including more than 12 miles of so-called All Tackle Trophy Trout Waters in the vicinity of the section the river the agencies now seek to confiscate in their lawsuit.

It's estimated that over 80% of Pennsylvania's streams are privately owned and controlled under well-recognized legal and constitutional principles. This suit, if successful, would turn those principles on their ear and set the stage for a massive takeover of private property by the State. And, apparently the State has its eye on lots of other streams in the Commonwealth. According to DEP's press Secretary Kurt Knaus, "If a stream was historically used for…..activities such as floating logs downstream…..then it's navigable and thus publicly owned." Fish Commission acting executive director, Dennis Guise, echoed the same sentiments in a recent TU Penns Woods Chapter meeting where he used the same "log floating" language to describe the Commonwealth's aim at confiscating every piece of private water in Pennsylvania.

This recently-contrived test could affect thousands of miles of small streams where many clubs and fishing businesses operate. But, for whatever reasons, this lawsuit selectively seeks to confiscate the property of only a few citizens. However, to do so, the agencies must convince the Court to accept radical new theories and principles that will affect tens of thousands of citizens throughout Pennsylvania

Spring Ridge Club is a catch-and-release fly-fishing business and guide service operating on private properties on Spruce Creek, Penns Creek, Warriors Mark Run and the Little Juniata River. The club is committed to maintaining a pristine environment so that future generations will enjoy great fishing in what is fast becoming the fly-fishing capital of the eastern United States. Spring Ridge is working with fishing enthusiasts to create jobs and add value to the Commonwealth's coldwater resources.
 

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Read The State Issued Press Release
DEP, DCNR AND PFBC FILE SUIT TO CLARIFY PUBLIC ACCESS TO THE LITTLE JUNIATA RIVER IN HUNTINGDON COUNTY - June 11, 2003
 

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