After years of efforts by groups such as the Utah Stream Access Coalition (USAC), the public's right to access and recreate on all of Utah's public waterways was restored yesterday in a decision by Judge Derek Pullan of Utah's 4th District Court. The ruling concludes a lawsuit filed in 2010 by the USAC which claimed that the inappropriately named Public Waters Act, which previously barred the public from accessing public waterways where they crossed private property, was unconstitutional. Pullan's ruling affirmed the coalition's claim, restoring access rights in the process.

My first memories of a creek trace back to Hacker Creek. As water runs its course, Hacker transforms it from the spirited rapids of the Ozark Mountains to the somber brown might of the Arkansas River. Topography is the deciding influence for any creek’s personality, and Hacker reflects the gentler rolling hills and long stretches of flatland through which it meanders with longer pools, subdued riffles and nary a waterfall of any size. Its water looks like weak tea — clear as air at it’s thinnest points, tannin stained by sycamore and oak leaves at it’s thickest.