A group of Natrona County landowners can't limit the public's access to a popular hunting and fishing spot along the North Platte River, even if it sits on their property, a judge ruled Monday.

Sportsmen should be able to use a two-mile stretch of river known as the Lusby access area regardless of how high the water is running, Natrona County District Judge David Park wrote in his decision letter.

In a lawsuit filed last year, the current landowners argued a 45-year-old property easement limited public access to a 100-foot walkway extending from the river's high-water line. Because high water only occurs for about a month, that interpretation would have prevented anglers and hunters from accessing the river for most of the year.

Park, writing in a nine-page decision, found no evidence former landowners Clarence and Frances Lusby wanted to limit access to the area when they set up the easement with the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission in 1964.

"All this leads to the unavoidable conclusion that the Lusbys and the Game and Fish Commission had one overriding goal, which was to take advantage of this premier fishing spot and improve it," Park wrote.

The state's largest sportsmen's group hailed Park's decision to keep the area open.

"It is famous worldwide for its ability to produce world-class fish, and people come here from all over," said Walt Gasson, executive director of the Wyoming Wildlife Federation. "From an economic standpoint, for Natrona County, that is a very important thing."

If Park had decided in favor of the landowners, the ruling would have threatened dozens of other public easements in Wyoming that provide public access to sportsmen, Gasson said.

"We feel like this is a major ruling and serves to protect the public's right to use those public hunting and fishing easements," he said. "Clearly, we are overjoyed about it."

Cheyenne attorney Harriet Hageman, who brought the lawsuit, declined to comment. She represents landowners Corey and Kathryn Davison, Ronald and Stacey Richner and Marton Ranch Inc.

The area has been used by thousands of sportsmen since the Game and Fish Commission bought the easement from the Lusbys. However, last year a sign appeared at the entrance to the area warning that fishing and waterfowl hunting were closed below the high-water mark.

The restriction would have kept fishermen from wading into the North Platte and stopped hunters from sending their dogs to retrieve downed birds in the river.

Around the same time, Hageman filed her lawsuit. It asserted the public shouldn't have access when the waters receded and that lack of enforcement had led to trespassing on private property, free-running dogs and littering.

Lawyers for the Game and Fish Commission countered that the intent of the easement was to allow access at all times, instead of just when the river was running at its highest.

Park agreed.

"There is nothing to support a conclusion that the Lusbys intended to restrict fishing in such an outstanding fishing spots except during high water," he wrote.

Reach crime reporter Joshua Wolfson at (307) 266-0582 or at josh.wolfson@trib.com. Visit tribtown.trib.com/JoshuaWolfson/blog to read his blog.