BC JUDGE UPHOLDS PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS

   One of the richest men in the world has won the right to stop anglers from accessing two lakes on his mammoth ranch near Merritt, even though the lakes are owned by the public.
   The B.C. Appeal Court ruled Friday that U.S. billionaire Stan Kroenke, owner of the largest ranch in Canada, can block the public from crossing his property to fish at Crown-owned Stoney and Minnie lakes.
   Because provincial laws fail to protect the public’s right to travel on private land to get to publicly owned lakes and streams, the Appeal Court judge overruled portions of Justice Joel Groves’s 2018 decision, which had criticized the RCMP and government staff for collaborating over many years with Kroenke’s ranch staff to deny fishers access.
   The case, which the small Nicola Valley Fish and Game Club initially launched in 2013, is one of the most important in B.C. history in regard to determining how much right the public has to access scores of lakes and waterways in the province that are surrounded by private land.