CHEYENNE -- The public has a right to access Hawk Springs Recreational Area in southern Goshen County for hunting, fishing and general recreation, the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled Monday.

The ruling addresses a legal dispute that's been simmering between the state and the Horse Creek Conservation District for years.

The conservation district sold land around the recreation area to a company that fenced it off in 2006. The popular recreation area includes a reservoir, boat ramps and camping sites.

The state sued to reinstate public access, and a Goshen County judge reopened the area. The conservation district appealed.

The Supreme Court on Monday ruled the conservation district had agreed to provide public access when it accepted millions of dollars from the state in the 1980s to improve the dam and other structures.

"...(I)t is obvious that the legislature appropriated a large sum of money and, in order to get full public benefit in exchange for the funding, required public access for recreational purposes," states the ruling authored by Justice E. James Burke.

The Supreme Court ordered the Goshen County District Court to redraft the state's contract with the conservation district to make it reflect the language in the state law that approved the funding.

Curtis Buchhammer, lawyer for the conservation district, had argued in Goshen County Court that the state's original agreement with the district failed to specify what land the district had agreed to give access to when it accepted the state money.

However, the court ruling states that the agreement specifying that lands "adjacent" to the reservoir was sufficient. Attempts to reach Buchhammer on Monday for comment were not successful.

Wyoming Attorney General Bruce Salzburg said Monday that his office is pleased the court agreed with the state's position and that the public will continue to have access to the recreation area.

Milward Simpson, director of the Wyoming Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources, said Monday he regards the court ruling as significant.

"It's an important recreation area," Simpson said. "Particularly the local folks around there and in the county have taken a lot of ownership of this recreation area. It's important to them and their quality of life. It will remove any question mark about public access to that state recreation area."